Summer is the time for vacations, outdoor sports, reunions, and of course picnics. Apart from holidays and birthdays, summertime is a prime time of year for family togetherness. Whether you celebrate with biological family and/or a family of friends is up to you. In addition to good people you also need a few other elements to throw a grand picnic. Here are a few quick suggestions on location, food, and activities to better include everyone in your party no matter their age or ability.
Location
No matter where you live or what you live near you can make nearly any location picnic friendly. Castello offers suggestions for picnics in nature, by the waterfront, or in urban settings. A park or forest is the perfect spot for an outdoor picnic with plenty of room to invite all of your friends and family. Big shady spots under trees helps keep the summer heat from being a factor. Plus, many parks and forest settings have easy access to tables and benches, as well as, access to bathrooms. If the location is used often or is a tourist locale, chances are the facilities are handicap accessible as well. Waterfront locations offer beautiful backdrops but not as much shade. It’s essential to remember to bring sunscreen when utilizing these locations. As with parks and forests if it’s a known tourist area, or often used, chances are there will be accessible bathrooms and places to dine off the ground. If the beautiful green outdoors and waterfront areas are not an option than pack a small picnic basket and find the perfect setting near where you live. A rooftop with a view of the city skyline, town square, a public park, a bench or a quiet green space in an urban garden or even your own balcony are all perfect places for a picnic. Many urban areas are also accessible but when in doubt check in advance if such amenities are needed for your party.Food
Just because it’s the summer and you’re at essentially an outdoor party it’s still possible to dine with your health in mind. WebMD provides numerous suggestions on better choices and a list of easy to make recipes all on the same page (when you choose “see all” instead of using a slide show). The main takeaways from this article is to avoid or limit the more fattening foods such as mayonnaise-based dishes, fried foods, hamburgers and hot dogs and to substitute more healthy alternatives. Summer is an excellent time of year for fresh fruits and vegetables and these make an easy substitute or add-in for everything from what you to drink to what you dessert on. Instead of the more fattening main courses they suggest using wrap-based entrees utilizing more lean meats, veggies, nuts, and low-calorie sauces. As a reminder, just before the recipes, they include making sure your food arrives and stays safe and to be sure to include some type of exercise to your outing. Ways to make food preparation easier can be found in this week’s newsletter or by choosing one of the following: 4 Piece Floral Knife Set, Talking Digital & All Purpose Thermometer, or Pot & Lid 7 Piece Set in Stainless Steel.Activities
Who doesn’t enjoy good clean wholesome family fun? BuzzFeed provides a list of 27 fun outdoor games to play all summer long. Here are a few of the more accessible friendly activities with adaptability suggestions from Child Development Programs :- Bean Bag Ladder Toss: Easy to set up and easy to play. Grab a ladder from the garage and toss bean bags through the different rungs to earn points. Can be made adaptable for the visually impaired by including bells inside the bean bags and using brightly colored tape on the ladder rungs.
- Glow in the Dark Bowling/Bowling: Add glow sticks into ten bottles of water to make bowling pins you can use at night. You can use the bottles during the day for bowling as well making them adaptable with stones, balls, high contrast safety tape, and brightly colored yarn.
- Glow in the Dark Capture the Flag: A fun update of your favorite game from gym class using glow sticks instead of flags. The instruction page elaborates that this game is played in the dark with brightly glowing sticks and bracelets. This game seems ideal for the visually impaired to be on a fairly even playing ground with their peers.
- Spaghetti Scavenger Hunt: This game allows you to have messy food fun *without* gorging. You hide small items (like gummy bears or peanut M&M's) in giant plates of spaghetti, set the plates down on a tarp-covered picnic table, and have the contestants search for them--using their mouths! If you decide to go with this game, please be aware of potential allergies with all participants.
