Tag: beach

Seashore Scavenger Hunt Activity + FREE Printable

We are really into scavenger hunts at the moment. It’s a great way to spend some time exploring and learning about what’s around you. A few weeks ago we did a summer scavenger hunt in our local park and as we’re visiting the beach this week I thought I’d put together a seashore scavenger hunt to see what we can find on the beach.

We do love beachcombing and I’m a keen collector of sea glass, so beach combing is something we all enjoy. Last year the boy went rockpooling with the National Trust and found lots of interesting creatures in the rock pools of North Devon.

I’ve included a wide variety of things you can find on the beach in our seashore scavenger hunt. You might not be able to find them all, especially the slightly rarer things like sea glass and mermaid’s purses, but it’s worth taking a look to see what you can find. If you want to find out more about mermaid’s purses, they have lots of child-friendly information on The Shark Trust website.

Download your FREE Seashore Scavenger Hunt Activity Printable Here!

Seashore Scavenger Hunt Activity + FREE Printable

When it comes to sea glass, don’t pick any up that has got sharp edges, that’s just glass. Sea glass should look round and smooth like a coloured pebble; it’s a very special thing to find on the beach, but do be careful.

I’ve left some room for you to make any notes about what you might find on the beach. Doing a seashore scavenger hunt is a great way to start conversations with your child about nature and what kinds of things you can find on the seashore. Why not take along a net and a bucket and see what creatures you can find in a rockpool. How many different kinds of shell can you find and what creatures lived in them?

I always like to do a little bit of a 2 minute beach clean when I visit the beach. It’s easy to pick up the litter I find to put in the bin or recycle at home. It all helps to keep our beaches tidy and some litter out of the oceans.

If you enjoyed this scavenger hunt, you might like to try this Summer Scavenger Hunt.

Days Out: Another Place, Crosby Beach

There’s something about being cooped up over Christmas which makes me and the boys want to bundle up and get some fresh air. We’ve taken to having an annual day trip somewhere between Christmas and New Year, last year it was Attingham Park in Shropshire, this year I was itching to go and have a look at the Antony Gormley figures on Crosby beach, so with wellies on and a bucket and spade in our boot, we headed to the coast for a winter wander.

It was a beautiful day, perfectly clear and crisp, the air was fresh and the sky was that beautiful blue you only really get in the winter. The boy was in love with the almost white sand dunes and the tide was slowly rolling in. 

What I love about Crosby beach is that if you look to the left you can see a hive of industry, Liverpool docks covered in cranes and containers, with huge ships coming in and out every few minutes. But turn your back on that and you’d never know. It’s a good walking beach, you can amble for miles and we did. It’s busy with families and dog walkers, not to mention people like me who had come to see the statues.

Crosby beach
Liverpool Docks

It’s easy to forget that this is a beach next to a busy port, so whilst the sand dunes are beautiful, the beach itself is a bit littered, I collected a bag of the more dangerous bits of litter I spotted, and I did see some used sanitary towels and such like, so maybe wash your hands after you’ve been on the beach. Don’t let that put you off though. It’s still well worth a visit.

Crosby beach

There are 100 of these “Iron Men” on Crosby beach. These cast iron sculptures of Antony Gormley are spaced out across a 2 mile stretch of the beach, each facing out to sea, it is called “Another Place” and the figures are beautiful and eerie at the same time. They’ve been looking out across the Irish Sea since 2007 and they are decaying beautifully over time.

Crosby beach

Crosby beach

Looking at the figures, these eerie  silhouettes littering the shore remind me of the Stevie Smith poem, Not Waving But Drowning. You can see why people mistook them for people in need of rescue.  

Some of the figures set back from the sea are decorated by visitors, some wearing hats, some festive wreaths and one even dressed up as Father Christmas. He was popular, people were queueing up to pose with Santa (he’s the tall one with the beard)!

Crosby Beach

We had a very good walk, we blew away some cobwebs, the boy dug a few holes and I managed to do a bit of beach-combing, I think this would be a great beach to explore regularly if you like beach-combing. I suspect it has great sea-glass potential too.

Crosby Beach

Once we’d walked our wellies off we went to a nearby cafe and art gallery – Waterloo Place, where we warmed up with hot soup and excellent doorstop sandwiches.

I can see us coming back to Crosby Beach time and time again. It’s beautiful, restful and charming, and the Antony Gormley figures are fabulous. A great little day out.