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One of the issues I really like most about summer season is the picnics. There’s one thing particular about stress-free at a park on a heat afternoon after exploring the sights and trails close by. It’s simply one in every of my favourite household outings! Over the years I’ve realized that including enjoyable and simple touches to a picnic can add pleasure to your journey. It additionally tends to have the facet advantage of motivating my kiddos to maintain transferring down the path to make it to the post-hike goodies. As you’re employed in direction of your 10 Park Challenge this month, think about these straightforward, enjoyable concepts to extend the playfulness of your loved ones picnic.
Charcuterie Board, Picnic Style
If your loved ones is like mine and prefers to graze on a wide range of goodies throughout outings, the kid-friendly charcuterie field is a superb possibility! You can re-use these outdated veggie or fruit trays out of your final barbeque and even use a clear deal with field and fill it with all your loved ones’s favorites. For us, we favor fruits (like blueberries and grapes), veggies (particularly peppers and carrots), lunch meat, cheese, crackers, nuts, and so on. My youngsters love to assist select which meals match and fill the tray earlier than we head to the park.
Freeze it
If you’re heading out for a enjoyable journey on a scorching day, take alongside some frozen treats to take pleasure in reminiscent of frozen grapes, frozen yogurt tubes, frozen fruit pouches, and so on. Even in the event that they thaw out earlier than you dig in, they’re positive to supply a chilly, refreshing deal with on a toasty summer season day.
Animal Themed Foods
One of my favourite snacks as a child was “ants on a log”. It was merely peanut butter on a celery keep on with raisins on prime. I assumed it was the best factor, and my dad and mom had been sneaking in veggies with out me preventing it. I now make this snack for my very own boys, and my older son will pre-make a batch and stick them in a container for our journeys to the path or the park. We prime them with raisins, blueberries, and even chocolate chips for a candy deal with.
Another enjoyable animal-themed snack is butterfly baggies. Simply fill a snack bag with one or two snacks, cinch the center with a pipe cleaner, and add a googly-eyed clothespin to complete them off. Simple and enjoyable for kiddos to take pleasure in and play with throughout a picnic.
Cookie Cutters – Not Just for Cookies
You know these cookie cutters you are inclined to retailer for 11 months out of the yr and pull out only for holidays? You now have an excuse to dig them out of storage and use them to make enjoyable sandwich shapes. Our favorites are the star and evergreen tree on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We additionally use the mini-cookie cutters on fruits and veggies reminiscent of cucumber slices and watermelon. They make for a enjoyable shock and encourage kiddos to eat extra fruits and veggies (who can resist a heart-shaped slice of cucumber?).
Food Art
Encourage your youngsters to “play with their food” to create enjoyable footage. Whether it’s cut-up vegetables and fruit, crackers, cheese sticks, and so on., you could be stunned at what their inventive minds provide you with! Simply use a serviette or plate as a canvas, present some examples if wanted, and watch them smile and snort. The better part? Clean-up is simple and nutritious.
Skewer it
I bear in mind one barbeque we attended the place they supplied some enjoyable fruit and veggie skewers as an appetizer. My choosy older son thought they had been the best factor and ended up consuming extra fruits and veggies in a single sitting than he ever had earlier than (a few of which he refused to eat when provided at house). I requested him what he liked about them, and he replied “Mom, they’re on a stick!” as if it was the obvious reply. Ever since then, I’ll usually carry fruit and veggie skewers on outings. I often minimize the sticks in half, pile on a sample of fruits and veggies reminiscent of strawberries, peppers, cucumbers, and grapes, and put them in a bag to take pleasure in on the park.
Chase the Rainbow
My household loves “Rainbow Picnics”. We head to the fridge (or grocery retailer) and select meals from each coloration of the rainbow to take together with us. Once we calm down with our picnic, we create a rainbow with our meals earlier than chowing down on our colourful goodies. Here are some choices we take pleasure in for every coloration:
- Red – Strawberries, purple peppers, grape tomatoes, watermelon, salami
- Orange – Carrots, orange slices, orange peppers, cheese
- Yellow – Yellow peppers, pineapple, banana
- Green – Green grapes, Kiwi, Sugar snap peas, cucumber
- Blue – Blueberries
- Purple – Purple grapes, cherries, purple peppers
Don’t Forget the Drinks
One of my favourite issues as a child was including contemporary fruit to selfmade lemonade. We would make the lemonade the evening earlier than and produce it to the park together with an assortment of contemporary fruit (reminiscent of strawberries, limes, and watermelon). You might additionally make some decaf solar tea and even only a particular bottled drink from the grocery retailer. Looking for an grownup beverage with out the unintended effects? I like to carry alongside some non-alcoholic brews to take pleasure in throughout a picnic, particularly following a hike. My favorites are the Upside Dawn and Free Wave brews from Athletic Brewing Company. They’re refreshing with out compromising my psychological state. As a bonus, this firm donates 2% of gross sales to defending and restoring native trails like those we continuously go to.
Pick Your Own Fruit
One of my favourite issues about our time in Washington State was blackberry season. We would go for a hike and snack on the blackberries rising all alongside the edges of the paths. Now that we’re in Virginia, now we have loved mulberries and the occasional wild strawberry. Just make sure you already know EXACTLY what the fruit is earlier than noshing on them to stop consuming inedible varieties. Common fruit varieties that ripen in the summertime embrace blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries.
Have the Kiddos Choose
My oldest tends to be a choosy eater. When we pack a picnic, I let him select which fruit, veggie, and sandwich he brings, and we decide a particular “picnic treat” on the grocery retailer. For older kiddos, you possibly can have them make and/or pack the picnic delicacies themselves (with some pointers if wanted). This can add to the thrill since they get to shock you with what they selected for the household.
We need to see what goodies you carry alongside in your subsequent picnic! That’s why Hike it Baby has partnered with Athletic Brewing for a #showusyoursnacks social media problem this month. When you’re out visiting parks and having fun with your outside time this month, you should definitely snap a photograph or reel of the way you and your loved ones likes to take pleasure in snacks on the go! Be positive to tag @hikeitbaby @athleticbrewing #10parkchallenge #showusyoursnacks and three pals you suppose will take part within the problem, and you’ll be entered to win a stocked cooler backpack from Athletic Brewing Company (https://athleticbrewing.com/)! (Be positive to make your settings public so we will see your posts and reels!). What playful concepts will you provide you with?
Cover photograph by Ali Chandra
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