Beach Activities with Seashells

Beach activities with seashells come in handy when you bring the little ones for a casual day trip to the beach. The following are some fun and creative ideas with seashells to add to your list of beach games for kids.

1. Seashell Hunting. Hunt for interesting and unique shells. If you find ones that are attractive enough, consider creating a necklace or a seashell picture frame. If you are lucky enough to find ones that look like a conch shell, these are the best for listening to the ocean.

2. Sand Castle Decorations. Find shells to decorate your sand castle or dam. Try some different colors for the widows, the roof, walls and pathways.

3. Sand Pictures. Find shells to create a picture of an animal, house or anything else you can think of. Consider using the reverse side of the shells to add some different contrast to the shapes and sizes of your creations.

4. Play Jacks (shells). Bring a small ball that bounces effectively to the beach. Go down near the wet part of the sand near the incoming waves so the ball is able to bounce. Collect 10 small shells and play the game. For directions on how to play, see The Fun Games Kids Play website.

5. Seashell Memory Game. Bring some sheets of small stickers to the beach for this activity with seashells. Make sure there's a bunch of different stickers, but each one must have another identical match. Collect as many shells matching the pairs of stickers. Attach the stickers to the back of the shells and mix them up. Find the shells that have the matching pairs of stickers.

6. Seashell Darts. Draw a large dart board in the sand or a large grid. Place numbers around the dart board or grid. Collect a bunch of shells that are easy to toss. If you create a dart board, place the biggest number in the center. See how many points you can get with up to 10 throws.

7. Seashell Poker Chips. Bring a deck of cards to the beach. Collect a bunch of shells with an even amount to each person. Assign values to small, medium, and large shells or assign one value to all the shells. Pick a card game and play until one person wins all the shells.

8. Seashell Races. This is an easy game to play with two people. Find some light shells and line them up along the edge of the incoming waves. Judge how far each shell moves with the incoming waves. The shell that moves the farthest wins the contest.

9. Tower of Shells. This is an easy beach activity with seashells. Collect a bunch of shells into a bucket. With some strategy in mind, each person must stack a shell on top of the one before the last. The shell that topples the tower loses.

10. Skipping Shells. Everyone has skipped rocks in a lake or pond at some point. Use the same concept with seashells. Find some shells that are relatively flat and have some weight to them. Once you do, see how may times you can skip the shell across the water. You may have to go out beyond the waves to a flatter part of the water. Adult supervision should accompany any small children.