Looking for a place to visit for vacation that doesn’t scream “No kids allowed?” Look no further than beautiful and family-friendly Virginia Beach. In addition to offering a great year-round climate for your family, Virginia Beach combines beauty with a laid-back vibe that says casual is not only good, but welcomed. And, as we all know, families with young kids and teens definitely need casual. Casual doesn’t need to be boring, though. Consider the following ways you can plan for and create your own distinctive adventures while visiting Virginia Beach.
First Things First
Start up the party engine by letting the city know you’ve arrived. Before you leave for Virginia Beach, take an online stroll to find head-turning matching outfits for your kids, parents and kids, grandparents and kids, well…everyone! There is an advantage to wearing matching outfits while vacationing, as it’s easier to keep everyone in the family together if matching outfits are in place (and it’s fun, too). In addition to matching tops, shirts, and pants, try matching hats, matching socks, or a matching dress set that show off your family bonds, as well. The door is open when it comes to matching!
Plan It Out to Play It Out
The easiest way to vacation is to toss everything your family may need into backpacks and hop on a plane. The most difficult way to vacation is trying to figure out what you’ll do in Virginia Beach after you get there. And, it can mess up an entire week of vacation if no planning or preparation has been completed. Yes, we know it’s hard to find time to plan beforehand, but trust us when we say you do not want to get to Virginia Beach without hotel reservations, tour tickets, and other special event tickets in hand. Get after it and then get on the plane.
Definitely: The Beach
The Guiness Book of Records states that Virginia Beach holds the “longest pleasure beach in the world.”
With that said, you’ll want to focus on the beach for much of your creative family fun. Take inflatable pirate swords and “gold” coins, along with inflatable buckets to play “Steal the Golden Treasure.” Simply divide your family into teams, count off about thirty paces and each team can partially bury their bucket in the sand. Add the coins to each bucket. Line up in-between the two buckets, each team facing the gold of the other team and have one family member whistle to start the game. Each team will try to steal the gold from the other team’s bucket. The game ends when one team has all the gold, or when the adults get worn out. The team with the most gold wins the game.
Backwards: Dinner Your Eat
Dinner can be a hard sell for the entire family, especially when you have little ones and everyone wants something different. Try a favorite creative menu by telling your family dinner will be backwards. It will start with dessert (such as an ice cream cone), followed by chicken and French fries, and finish with a cup of fruit or green salad. Anything eaten “backwards” is exceptionally exciting for children under the age of ten and anyone older than eighty.
Go Ahead: Buy In
Virginia Beach is loaded with fun places to experience. Check out the wide variety of activities, amusements, and water-based events that your family will enjoy. Buy tickets, if needed, in advance to secure the best prices. Children especially enjoy aquariums, fishing on the pier (especially if they’ve never fished before), riding in a boat, going to an outdoor concert, amusement parks with rides, and the list goes on.
Family Scavenger Hunt
On your first day of vacation, before venturing out, give your family members cards that list a variety of items they need to collect to during the scavenger hunt on your vacation. These can include such items as a used business card, an interesting shell, a newspaper found in Virginia Beach, a leaf collected on the ground, and other items of interest. On the last day, the winner is the family member with the most “qualified” items from the list. The winner is rewarded with a monetary amount determined by whoever in the family has any cash left on the last day. This game keeps everyone on a single hunt for the duration of the vacation.
5-Minute Grocery Store Challenge
Another creative idea is to find a friendly grocery store in Virginia Beach and give everyone the “Five Minute Grocery Store Challenge.” Adults and older children can play this game by themselves, children under the age of ten should be paired with an adult. Again, the rules are simple: each player has five minutes to find what they want to eat for your meal and return to the checkout area with items in hand. No running allowed, but fast walking certainly is. This is a creative way to incentivize and include everyone in meal plans. Try not to be surprised by some of the odd choices. Glazed donuts and instant shrimp ramen, anyone?
Vacationing in Virginia Beach will always hold special family memories when creative ideas are introduced and go according to plans and expectations. The entire family will hold even longer-lasting, delightful memories, however, of the creative games that were introduced and didn’t go according to expectations at all. That’s what makes a family vacation so much fun.
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