recommendations for beach toys ....

[Paula]

Drip sandcastles are fun to make and they don't require any tools. You just take very wet sand and put it in your hand (could add more water, too), and then drip it into piles until all the piles look like a castle. It's a surreal look and very satisfying. Here's a link to someone explaining how to do it and a wikipedia link with a photo of a bigger dripped castle.

Anatomy of a Drip Castle*
[ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_art_and_play]Sand art and play - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

 

[Paula]

We almost always bring puzzles to the beach for rainy days. Also, you can get some inexpensive shells at Michaels (and there are a few along the 30A beaches but not many) and bring glue, picture frame or birdhouse and make shell things together. Origami is fun, too. You can find some nice easy patterns online and then cut colored paper or wrapping paper into squares.

There's a nice children's park at Alys beach that you could bring the boy to. And there's a fountain/park in Rosemary beach that looks like a regular park but kids/adults can turn the fountain on by pushing a button (perhaps someone knows what street the park is on - it also has benches - or you could ask someone at Rosemary Beach when you get to the area. Kids like to "surprise" their families by turning the water on them (but the kids often don't like to be surprised by the water themselves!).

Cart rides at Seaside could be fun, but a bit pricy. I think the carts seat 4 and you can peddle them around town.

Share a bucket of inexpensive beignets from Flip Flops at Seagrove. Buy a bucket of beignets and bring it to the beach.

 

[Sheila]

Our 3 yr old grandson had a blast this past week with a bucket and little shovel someone left at our house. He spent hours building "houses" and knocking them down. Worked out well since at the end of the day there were no holes left on the beach. Other than the bucket, he ran a lot. Made for an early bedtime every night.