Summer is officially here, and you're likely packing your beach bag for the upcoming July 4 holiday. After napping under your umbrella, reading, and doing a little body surfing, you might start to get antsy. If you're bored at the beach, these fun games to play with your equally bored friends can help you transform your blah beach day. While some people — like me — are content to spend a beach day zoning out with a book, others prefer to stay active.
Heading to the beach armed with fun games to play can ensure that extraverts have just as good a time as snooze-in-the-sun introverts. If you get bored at the beach, you're not alone. "When I relax on the beach it is because I’m tired from doing other things or have some time before doing something else," travel junkie Steve Bloom wrote on his blog Do Something Cool. "I’ve never been able to do it for long periods of time. I just don’t understand the appeal of sitting on the beach all day long."
If you have committed to a beach day with your friends, and you are in the bored camp, fear not. There are plenty of ways to make your all-day-long trip to the beach more enjoyable, like these fun games to play with your friends at the beach when boredom starts to creep in.
1Play Volleyball
If you're into sports, joining a pick-up game of beach volleyball is a great way to enjoy some fun in the sun while also getting a workout in. A lot of beaches have sand volleyball courts, and the benefit of this activity is that you and your friends can likely get in on a game with other beachgoers, which is a great way to meet new people.
2Bring Bocce Ball
If you've never played Bocce Ball, this Italian game is not only fun to play at the beach, it's a great way to beat boredom no matter where you are. You can grab a glow-in-the-dark Bocce Ball set from Amazon and quickly learn how to play on Wiki How. It's basically throwing balls and trying to knock your opponent's balls out of the game. Bocce Ball takes both mental and physical skill, so it's an ideal way to thwart the beach blahs.
3Build A Sand Castle
If you didn't bring any games with you, why not use what's already at your disposal? Take advantage of the plentiful sand and challenge your friends to a sand-castle building contest. Just make sure to keep track of the tide so you beloved castle doesn't get washed out to sea.
4Fly A Kite
This one will totally bring you back to your childhood. If you've never had the pleasure of flying a kite, you're missing out big time. If there's a little wind, pick up a kite on the way to the beach and spend some time making that kite soar over the water.
5Boogie Board
If the beach you're heading to has some baby waves, make a pitstop at Target on the way and grab some boogie boards. Have a contest with your friends to see who can catch the most waves. Aside from being a blast, boogie boarding will totally tire you out so you can actually enjoy taking that nap under the umbrella.
6Make Your Own Tic Tac Toe Board
Tic Tac Toe is another childhood throwback game that's perfect to the play at the beach, especially if you've neglected to bring any actual games with you. All you need for a game of Tic Tac Toe is a stick to draw the board and a patch of wet sand. If you've forgotten how to play, Wiki How has easy Tic Tac Toe instructions to help jog your memory.
7Fill In Some Mad Libs
If you're content to lazy away the day under your beach umbrella, but you want a little mental stimulation, Mad Libs are a must. Create hilarious stories and take turns reading them aloud, which is guaranteed to induce some much-needed laughter.
8Play Name That Tune
Since you're likely going to listen to some music at the beach, why not play your own version of name that tune? All you need for a rousing game of name that tune is your phone. Take turns playing snippets of your favorite songs and have players guess the name of the song and the artist. The winner gets to choose the music for the rest of the day.
9Start A Game Of Tug Of War & Limbo
Tug of war is another game you can play at the beach with items you've already brought with you. Simply roll up your beach blanket, draw a line in the sand, and divide your friends into two teams. Each team pulls at opposite ends of the blanket to try to force the opposing team over the line. To up the ante, have the losing team buy lunch for the group. Alternatively, pull the beach blanket taught for a game of limbo, and take turns seeing how low you can go.
10Play Face The Cookie
This one is courtesy of the website Play Party Plan, and it's a game of skill that rewards winners with cookies. Have each player put a cookie on their forehead and attempt to flip it into their mouth using only their head. It's a lot more difficult than it sounds.
Avoiding the beach blahs just takes a little creativity, and it forces you to access your inner child to come up with innovative ideas to keep yourself busy. While you can opt to bring beach games with you, getting creative and inventing your own games like you did when you were a kid offers a much-need break from reality.
Seriously, there's no reason to be bored at the beach as long as you can remember what you loved about it when you were little. As long as you can do that, you'll always be able to find the fun.
