The sun is out, your kids are on summer break, and it's time to enjoy some fun beach-inspired games! One of the easiest beach toys you can play dozens of creative games with is a beach ball. Kids love to kick, throw, hit, roll, and pass all different types of balls. Inflatable beach balls are cheap, and there are tons of activities to do with a single beach ball. From spelling games to splashing in the water, and moving with the music, we have listed 25 of our favorite activities you can do with beach balls.
1. Beach Ball Hockey
Hockey is a super fun physical activity that you can play with a variety of objects. This version uses a beach ball as the puck, and pool noodles as the sticks. Set up some goals using cones, noodles, or poles, and let your kids run around!
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2. Pain-free Dodgeball
Kids love throwing things at one another. Dodgeball is a fun kids' activity but can be dangerous depending on what balls you use. Sometimes foam or rubber balls can really leave a mark! Next time your kids feel energetic and excited give them some beach balls and start a dodgeball game!
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3. Parachute Beach Ball Toss
There are lots of different ways you can play this game with a group of kids. You can use big beach balls, or small ones, You can use a beach towel, a big sheet, or a parachute blanket to wiggle and shake for your beach balls to bounce and fly around, so fun!
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4. Beach Ball Letter Recognition Game
For this kinesthetic activity, use a polka-dot ball and washable marker to write different upper and lower case letters on the different dots. Get in a circle with your young kids and toss the ball around. Whoever catches it must read the letter their hand is touching. If this is too easy, you can have your kids think of a word that starts with the letter they land on.
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5. Beach Ball Action Play
Now here is a great way to practice your kids reading, pronunciation, and comprehension skills while still keeping learning fun and engaging! Write different action commands on your beach ball, like "D is for dance!", or "J is for jump 10 times!".
Learn more: ABCs of Movement
6. Rolling With the Music
Time for some music playtime with this fun sensory experience game. Get a giant beach ball and have your group of kids lay down in a circle. Play some music and roll the lightweight ball over them, they will giggle and push the ball over to the next person. When the music stops whoever the ball is on is out.
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7. Beach Towel Toss
Time for some motor skills and teamwork practice using a couple of beach towels and a bouncy ball. Have 2 or 4 people hold the corners of the towel depending on how young they are, and set up a short net in the middle. Each team will try to toss the ball over the net to the other team using their towel. Like volleyball!
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8. Beach Ball Bowling
Time to head outside and knock down some bowling pins! You can use bottles, cans, or any other household items that stand up and can be knocked down by a lightweight bowling ball. Set up a lane using a yoga mat and pool noodles and get rolling!
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9. Hula Hoop Basketball
Here's another fun ball game to try outside with your kids for some fresh air and a little healthy competition. Pick up some hula hoops from a toy store and place them in different spots on the grass or hang them in the trees. See who can throw their beach ball through the hula hoop. Each hoop can be worth different points depending on how high or far away it is.
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10. Beach Ball Math Practice
Here's another educational ball game you can set up easily and play with any number of kids in the classroom or at home! Write down math equations all over the ball using a permanent marker, then set your kids up in a circle and toss the ball around. Whatever equation your hand touches you must solve. For extra excitement, set a time limit for how long each player has to solve their problem.
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11. Beach Ball STEM Challenge Relay Race
This engineering challenge is a fun activity to do with a group of kids who wants to get creative and compete. Give each team or individual a beach ball and some supplies they can use to design a carrier for their ball. They must design something that can be held in one hand or hands-free using string, tape, and other materials. Then once they are all finished, prepare a relay race for them to do carrying their beach ball contraptions.
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12. Beach Ball Motor Skills
Get outside and moving with this fun and interactive beach ball action game you can play with young kids. Create a game board using cardboard cut into a circle, and write different movements in each section. These movements can be: catch with one hand, kick with the right foot, roll using hands, and bounce the ball. Kids can take turns spinning the game board and acting out different movements.
Learn more: Pre-K Pages
13. Beach Ball With Sight Words
This sight word activity is great for inside the classroom or for practicing vocabulary and pronunciation at home. Depending on your kids' age and grade level, write new and useful words on the beach ball and play a toss-and-catch game. They must say whatever word(s) their hands land on.
Learn more: Boy Mama, Teacher Mama
14. Collaborative Story Creating
Time to have a ball of fun creating imaginative stories as a group. To begin, sit everyone in a circle on the floor and grab a single beach ball. Someone can start the story with a few lines e.g. "Willow was a lonely tree, the only one in her area that had branches so droopy." Then this person rolls the ball to another, and they continue the story and pass it along until you've created an entirely unique story as a group.
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15. Beach Ball Rolling
Similar to bowling, but not quite. You'll want to use a large plastic or cardboard box, bigger than the size of your beach ball. Draw or mark a line the kids cannot pass over when rolling the ball. They will try to roll the ball into the box, and whoever gets their ball into the box the most times out of 10 rounds wins!
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16. Water Gun Beach Ball Race
Time to get wet with this teamwork beach ball game. This one works with a larger group of kids, perfect for an event or outdoor day at school/camp. You'll need to pick up some water guns from the pool or toy store and some beach balls. Split your kids into teams of 3-4 and give each person a water gun. Start the clock and watch the players try to push their beach ball across the field using the spray from their guns. It's a frenzied time challenge that will bring lots of smiles and excitement.
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17. Tandem Ball Walk
Another fun teamwork challenge your kids will go nuts over! Grab your beach balls and place them between the hips or backs of two kids. They will have to walk in tandem across the room or field as fast as they can without the ball dropping. See which team can do this the fastest!
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18. Sitting Volleyball
Time for some beach or lawn game fun with this twist on standard volleyball. Get a big beach ball and have everyone on both teams grab a chair or take a seat on the floor. The game rules are the same, but the change is that you cannot get up from your seat! So each player can try to hit the ball over the net while they are sitting down.
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19. Icebreaker Ball
When you have a big group of kids who may not know each other, a great way to break the ice is through a fun questions game to get to know one another. Write a bunch of basic questions regarding hobbies, interests, and favorite things, and toss the ball around.
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20. Juggling Beach Balls Game
Here's another fun group game with multiple beach balls and lots of hand-eye coordination practice. Start with one beach ball and have the kids say the name of the person they are throwing it to, then introduce another beach ball, and a third, until the kids are shouting names and juggling balls all around the circle!
Learn more: Birthday Party 4 Kids
21. Numbers Race
Time to get active and competitive with this team race using beach balls lined up at the centerline of a court. Split the kids into two teams and give each player a number from 1 to 10 on each team (depending on how many kids you have), so each team has a person for each number. When you call a number the person from each team with this number will run to the center and try to grab the beach ball first! The person who gets the ball wins a point for their team.
Learn more: Birthday Party Ideas 4 Kids
22. Clap It Out!
Simple and fun! Give each kid a beach ball and play some music. Have them toss their ball into the air and see how many times they can clap their hands before they catch the ball. You can also do this in pairs with kids clapping and passing the ball back and forth.
Learn more: Birthday Party Ideas 4 Kids
23. Waddle Walk
Let's run around together with this fun and active challenge. Give each kid a medium-sized beach ball, or small if they are really young. Have them place it between their knees and try to run from one side of the field to the other. This can be a race or just for fun!
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24. Music Symbols Practice
Whether you are a music teacher, or just want to inspire the love and knowledge of music in your kids, this activity is great for you. This beach ball activity is an easy and fun way to learn about symbols, notes, and other musical concepts. Write/draw different ones on the ball and practice recognizing what they mean together.
Learn more: Simple Music Teaching
25. Story Review
Maybe your class is reading a book together and you want to review some important concepts before moving along with the reading. You can make a storyline ball like this one to toss around the class and have a quick overview of what you've read so far before continuing.
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