Classics at the Beach

If your kids think volleyball is the only game worth playing on sand, give them a challenge: How many playground classics can they adapt to the beach? They can draw game boards in the sand and use beach finds for playing pieces. Here are a few ideas for starters:

BEACH BOWLING
Make 10 pins by filling a cup with moist sand (add water if the sand is too dry to hold a shape). Carefully turn the cup over and lift it off. Create the pins in a triangle with one pin in front, two pins in the next row, three in the next, and four in the back row.

Draw a line in the sand about 6 or 8 feet from the pins. Take turns standing behind the line and rolling a softball or other small ball toward the pins to knock them over. Each player gets to roll the ball twice. Count how many pins you knock over, set them up again and keep score in the sand.

SAND TIC-TAC-TOE
Make a nine-square grid in the sand and draw the X's and O's with driftwood. If you have enough people, make teams and ask human markers to sit in the squares.

HOPSCOTCH
To give this a seaside flavor, each player can scavenge a beach-related marker to toss: a clamshell, a plastic shovel or a colorful flip-flop.

DARTS
Draw a dartboard with six concentric circles and give each ring a point value. Each player should choose three markers that look the same (three clamshells, three pieces of green sea glass and so on). Take turns tossing the markers at the dartboard and keep score in the sand.