How many activities can you cross off the RNLI’s Bucket and Spade List?
The RNLI has created a list of 30 things that every child should do at the seaside before they grow up.
The Bucket and Spade List includes exploring the hidden depths of rockpools, learning to recognise different types of fish and seabirds and creating jewellery and collages from shells and sea glass.
The Bucket and Spade List is ideal for grandparents and parents looking to keep children entertained over the summer holidays. It encourages them to go outdoors and enjoy a whole range of different beach activities around the UK’s beautiful coastlines.
The list ranges from activities that children can do at home, such as creating a seaside scrapbook using souvenirs collected at the beach, or learning how tides work, to creating sand artwork and swimming in the sea. Some of the activities are as simple as witnessing a sunrise or sunset, making a windvane, collecting shells and writing messages in the sand.
The list also offers important advice promoting beach and water safety, including learning what the different safety flags on the beach mean, what to do if you are caught in a rip current and how to avoid cold water shock by entering the water slowly.
Another activity on the list encourages families to visit an RNLI lifeboat station to see a lifeboat up close. Hastings Lifeboat Station, for example, has a purpose-built viewing platform that allows members of the public to see its brand-new Shannon class lifeboat, which is open to the public from 10am to 4pm.
The Bucket and Spade list encourages young people to help keep the beach clean by collecting litter to help preserve our beaches for generations to come.
Lead Lifeguard Supervisor at Ramsgate Support Centre, Lucy Macgowan, said: ‘Our free Bucket and Spade List offers grandparents and parents some great ways to have fun safely with children on the beach and at home this summer. We know have difficult it can be to keep children entertained over the long summer holidays, so this list offers inspiration for some low-cost ways to spend quality time together. We are really lucky to have such a beautiful coastline in the UK and encouraging the next generation to enjoy and appreciate it is really important.
‘This list also encourages families to help teach their children about the importance of beach and water safety. We strongly advise people to choose a lifeguarded beach where trained professionals are on hand to keep you safe and to swim between the red and yellow flags.’
You can download your free Bucket and Spade List here: Bucket and Spade list
Key facts about the RNLI
The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,000 lives.
Learn more about the RNLI
For more information please visit the RNLI website or Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube. News releases, videos and photos are available on the News Centre.
Contacting the RNLI - public enquiries
Members of the public may contact the RNLI on 0300 300 9990 (UK) or 1800 991802 (Ireland) or by email.