Picnic Ideas

I don't know about all those who may be reading this right now, but here it is nice and warm!  Perfect weather for a picnic!  Now, don't get intimidated by that word.  I avoided picnics for a while because I thought I need a nice picnic basket and lots of disposable plates and utensils and a nice picnic blanket and all that.  Though I still plan to get a picnic basket and make a picnic blanket because I think they're fun, I have discovered the simple joys of having a basic picnic with my kids!  Here are a few ideas that hopefully will help inspire you too!


Just put whatever your having for lunch in some tupperware and put your tupperware in a plastic bag and walk to the nearest park (if it's within walking distance, we live in an apartment complex so it's nice and close for us), after you eat, the kids can play or you all can have a game of Frisbee! Tip: if it's windy, and you have paper plates, turn a Frisbee upside down and put the paper plate in it to keep it sturdy and keep it from blowing away!

If you don't have a picnic blanket, either: just sit at a picnic table at a park, or just sit on a vinyl tablecloth, or just use an old sheet or blanket that you don't care about anymore, or use something that won't sow grass stains very much and wash it really well afterwords!

Some menu ideas:
Leftovers from the night before (heat them before leaving the house)
Sandwiches: pb&j, pb& honey, ham and cheese, whatever
Taco salad
Macaroni and cheese
hot dogs (heat and wrap in tin foil)
ants on a log (celery with peanut butter and raisins)
yogurt parfaits (yogurt with some kind of cereal, we like the honey oat cluster mixed with vanilla yogurt, we bring cups,spoons, a bag of cereal, and yogurt in the tub.  Then we mix it in out individual cups and enjoy!)
BBQ (if you have a grill or if you go to a park with a grill)

Another tip if you have a baby, is being some baby food in a little jar or tupperware and a baby spoon and bib and then spoon feed them in their stroller (this works best with things you know they'll gobble up, like applesauce or mashed bananas).

My kids love little picnics!  Another nice thing about them is that if you have something that makes a lot of crumbs, you just have to brush off the kids when they stand up, you don't have to worry about cleaning your whole dining area after lunch!  Yay for laziness!


This post is linked to the 4 moms, 35 kids picnic linky at Smockity Frocks