by Nathalie Linge

Created on: June 13, 2010

Picnics are a great way to get fresh air in the summertime and spend quality time with your family but your kids don't want to sit on a blanket or at a table eating for more then five or ten minutes. Kids love to run, play games, climb on rocks, and swing. When having a picnic you should always have your kids in mind.

When deciding what to have at the picnic make sure that it's easy for the kids to eat and that they can eat and play as they want. You want to foods to give them energy, nutrients, and you want to enjoy it. Some great ideas are fruit and veggie buffets, cookies, sandwiches, chips, and drinks.

Fruit and Veggie buffet- this will give your children the nutrients they need.  Find a large plate and place a bowl, filled with a dressing, in the middle. Place cut carrots, cherry tomatoes, celery, and other favorite veggies around the plate. You could also place fruits such as apples, peaches, cherries, watermelon, or pineapples on the plate or a different plate.

Cookies- Cookies give kids the sweet satisfaction that they love.  You could make a batch of cookies or go to the store and buy a pack of cookies in a box. Give the children cookies when they are done eating the healthier portion of the picnic.

Sandwiches- Sandwiches may be hard to get your children to eat because they take a long time to eat or they just won't finish eating them.  What my mom did when I was young worked very well. She would make many sandwiches and cut an X in them so there were four triangles per sandwich. We would then just take a small sandwich from the plate whenever we were getting hungry.

Chips- Chips are always easy for kids to eat with their fingers because they can just take a few in their hands and eat them. They can be any flavor and you can leave them in the bag or place them in a bowl.

Drinks- Drinks are always important at a picnic because they keep the kids hydrated. Juice boxes are great because kids can take them wherever they go and it's hard to make a large mess with them. You can leave them in the fridge overnight before you go and they'll be chilled for when your child is ready for a drink.

One thing children love at picnics are unusual foods. These are healthy snacks that don't appear that way. My favorites are Ants of a Log and Sugar Bananas. Ants of a Log is celery with peanut butter in the middle. Then you place chocolate chips on the top and they can just bite the delicious healthy snack. Sugar Bananas are bananas that are cut up and dipped in the powder of gelatin. You then put a toothpick on them and freeze them for 15-20 minutes. They are delicious and kids love them.

Hopefully you are encouraged to take your kids to the park for a picnic in the summer because there shouldn't be anything stopping you and don't forget to bring a bottle of hand sanitizer to keep the germs off your kids fingers when they eat.

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