Plan a Picnic -- Indoors?

Picnics are definitely a summertime favorite for kids of all ages, but how about planning a wintertime picnic? What better way to enjoy a fun, indoor activity by staying warm and not worrying about the ants! What to bring is always a big decision. Involve your children in menu planning and skill building while you are planning your fun time together. 

Materials you will need: Food magazines or old cookbooks with pictures, scissors, glue, paper plates, markers, crayons, paper punch, yarn, and drawing paper

What to do:

  Plan the Meal: Before you invite your children to go on a picnic, label several paper plates with the incomplete sentence:  _____will eat_____on our picnic. Explain that a menu needs to be planned. Ask your children what are their favorite picnic foods. Be sure to share your favorites. Make a list of these foods. Talk with your child about healthy choices and a well-balanced meal. 

  The nutrition site www.choosemyplate.gov has a many easy food suggestions for young children.  Decide what to bring and put a check mark by each food you will pack. Find pictures of favorite picnic foods in magazines or old cookbooks. Your child might want to draw and color the foods instead.

  Help your child, if necessary, cut out the pictures. Glue one picture in the middle of each paper plate pre-labeled with the sentence. Remind your children that one dot does a lot when using glue. Help your children correctly print their name on the first blank and the name of the food on the second blank. 

  Writing tips:  Use pencil dots as a guide for children to trace. Use only a capital letter at the beginning of your children’s or your name. Help children listen for sounds in the words that will be written down. Children could substitute your name on some of the plates. 

   Make a Meal Book: Decide upon a title and write it on a clean paper plate. Stack the finished plates under the front cover and bind the book along the left edge using the punch and yarn. Take time to read the book together. Have your child read each food item as you pack it. Once you are all packed, off you go on a warm sunny adventure indoors or outdoors!

How does this help my children?

Your children are learning about making healthy choices when deciding on what to eat. They are learning name recognition and writing the names correctly. When writing, your children are learning letter recognition, letter sounds, practicing correct letter formation, and that peoples’ names begin with capital letters. Proper print letter formation is found on line and in children’s practice books.

What else can I do? Go to the library to find  "Teddy Bears' Picnic" by Jimmy Kennedy and "The Bears' Picnic by Stan Berenstain. Then cuddle and enjoy some great picnic tales.

Photos: Picnic Basket: Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Author: Jeremy Noble; Campsite Mural (Teddy Bears' Picnic), Campsie, Omagh - geograph.org.uk - 619801.jpg. From Wikimedia Commons; Salads: By U.S. Department of Agriculture (20111025-FNS-RBN-2046) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Find More Activities: 

For more help to prepare young children for success in school see the authors’ web site www.grandparentsteachtoo.org.

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