It's national picnic week!

This week is national picnic week, we've got some ideas for outdoor (or indoor) activities for snack and meals on the go. 

Simply getting some of your favourite foods and having an indoor or outdoor picnic is a perfect time to chat with your child. If you are short on time, simply taking a meal or snack somewhere new can be an exciting adventure. If you have a bit more time, you could have a go at one of these activities: 

Which would you like?

What you need 

• A prepared snack 
• A container
• A blanket or rug 

What to do 

1. Place your baby’s snack in the container. 
2. Put it on the blanket.  
3. Place your baby at the opposite end of the blanket and tell them you’re going to have a picnic. 
4. Give the snack container a jiggle and say, “I wonder what’s in here? Shall we look inside? Come on, let’s see.”  
5. Encourage your baby to crawl over to you.  
6. When they reach you, say: “Hooray, come on, shall we open it?”  
7. Your baby may move into a seated position so they can see what is inside the container.  
8. If they don’t do this by themselves, use words of encouragement to support their understanding of what you want them to do. You might say, “Oooh, let’s sit here and look inside,” or “Shall we sit together and look?”  
9. When your baby has moved into a seated position, open the container and enjoy the first part of your picnic.  

Good to know 

This can be played inside or out, depending on the weather. Choosing snacks can be a great way to encourage your child to use words, you could ask, "Would you like apple or banana?" and pause to give them time to answer. 

You choose

What you need 

• Picnic items, such as a blanket, plates, cups, cutlery and food (either real snacks or pretend ones) 

What to do 

1. Set up a picnic by placing your blanket or a piece of fabric on the floor, this could be inside or outside.  
2. Lay out plates and snacks.  
3. Say to your baby that you’re having a picnic and you’d like them to put food onto the plates. 
4. Point to a plate and say, “What food shall we put here?”  
5. If your baby doesn’t look at the plate, give it a jiggle to attract their attention. You could say, “Oh this plate is empty, what could go on there? Maybe a piece of apple?” 
6. Your baby might look towards the food and pick something out.  
7. Encourage them to place the food on the plate. 
8. When they do, give lots of praise! 

Good to know 

It’ll take a lot of practice for your baby to understand what is expected from them, so you can be delighted with any action that your baby makes with the picnic.  

Watch to see if they look towards something before picking it up. When they do, give lots of encouragement. You might say, “Oh wow, I saw that you wanted the apple, and you got it. That’s brilliant.” 

Older children could be involved in planning food for the picnic, you could make a list and go to the shops or make some picnic snacks together. 

Stacking snacks 

What you need