For adults the beach is about relaxation, sun and surf, but for a child the beach represents a place of never ending possibilities. Of course splashing in the ocean is lots of fun but a child will love a day at the beach no matter what the weather.From out of the sand emerge castles for the princesses, cars for a drive, boats for fishing. Suddenly mermaids with long flowing hair and jewellery made from exotic shells and seaweed beads come out of the ocean for a play!

Tunnels and caves, amazing feats of engineering appear as the children dig and burrow in the sand. Just the sound of the ocean and the lapping waves seem to give children a different kind of energy!

On this week’s episode of “Outdoor Adventures”, we took a trip to one of Melbourne’s local beaches. It wasn’t really a swimming day but the kids spent hours building beautiful sand dripping sculptures and sand pictures. It is so interesting to just sit and watch them gather their materials and then listen to them as they talk through their method and explain what they are making.

Pretending to be seagulls and running through a flock which arrived to see what they could find to eat, reminded us of the day we went out bird observing. The kids really loved becoming a part of nature by pretending to be birds, flapping around and squawking on the beach.

The beach is also a place that children are often happy to just play in their own little space. They often just find their individual spots and get into and activity quite happily without the need interaction with others. Maybe there is just a lovely peacefulness about the seaside that brings out that desire in all of us to just have some quite time alone. Even for a child, chattering away to themselves while happily digging a hole, is just another great thing to do while visiting the beach!