Winter Picnics Get Kids Outside

A Picnic is a State of Mind -- Anywhere!! 

A picnic is a state of mind and can be anywhere. Winter picnics can be more like a camping experience with campfire cooking, or a quick picnic snack in the backyard.  Each way gets children out of the house in the fresh air when the temperature is not too cold. It is an added plus when when the sun shines, but some winter areas around the country don’t get a lot of sun until February.  Who can wait that long?

Winter Park Picnic

  Look for a neighborhood park with a few trees and bring along a tarp and blanket.  The tarp will keep the blanket dryer and more comfortable. To make the picnic simple you can pack a thermos of tomato, chicken noodle, or vegetable soup and cups and your children’s favorite crackers and cheese. Mac and cheese also works well. Add some carrots and dip, some berries, cookies and hot chocolate.  You can also go to a sheltered spot or snow fort in your back yard.

Try a Winter Campfire Picnic

Winter Campfire Picnics

  If exploring as a family, you may want to try a campfire picnic. There are few tricks to starting a campfire in the snow and maintaining it   Shovel the snow aside so that you can start the fire on solid ground or if there’s a thick base or too much snow to push aside, pack it down so that you have a solid platform to put a base of logs like a raft to start your fire on. Search for dry wood under vegetation. Pine cones, dry birch bark pieces and pine needles make a good kindling. Surround the fire with any logs you haven’t used, so the heat of the fire can help dry them out and provide you with extras. Some people place two small logs going east and west and the next layer going north and south to make a little chimney hole. Then they build the fire inside the hole.

Camp fire recipes

Adapt Those Summer Recipies & Take Them on the Trail!

Many summer camping recipes can be adapted to winter.  The trick is to make foods ahead of time, and wrap them in double tin foil. Serve with hot chocolate and end the meal with s’mores.

 To make stew packets, brown one pound of ground turkey or beef. Place some diced carrots, potatoes and one onion in a little olive oil and cook in a fry pan until tender. Stir in meat and add salt, pepper and  herbs. Make four little double layer foil pockets and place ¼ of the mixture and ¼ cup of chicken broth in each one. Roll foil tightly and seal. Place on white coals until warm. Burritos are also a hit made ahead and warmed on white coals. For more winter fun see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com or wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons.

Photos, Fran Darling: fdarling fotos

Picnics Are Fun for Teaching

Summer Is Picnic AND Learning Time

Summer is the perfect time for combining skills with a picnic. This easy activity filled with fun and learning is another way to have more TIME IN with children. 

You’ll need picnic materials, children’s favorite picnic foods, a frozen drink can of juice or water, carrots, fruits, cookies, plastic knife, peeler, camera, and drawing materials.

Plan Together

Step by step plan a picnic lunch together. Even with nonreaders write a list with careful printing and correct capitals and lower case letters. Where will you go? What things should you bring? Making lists improves thinking, planning, reading, and writing skills.  Children who help adults write lists learn it is a useful skill.

Make some of the food together at home. Read out loud, follow directions on the frozen drink can, and measure the water together to increase math and reading skills. Children learn by example. If adults show that reading and math are important, kids will mimic adults and think those skills are important, too.  Families are the most powerful teachers.

Learning is Fun

While making sandwiches, children can help spread the butter, or peanut butter and jelly. Talk about cutting the sandwiches in halves or fourths. Make triangles, trapezoid, and rhombus (diamond) shapes. 

What Are Your Favorite Foods?

Discuss how many pieces you will need.

With a little help, children can peel the carrots, wash the fruit, and place things in containers to develop fine motor skills. Then pack up.  Did you remember everything?  Check off the list you made together. If the weather is not picnic perfect, the back yard or a place in front of a fan or air conditioner can be a good spot.

Once you have the place, children can spread out a blanket, set up the food, and pass out supplies. Planning and setting up a sequence of activities is an important learning skill. 

If you are eating outside, look around and have a conversation. What kind of summertime plants and animals do you see?  How is the weather (wind, clouds, sunshine)? 

What Kind of Summertime Plants Do You See?

What foods are your favorites? If there is sand close by, make squares, rectangles, circles, semi circles, rhombus, trapezoids, triangles, letters, and numbers in the sand. Count the number of sides and corners (vertices).

You can take pictures of the whole process to make a little word memory book or to send to relatives.

Afterwards, children can draw pictures about making food or having the picnic.   Young children can tell you how to label each object or print a sentence about the pictures.  Then families can make a little book with the pages and read the words together.

Photo: Fran Darling - fdarling fotos 
Sketches: Mark Nowicki

For more science and math STEM adventures go to -  grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons live Tuesdays at 4:30pm and Saturdays at 8:30 am and pod casts archived on the site.