All-time beach favorite toys for toddlers you just can’t go wrong with!
The beach is one of the ultimate outdoor playgrounds for toddlers. With the combination of sand, water, and sensual experiences; summer or winter you’ll find our Globetrotters ready for a splash and a play as soon as we can see the sea!
From sandcastle building to hole digging, and experimenting with the way sand and the water move, we’re sharing all our favorite beach toy discoveries perfect for the toddler age group (and trust us, they’ll enjoy these beach toys for many years to come!)
This post is part of our tried and tested travel product series and our favorite accessories for the beach
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Worried about your tots chewing on cheap, breakable plastic? This is why we love silicone toddler sand toys for the younger kids. Durable but flexible materials make this one of the best bay and toddler sand toy sets.
A basic silicone sand toy set for toddlers includes a 1.5-liter bucket, shovel, and 4 mold toys for sand play. We love that they are BPA, Phthalate, and lead-free so very safe for your kids, and made from recyclable materials.
This entertaining and colorful eighteen-piece beach sand toy set, made of BPA-free plastic is the perfect starting point for any family trip to the beach. This toddler sand toy set consists of a bucket, two shovels, three rakes, two sand sifters, and a watering can, perfect for making fun and creatively shaped sculptures.
We love that it comes with its own handy mesh carrying bag with shoulder straps. A variety pack like this can really be all your need for a great family day out at the beach.
This one is for your sandcastle masters. When you want to move beyond your basic turrets, this four-piece sandcastle set is your toddler’s next challenge.
Made of rigid plastic so they should last (a few trips to the beach at least!), these castle moulds easily stack inside each other for easy storage and transport and are sure to add some wow factor to your family’s beach building skills!
Beach toys for toddlers certainly need not be complicated. One of the simplest toys you can get for a toddler at the beach is a basic inflatable beach ball.
Throwing, catching kicking, the humble inflatable ball is equally great for picnics and parks as it is for a day on the beach (they do inevitably get punctured after a while so always good to buy them in a multi-pack).
Now any professional sandcastle building family will know that sometimes the shovel that comes in a comprehensive beach play set simply doesn’t cut it for those slightly larger beach creations.
For those ready to level up their hole digging and sandcastle building skills, you’ll need to invest in some longer and sturdier sand shovels. This set of three 14-inches sturdy plastic long-handled scoops are an ideal addition to your toddler’s beach kit.
Are the kids getting sick of sandcastle making? Well, let’s introduce them to sand baking! A brilliant Melissa & Doug invention, measuring cups and mixing bowls will have your little ones cooking you up a sandy treat in no time!
This seven-piece sand baking set consists of three shells shaped measuring cups, an octopus whisk, a crab mixing spoon, and a mixing bowl. The turtle lid on the mixing bowl doubles as a filter. Lots of creative new beach ideas to be had.
Another masterful Melissa & Doug creation, this toddler beach toy is perfect for your little ones who love to explore sand and water at work on the beach.
Your tot can pour water or sand through this whimsical tower of sea creatures, then watch as the different layers funnel, tip, spin, and sift.
The cheerful colors and sea creature decorations add to the fun, and the carry handle makes it easy to bring along on your next toddler trip to the beach.
Ready for a water battle? These cute and easy-to-use water squirters are small but effective for a junior family skirting game.
They are super lightweight and easy to refill, just point aim and squirt! They’re a lightweight and easy addition to your beach bag.
Looking for beach destination ideas? Find the top 20 beaches around the world chosen by our family travel experts
Perfect for your little princesses (and if you can allow the space with all your other beach essentials!) this bumper fourteen-piece sand toy set comes complete with its own beach wagon to pull all your sand sculpting kit along.
Inside you’ll find five unique castle molds, a sand wheel, water pail and play tools, all perfect for your kids next sand masterpiece! The wagon base measures 14 inches x 10 inches x 7 inches, and the handle extends 13 inches. Not ideal for a parent to pull but should work well from a more competent toddler + or preschool-aged child.
Whether it’s your sandbox at home or the big wide expanses of a beach, every toddler loves a dump truck toy and bulldozer playing with sand.
This quality John Deere sand toy set for toddlers is made to last and will become part of their beach toy set pride and joy.
Move aside plastic shovels! When your toddler has some serious digging work to do, this is the tool they’re gonna need!
It’s a little larger than most of the beach toys for toddlers we’ve described on this page but a lot of fun packed into one unit. Perfect for working on both their gross and fine motor skills, it’s the best sand toy a toddler could ask for.
Confession time, do you love sand play on the beach as much as your kids? This is the perfect tool for those bigger sand projects. It can also be used to write words in sand.
Allowing your older toddler to get truly messy with water and sand in one contraption, this is a master sandcastle builder’s delight that should last for years of trips to the beach!
This gorgeous kids’ garden toolset works equally well in the garden at home as it does at the beach. In a cute pull-along wagon, your tot can tend to the sand and shells with utmost care using the rakes, pots, and watering cans included in this 16-piece deluxe gardening set for toddlers and kids.
We also love this kids’ toy set as an excellent toddler camping toy too, with several useful tools to ‘help’ around your campsite.
Perfect for a dinosaur lover, this cute toddler sand toy set is next level for a variety of useful digging and sifting tools.
Start with dinosaur-shaped sand scoops then sift your finds through the sieve, make dinosaur footprints with the roller or creative molds for storytelling and imaginative play on the beach.
This set comes with its own handy mesh beach toy bag to keep all the sand play toys separate from the rest of your beach gear.
As your toddlers grow, an inflatable bodyboard is one of the best beach toys you can invest in for a child that is confident playing in the waves.
The soft inflatable bodyboards are the best for beginners with good grip handles and come in a wide variety of colors to suit your child’s growing personality.
Ball games are a wonderful family activity for the beach. Skip Fun Bouncer Balls are ideal as not only do they skim along the water, they float so you should have no problem finding your balls if they go astray.
In a handy mesh carry bag, each of the two packs comes with one Green/Blue and one Orange/Black.
These are ideal for older toddlers and preschoolers ready to work on their gross motor skills.
One that really fits in the toddler beach safety essentials rather than a toy, but they’ll definitely love it as part of their beach toy set is a puddle jumper.
No matter how confident your child is near the water, or if you’re only splashing at the ocean edge, not swimming, a toddler swim vest is a beach essential.
We love the puddle jumper design as it’s unobtrusive and stays with them all day, allowing them to go about their beach play but giving you peace of mind should they fall that they have buoyancy.
Another time that’s not a toy per se, but undoubtedly an important part of your toddler beach essentials for a big day at the beach, after all that play your tot will want somewhere they can sit back and relax. If they’ve outgrown the sort of baby beach chair where they are strapped in, this is the next step up to own their very own kids’ beach chair.
Once again, a wonderful Melissa & Doug design in a playful octopus pattern, or also available in colorful bug and butterfly designs.
Running short on space? Collapsible beach buckets are definitely one of the best recent inventions in kids’ sand toys!
Without a doubt, many of the items on this list, let’s be honest, are bulky which is fine if you live near the beach and just packing for a day trip; but the reality is many of us need to travel a long way for the beach and every inch of packing space can be precious. Collapsible buckets to the rescue!
These toddler beach toys have the same carrying capacity as their regular buckets but take up so much less space, it’s always worth having one in your day pack whenever you think you’ll be near water play.
You won’t stop hearing me sing the praises of stackable cups as one of THE most versatile travel toys. Even from as young as 1-year-old travel toys, there is just so much you can do with a simple set of cups.
As much fun in the sand or lakes as they are in the bathtub or playing on the hotel room floor, there are endless games that a toddler can entertain themselves with. the small holes will let water through but can hold sand well enough to make sandcastles.
If you are low on space but want something imaginative and fun to pack for your toddler, this is without a doubt the best toddler beach toy.
You can download our complete beach packing list for your next vacation by subscribing to our newsletter here
You’ll find more outdoor toy ideas in our guide to 15 Captivating Camping Toys for Toddlers
More tips for taking your toddlers to the beach
As well as having fun in the sun, don’t forget these important tips for taking your toddler to the beach:
- Staying hydrated – encourage your kids to take regular drinks, preferably water not juices and fizzy drinks. Keeping water in an insulated family cooler or the kid’s own insulated bottles will help keep it cool and refreshing.
- Use a pop-up beach tent – yes OK, I know it’s more gear but beach tents really are invaluable extra sun protection, especially for your little ones. We have a great range of ideas here from baby pods to larger family beach tents.
- Stay out of the sun altogether during the peak heat of the day, at least 11 am to 3 pm in the middle of summer. Beach time should be saved for mornings and evenings.
- Wear UPF 50+ sunscreen all the time (and don’t forget to reapply during the day), reef safe is always best for the beach.
Pop over to our complete beach packing list so you don’t miss anything next time you’re packing for the beach!
Any other favourite sand and beach toys you think we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments
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