Going to the beach can mean a mini vacation for the whole family, but that doesn’t mean your beach day needs to break the bank with fancy beach toys. With a little bit of creativity, you’ll find that your house probably already has items to make a beach day both fun and cheap. Read on for a list of 8 household items you can use for the beach.

1. Fitted sheet: By using a fitted sheet and tucking items in each corner, you can keep your towel oasis sand-free. Check out how via this Buzzfeed Article (#2).
2. Kitchen strainer: This handy kitchen tool isn’t just for the kitchen. You can delete kids for hours by showing them how to scoop and sift sand back and forth.
3. Cookie cutters: Making a sand castle? Why not decorate! You can use any shape, in any size, to make shapes in wet sand right in the ground or on any sand structure.
4. A pitcher or bucket: Whether you’re burying someone in sand or scooping water onto the beach, you can’t go wrong with a small, medium and/or large bucket. Bonus points: you can use it to carry all of your other kitchen items!
5. Large soup spoon: No plastic shovels needed here. Scoop away with spoons of all shapes and sizes without spending a dime on fancy shovels.
6. Gardening tools: Small hand shovels and rakes are just beach toys covered in dirt!
7. Body powder: As fun as the beach can be, leftover sand can be a pain. Grab some baby powder and use on skin once your beach day is over, and the sand will come right off.
8. Plastic containers & leftover boxes: You don't have to bring your expensive food containers, but perhaps you have some butter or sour cream tubs in the recycle bin, and some folded up boxes from your last Amazon Prime shipment. Clean them well and bring them with to protect items from the sand or to build a massive sand castle!

A day at the beach doesn’t have to be an expensive luxury, but instead can be an exercise in creativity and fun for the whole family. Grab these items and others before heading out for your next beach day!