Holding a Family Picnic

CEBU, Philippines — Summer offers various possibilities for the family. It’s a time for growing kids to learn some new skills – and for everyone to have fun. At home, the family may spare some time together to get closer, to celebrate one another.

It is always a good idea to try something else. And it need not have to be something that costs way beyond the family budget. At least, everybody deserves sharing a meal that is out of the ordinary – a meal other than what is ordinarily taken in the dining room.

For once or twice this summer, the family may dine out… outside the house. It doesn’t have to be in a posh restaurant. If it’s possible to go to the beachside, that would be a great place. But where the resources are meager, having a picnic right in the backyard is good enough.

The change of venue itself makes for some new experience, something to make everyone excited. It can possibly make things look fresh and different. Family members may be prompted to see one another and their relationships in a positively new light.

Aside from being a boredom buster, having a family picnic can be good bonding for the family. It need not take more than a picnic basket, a few food items, and help from all family members to organize. The following ideas from the website www.wikihow.com can help a lot in organizing a family picnic:

1. Select a weekend to have your picnic. Make sure the time and date is okay with the whole family. If you want to, you may invite relatives and friends to join.

2. Choose an appropriate location. The farm, the park, or outside in the front lawn works out just fine. Be sure to listen to any suggestions that family members might have about picking out a decent place.

3. Bring a picnic basket along for the event. It should be medium to large sized, depending on how many food items you plan to bring. If you have items that can spoil in the heat, you should have a cooler to bring with you too.

4. Select the menu. Consider that the most popular food items to bring to your picnic are peanut butter and jelly and ham and cheese sandwiches, chocolate chip cookies, chips, and soda. Among the healthier items there are watermelon, apples, celery, and raisins, to name a few. Ask friends with experience in picnicking to help you choose food items that are good to have.

5. Remember other food ideas including fried chicken, potato salad, coleslaw and pickles,  strawberry cake, blueberry pie, cheese spread with crackers, and grapes, which are great snacks for both kids and adults. 

 6. Organize fun games and activities for the kids or teenagers or anyone else that will be attending. 

7. Think up other things to make sure that everybody has a good time.

Those ideas need not be strictly followed to the last dot. But at least those can prime one’s thinking about the important things to cover. And those will certainly help in making everything about the family picnic run smoothly.