Do you have a vision of a lovely tartan rug spread on lush grass with children relaxing and eating their picnic lunch quietly? My best advice is to forget that vision instantly, it’s confined
to Enid Blyton books. A more realistic family picnic is one where the parents stay with the food and the children wander back and forth between exploring and their activities.
Food that can be grabbed by little hands and carried around is ideal for picnic baskets. Some of the things that my children like to eat on the go are: sandwiches, bananas, grapes, raisins, crackers, yoghurt tubes, cheese, apples, breadsticks, chickpeas, mangetout, and carrot sticks. They are also massive fans of sausages and sausage rolls.
The bonus with most of these foods is that they require very little preparation, can be easily packed up, and cost relatively little.
I’m a fan of letting the kids picnic in the back garden as often as they like. If it’s raining, they prefer to shelter in the shed rather than come back indoors. It’s not that I force them to eat outdoors; it’s just that food tastes nicer out in the fresh air.
Serving food in the back garden is a doddle as it’s simply a case of handing out the usual plates and cutlery, and the food can be hot or cold. You don’t have to worry about storage, preparation, or carting waste home.
So what happens when you take kids, plus a picnic on the road? It’s not quite as easy, but with a little bit of forward planning, you can picnic well, without stress.
Don’t discard the school lunchboxes over the holidays. In fact, encourage your kids to fill them themselves before heading out on an expedition. Put the available healthy foods on the table, and ask them to pick what they like, ensuring that they have a carbohydrate, protein, and dairy source in the lunchbox.
Children are more likely to eat what they prepare themselves, even if you sometimes need to jolly them along to do it.
The key to making this kind of picnic work is that the adults choose from the same food options. It’s always tempting to keep a special food or treat for the grown-ups when you’re on a picnic. But normally what happens is that the children end up clamouring for “a taste” or “just a bit”, so I find it’s just not worth it. We just eat the same food together. Who wants to be preparing two different picnics anyway?
For drinks, we stick to water. Milk can sometimes spoil if it’s not kept in a cool, dark place. Cycling bottles with sports caps are generally opaque and so keep water cooler for longer.
If it’s an extremely hot day, take a regular water bottle the night before and fill it three-quarters full with water. Put the bottle into the freezer, then before going out on your picnic, add it to your basket. It serves two purposes. The first is a handy cool-pack for the entire picnic and the second is that while the water will have defrosted by the time you drink it, it’ll still be icy cold. You can do the same with yoghurt tubes. If they’re not defrosted, the kids will love the ready-made ice-pop.
Don’t expect your child to eat new foods or food combinations in a new environment on a picnic. Do take some new food for them to try, but don’t be offended if they turn it down. If your child has a meltdown and refuses to eat anything, and you end up giving them a treat just so they eat something, don’t despair. We have all been there, and the picnic is just one meal out of the day. You can feed your child up with other healthy options when you’re in the comfort of your own home.
The days of a crisp sambo made with sliced white pan and bag of cheese and onion crisps, seasoned with sand from the beach, washed down with a tin of orangeade passed from sibling to sibling, have a lot to answer for. We’ll have that guilty pleasure picnic at least once this summer, and I may even buy a few 99s for afters.
