Seven Tips for Successful Family Picnics

by Lynn Fredericks, author of Cooking Time is Family Time

School's out and the kids have more free time and no homework to boot. Why not steer their creative energies into spontaneous family picnics? The destination is secondary to the enjoyment of an informal meal, outdoors, with opportunities for family sports activities (soccer, baseball, simple game of catch) or playtime with the family pet! The backyard or a neighborhood park is fine -- it's not necessary to plan a long-distance trip.

1. First, announce that you're going to have a picnic-style dinner and you want their help and suggestions.
2. Let them choose from the following list of responsibilities:
Menu
Assembling ingredients and preparing the food
Beverages
Blanket(s)
Baskets, bags, shopping cart for transporting the meal
Plastic or paper plates, cups, cutlery, etc.
Extracurricular activities: sports equipment, dog toys, titles for charades
3. Don't give each child more than two jobs.
4. Decide on a time when all duties must be completed.
5. If you're a working mom, plan the picnic a day ahead, giving extra time for shopping and preparing food. There's no need to do everything from scratch -- a combination of prepared salads and some homemade sandwiches is very easy. Bean salads are especially good for picnics as their flavor improves with time and they can sit out at room temperature
6. Make sure one or more kids are involved in the actual food preparation and encourage them to be a little adventurous, taking advantage of some seasonal produce that they may not be familiar with, e.g. watercress or arugula for the salad, fava beans in the pasta salad, tofu in the egg salad, etc.
7. Keep your cool -- remind everyone that the idea is to have fun!

source : http://parenting.ivillage.com