Beach Hints

Keywords: activities, Beach

By Stacy DeBroff

When going to the beach, fill a couple of empty, clean milk or soda jugs with water and put them in the trunk, along with a couple of clean towels. At the end of the day, you’ll have nice warm water for everyone to wash off the sand with before getting in the car for the ride home. —Jennifer Clements, mom of Kaitlin, 5, and Ian, 7 months

• If you rent a house or condominium, call ahead to clarify what extras the house has so you don’t find yourself lugging beach chairs, towels, and an umbrella to a place that has them available.

• Bring a small inflatable wading pool for your infant or toddler. Your child stays safe next to adults, and the water warms as the day progresses. It takes up far less space than a playpen and keeps your baby and his toys out of the sand. It’s also a convenient place to clean the sand off at the end of the day.

• Bring a raft to pull your toddler along the beach when he complains of being too tired to walk. If you find yourself with too many items to carry down to the beach, put all the toys in the raft and pull it across the sand.

• Buy your children matching bathing suits when in crowded place like the ocean.

•Treasure hunting at the beach offers endless possibilities for discovery. Take along a beach pail or bag to store all the wondrous items your child brings you.

Here’s some interesting things to hunt for:

• Unusual seashells and rocks • Seaweed and seed pods • Hermit crabs, silver dollars, or snails • Small air holes in the sand where you might find clams if you dig • Bird feathers • Large clam shells that make great painting projects • Small seashells with holes so you can string them up for jewelry or decorations • Sea glass—be careful, not all glass on the beach has had its sharp edges worn away yet • Driftwood

• Use the items you find on the beach to make a craft project. Paint rocks, shells, and driftwood. Sprinkle sand over a design made with craft glue. Arrange seashells in glass jars, affix them to flowerpots with putty, or string them up into a necklace. Use feathers and seaweed as paintbrushes on paper.

• Make a beach volcano. Build a mountain of sand around an open can, leaving the top exposed. Pour vinegar inside and then add a tablespoon or two of baking soda.

• You can catch crabs from piers or rocks with string and some bait (raw chicken or mussels work well). When a crab starts nibbling, either slowly lift the string or, better yet, catch them in a crab net. An adult can rub the crab’s apron belly to put it to sleep, untangle its legs from the netting, and put it into a bucket of sea water.

• Go to the beach at night with a flashlight to spot crabs scuttling along the sand.

• Play checkers in the sand with rocks and shells.

• Build a sand castle or creature and decorate it with seashells, rocks, seaweed, and sticks.

• Toss a ball, football, or Frisbee.

• Draw lines in the sand to play handball or racket games that keep the ball in the air.

• Bury part of someone in the sand (no faces).

• Freeze juice boxes and water in bottles, and use them instead of ice packs in your cooler.

• Arrive at the beach in the late afternoon when crowds diminish, the sun is less scorching and less likely to burn skin, and a calm settles over.

• Use a backpack to bring your baby with you into the water. That way your hands are free.

• Mark your toys with waterproof marker or nail polish. They often get mixed up with other kids’ toys at the beach.

• Go on a trash hunt, and instill your child with pride for taking part in keeping the beach beautiful and clean.

• Sprinkle baby powder on your body to remove sand instantly at the end of the day.

• Fill a bucket with water when you leave for the day. In the parking lot you can dunk your feet to get the water off, then dump out the bucket.

• Bring a spray bottle of fresh water and douse your child (and yourself) to remove sand from hands and faces.

Stacy, heralded as a “parenting guru” by the Wall Street Journal, authored four best-selling parenting books (Simon & Schuster) and launched Mom Central, Inc. (www.MomCentral.com), a company devoted to providing savvy advice to simplify and enrich the lives of busy Moms and their families. Stacy appears as a regular parenting expert on national TV show, including NBC’s Today Show, CNN, The View, Tyra Banks Show, CBS’ Early Show, The Daily Buzz, Mike And Juliet, Fox & Friends, and the Rachael Ray Show. Stacy also serves as a corporate spokesperson, trendspotting for the media on behalf of over 30 national brands.

In the 1990’s, Stacy founded and ran as an attorney the Public Interest Office at Harvard Law School. Stacy lives with her husband, Ron, and happily engages in imperfect parenting of their two teens, Kyle and Brooks, in Boston, Massachusetts.