It may not seem like it today, but I promise you that picnic weather is on the way! Picnic parties are a lot of fun for all ages, and it’s a great way to enjoy that warm weather that I know you’ve been missing all winter. Although this article focuses on birthday parties, all of the ideas here could be used for other events like a company family picnic, a family reunion or even just a fun playdate.
Location and setup
One of the great things about a picnic party is that the beautiful surroundings also act as decoration for your event. If you are choosing a location with picnic tables, see if you are able to book the area ahead of time so that someone else doesn’t scoop it up on the day of your event. Bring along some supplies to wipe the table and chairs down as well.
If you are having a picnic in the grass, be sure to bring a few soft blankets to sit on. It’s always a good idea to bring along a tarp for under the blanket just in case the grass was just watered. No one wants to sit on a soggy blanket!
If it is a really hot or sunny day, you may want to select an area with shade or bring along some items to help shade the party area like a food tent designed to go over a picnic table.
For any outdoor party, it’s always a good idea to have a backup plan in case of poor weather. Your local greenhouse would be a great place to book an indoor picnic party.
Food and drinks
For a picnic party, you could either set out a large buffet for guests to dig into or you could hand out individual picnic packages of food for each of the guests. I personally like the individual boxes of food for each guest because the individual containers and wrapped food help to keep the bugs out. Also, the wrapped food is just so cute!
Any small boxes, medium-sized picnic baskets or even medium-sized plastic baskets would work great for holding the food.
Each picnic snack pack could include food such as:
• Wooden utensils
• Napkins
• Mason jar desserts that don’t need to be refrigerated like layers of cake and icing
• Mason jars filled with juice and ice cubes with a paper straw attached to the side with washi tape
• Sandwiches wrapped in checkered wax paper and labelled with the type of sandwich (pepperoni, vegetarian, etc.)
• Cookies in small red chevron-print paper bags
• Small packages of cheese and crackers
• Small servings of pasta salad
• Cake pops
• Push pop containers filled with candy
• Sliced vegetables
The food can be wrapped and decorated with items like washi tape, checkered wax paper, bakers twine and personalized food labels.
Activities
There are so many activity ideas for a picnic party, and many of them don’t require any supplies.
In addition to playing in a playground and digging in the sand, here are some classic games for children:
• Tag
• Simon Says
• Red Light, Green Light
• 3-Legged Race
• Duck, Duck, Goose
• Freeze Tag
• Games with Hula Hoops
• Obstacle Course
• Games with a Large Play Parachute
Favors
To thank guests for coming to your event, mini picnic baskets could be filled with treats such as:
• Crayons
• Stickers
• Activity Books
• Jar of Bubbles
• Sidewalk Chalk
• Small Outdoor Toys
• Candy
I hope you have a fabulous party!
Cheryl is a married mother of one. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with a strong interest in parties and event planning. She is the owner and writer for Moms & Munchkins (www.momsandmunchkins.ca), which is filled with ideas for family fun, activities for kids, party ideas, party planning tips, holiday fun, moms’ night out ideas and more.
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