It’s Picnic Time!

With a little bit of forward planning, preparation and (the all-important bit) some good luck – this is England after all & we know the weather can’t always be relied upon! – you can gear up for a super, fun & (relatively) stress free picnic!

The great thing about a picnic is that there is definitely something in it for everyone – family or friends and all ages. It ias easy to involve all age groups and is an especially exciting event to involve the children. From letting them choose (and make, if you have time) something to take as a treat to including them in the choice of sandwiches and what cakes and biscuits to pack. However you decide to approach the preparation phase, try and make it an enjoyable and interactive experience.

By following a plan and some tried and tested picnic tips, you will be sure to make your outing more of a success and reduce some of those irritating moments that can spoil things!(“but I thought you were bringing the…”).

If possible, try and choose a suitable location or spot BEFORE you go. The most important things to consider when choosing the venue are: how far will we have to walk (which needs to take into account young children, grandma & grandpa, disabilities etc) and also, how far will we need to carry everything from the car – there is always more stuff than you think, so don’t make parking too far away!

Use this guide of tips and ideas for maximum picnic success!:

• Pack those key essentials, namely: wet wipes, kitchen roll/paper towel, napkins, bottle opener, wine cooler, hand sanitiser, rubbish bags, sun cream and insect repellent (see below for a simple homemade repellent).
• Have you packed a suitable big rug/blanket for people to sit on? And if you have plenty of people to help carry everything, consider taking a parasol/umbrella in case shade is needed for people or the food.
• Consider taking your own plates, cutlery and glasses. They are heavier to carry, but disposable cutlery and paper plates involve a lot of waste. Whatever you decide, don’t actually forget the plates, cutlery and glasses!
• There’s nothing worse than cold drinks arriving lukewarm, so a really useful tip is to fill a thermos flask with ice cubes and dispense as required. You could also freeze favourite juices in ice cube trays, tip them into a Tupperware for the journey to let them defrost and voila! on arrival you have cold juice for everyone.
• Similarly, a great idea is to freeze bottles/containers of water which will defrost on the way so everyone will have access to chilled water. These bottles/containers are a double lifesaver as they are useful coolers for the food on the journey.
• As you will no doubt, have gone to a lot of trouble preparing and organising the picnic food, this next tip is very important! If you aim to lay ALL the food out at once (or most of it) you will ensure that nothing is either forgotten completely or will be in danger of getting warm/going off/congealing/melting in containers and this way the food will be eaten when it is as fresh as possible. Leave it to everyone to pick and choose savoury or sweet food first and on this occasion try to be relaxed about the children starting with something sweet – which is most likely given the choice!
• Encourage each adult to bring their own cushion or aim to provide everyone with one for a little bit more comfort. It also means people can move around individually with their cushion as it suits them, rather than having to move everything and everyone on the main blanket all the time.
• A useful tip to stop cups/glasses etc falling over on uneven ground is to pack a muffin tray which can hold the cups in place or if you can fit it in/manage to carry, take a lightweight tray or two for the cups & glasses to be assembled on in the centre of the rug.
• Take something for a bit of light entertainment – a fun activity to do/play is always useful. Easy options for this are a rugby/football, bat and ball or a Frisbee/Nerf ball. You could even play charades!
• Don’t forget the dog! If you do have canines at your picnic, remember they will need water and shade and don’t let them scavenge lots of food from the picnic spread as some of it won’t be suitable for them and you won’t want to be dealing with a sick dog.
• How to make your own bug repellent: put a few drops of essential peppermint oil into a small bottle and spray/dab it liberally around the edges of your picnic blanket to deter flies and ants, who apparently hate the smell of peppermint!

That’s it! – Happy Picnic Season Everyone!