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Learning at the Beach

There is something about the beach with the crashing of the waves, the sand in your toes, and the salty air that makes life a little bit better.

The weather is getting warmer, and many people plan trips to the beach. Whether you are heading down for a long weekend, a whole week, or just a day trip, the beach can be educational.

And - with so many different and fun educational activities at the beach; your children won’t even realize they are learning!

"To me, the sea is a continual miracle; The fishes that swim–the rocks–the motion of the waves–the ships, with men in them, What stranger miracles are there?" – Walt Whitman

Learning at the Beach

Nature Study at the Beach

Nature study may be one of the most apparent educational experiences at the beach. In many ways, it happens naturally as children see the world around them. They begin to pick up shells, ask about seaweed, or search for treasures in a tide pool.

You may want to pick an area of study before going to the beach and learn a little before your trip. Alternately, you can let your children find what interests them at the beach and then study a little more when you get back.

Either way, I recommend bringing along a few items to help with your nature study.

  • First, a good field guide will be very beneficial in finding out more about what you are seeing. We love Peterson's First Guides for young children, but for the beach, we have found that it can be nice to have the small folding laminated guides that won't get messed up if they get splashed.

  • Next, I recommend a bag or bucket for collecting interesting finds to study further or bring home. We are careful not to remove any living creatures (except the fish we catch to eat), but we love collecting seashells and sea glass.

  • Finally, a small magnifying glass is a fun way to get a closer look at different objects. You can find inexpensive plastic ones that won't get messed up in the sand and saltwater.

Learning at the Beach

Possible Areas of Nature Study at the Beach

  • Shell Collecting

  • Tide Pool Study

  • Seashore Birds

  • Sand Dunes

  • Sand Dollars

  • Conchs and Whelks

  • Fish

Can Fishing Be Educational?

In addition to nature study, you might want to do a little fishing while at the beach. My children, especially my boys, love to fish, and they could spend hours fishing every day if I let them.

The primary benefits of fishing are family bonding, fun memories, and a tasty dinner. However, there are also lots of educational opportunities that come with fishing. Children can learn more about the parts of the fish; watch the gills at work, and even learn more about the mechanics of how the fish maneuvers through the water.

A fresh fish can be a great first dissection project for older children. You can fillet the fish to get the meat and then use the carcass for dissection. They can learn to identify the different internal parts of the fish and discover more about the dissection process without the odor of a regular dissection specimen.

Learning at the Beach

Art Ideas at the Beach

If you walk into any home décor store, you are likely to find a section of beach-themed art and décor. The beautiful colors, vibrant animals, and stunning shells make for great art.

If you have children that enjoy art, you could simply provide them with art materials and let them draw what interests them. You can also take pictures or have them use their memories to draw or paint a scene from the beach once you return from your trip.

Another fun art option is to do shell rubbings like you would do a leaf or bark rubbing. Simply place the shell under a piece of paper and rub over it with a pencil or crayon.

You could also do a collage using small objects and sand from the beach. They can collect a little sand, small shells, etc., and then glue them together into a collage. This is a beautiful way to have a souvenir from the trip.

"The sea is as near as we come to another world." – Anne Stevenson 

Consider also these fun tutorials:

Beach Field Trips:

The beach is often a field trip in itself, but if you are there long enough to want some other options, there are many great related educational field trips.

  • Often you will find aquariums or animal rescue centers near the beach. These are a fantastic way to learn more about all of the nature you have been seeing while at the beach. Some people enjoy this as a rainy day activity; however, we have found that they get more crowded on rainy days. Our family enjoys using them as a nice cool break in the afternoon's heat.

  • Lighthouses make for an exciting field trip! There is so much history in our lighthouses. Be sure to do a little research about the lighthouses in the area before you go. Sometimes you can even climb to the top of the lighthouse. My husband and children tell me that the views are incredible!

  • There are several national seashores here in the United States, which are seashores preserved through the National Parks system. Each park has various amenities and features, but they often have a visitors center with educational information, videos, and programs.


Learning at the Beach

Ideas for Further Beach Study: 

If you want something more than your traditional beach study topics, you can dive deeper with a study on lighthouses. There is so much history and science involved in the lighthouses.

For older students, you could do a study on salinity and ocean water.

Another fun study would be kiting. The open beaches are often a great place to get enough wind to fly a kite, and you could do experiments to determine the best kite shape or conditions. There is also a lot of great history with kites.

Educational Beach Books

Living near the coast and loving the beach, we have an entire bookshelf devoted to books about the beach. You don't have to be as excessive as I am to use books to help you with your educational beach trip.

A few of my favorite fun beach books are Suzanne Tate's Nature Series and the Burgess Seashore Book for Children. These books have fictional storylines but include factual information about different sea animals. We read our copy of Danny and Daisy Dolphin from the Nature Series so many times that it fell apart, and we had to buy a new copy.

For non-fiction informational books, we like Marvels of Creation Sensational Sea Creatures from Master books, and 1001 Questions Answered About the Seashore.

Being from the Carolina coast, we also really like the Nature Guide to the Carolina Coast for more specific information. If you go to the beach in a different area, there are similar books for each state or region. 


You might also want to get some fun beach books to strew through the house - or while you’re staying at the beach - to just enhance your beach trip!

The books below are just a few suggestions to get you started.

Hint: Me First is a super fun beach story that is always a huge hit with any child I know who has read it!


I hope these ideas help you add a little learning to your time at the beach. However, I also want to include a gentle reminder. There is value in just relaxing on the sand, building sandcastles, and splashing in the water. Fit in the learning opportunities as they arise, but do not be afraid to enjoy some time with your children at the beach.

Are you planning a trip to the beach?

Do you plan to learn while you are there?

This post is from contributing writer, Dawn Peluso.

Dawn is a passionate follower of Jesus, wife to Chris, and homeschool mom of four. In her spare time she loves to read, hike, and write on her blog Schoolin’ Swag. She enjoys reviewing curriculum and helping moms find the right fit for their families. Some of her favorite parts of homeschooling are hymn studies, living history, and read alouds. She and her children also enjoy incorporating food into their studies as often as possible.



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Homeschooling and Community

Homeschool mom - you are NOT meant to be alone!

You were meant for community and your journey, whether just beginning or years in the making, will be richer, more rewarding, and simply more FUN if you engage with other like-minded individuals who are seeking to educate their children in a non-traditional manner.

Like many families, our first taste of homeschooling came about as a result of the school shutdowns due to the pandemic. We fell in love with the idea of being our children's primary teachers but the thought of making this change permanent was more than a little daunting.

As we researched all of the available options we quickly came to realize that embarking on this journey alone was not the only option and, in our opinion, definitely not the best option! Although still new to homeschooling (two years in August!) we have found that connecting with an established community provides a number of benefits.

Finding a homeschool community might not initially be easy, but it is worth the effort, time, and energy.

Homeschool and Community: You aren't meant to do this alone

A Family New to Homeschooling

Our first year of homeschooling was done simply at home and without any type of outside organization. While we learned a lot and grew closer together as a family we realized that we all missed the interactive piece of school, parents, and kids alike.

At the end of year one, I began to research the various options for co-ops and other homeschooling groups that were available to us in our area.

We chose a local Classical Conversations community, but I believe there are a number of benefits that are common across ALL homeschool groups.  

  • Access to more experienced homeschooling families who have seen and experienced many of the challenges that we are facing as newbies have been invaluable.

Simply having someone to ask how to best structure your days to what to focus on has made a world of difference.

  • Built-in peer groups for our children are also a huge plus.

We all want our kids to have friends and one of the flawed arguments for not homeschooling is that your children won’t be socialized. Our experience couldn’t have been further from this! One of the greatest benefits we have seen is that our children have been able to navigate interacting not only with children their age but also with children younger and older.

Learning in Community

  • Doing life with like-minded families is important.

We specifically chose a Christ-centered community when we decided to be a part of Classical Conversations.  It has been invaluable to be involved in a community of like-minded believers.  It has also allowed us to grow in our faith as well as our education and really learn to connect the two together in ways I hadn’t learned as a child. 

Having families walk alongside us who are raising their children according to Christian values and principles has made our homeschool year much richer.

  • Shared resources and curriculum have also been very beneficial.

There are a plethora of homeschool curricula out there.  It can be difficult to know what will be best for our children and while looking at curriculum online is a great place to start, it has been great to share the resources of more experienced families.  

There is something about having the physical access to materials that have helped us make the best decisions about which curriculum to pursue, and being able to do this without spending a lot of money up front has been an added bonus. 

Being in a community with friends who share common values and who are pursuing the same goals when it comes to educating our children is so uplifting! Although we have all come into this homeschooling community from various backgrounds and for different reasons the shared ideals of educating our children on our own and not simply conforming to what the school system says we must do provides a shared bond.

This year alone we have taken field trips, had picnics and park trips, dinner with other families, mom’s nights out, group cookouts, and even a much-needed mom’s retreat weekend away.  

Homeschooling and Community


I thought it would be beneficial not only to share my thoughts about homeschooling in community but to provide some responses I received from my family when I asked them why homeschooling is better in community.  


Let’s Hear From the Family Members:

Luke, age 12:

It’s better because your parents can know the other kid’s parents and hopefully become life-long friends unlike in public school where your parents don’t usually even know the other students.  Getting to spend time with my mom in school learning together also made it fun. Also with a co-op you get to have more field trips than you would likely ever have in your lifetime in public school!

Eliza Jane, age 7:

likes making new friends and having mommy get to come in your class when you are at school!

I also asked my husband, who doesn’t necessarily come with us each week on community day, but definitely hears all about our experiences when he gets home at the end of the day. 

Jonathan said that he noticed much less anxiety in me as the teacher, primarily because I have been able to see other students who are years ahead in the program and are thriving and that our children can be very successful in this environment. 

Secondly, he also noticed how excited our kids were to see the people that whom they have developed relationships. He knew that the kids would have a good education being homeschooled, but to see them developing socially and the positive interactions they’ve had with other kids as well has been a great benefit.

Homeschooling in Community


While homeschooling can be done effectively alone I would argue that finding your people will make the experience that much more enjoyable for both parents and kids.  I also feel it will help you avoid that all too often feeling of burn-out that plagues parents trying to be both mom or dad as well as teacher.  

We aren’t meant to homeschool alone!  Find your people,  engage with them and I’m confident you will find more support than you can imagine.


Are you in a homeschool community? Are you looking for one?

Tell me about it in the comments below.

This post is from Homegrown Learners contributor, Allison. She is a wife and mother with a passion for reading. With a background in Early Childhood Education as well as experience working in Corporate America, the events of 2020 exposed her to the rewards of teaching her own children at home. She hopes to encourage anyone who has ever been anxious about taking this leap with her own personal successes and failures during her family's first few years of homeschooling.