It’s hard to believe we’re already at our tenth family picnic post! We’ve been sharing picnic-ready ideas for food, fun and conversation throughout the summer of 2020. We hope families will use these ideas to connect during a stressful and uncertain time. Especially right now, as many kids get ready for back-to-school (or back to distance learning), a weekly family picnic could be a fun and calming ritual to add to the calendar.
This Week’s Family Picnic Menu
A classic sandwich recipe takes center stage this week! We’re pairing it with a simple salad that gets better as it sits, plus a fun backyard dessert. And because the pulled pork recipe gets made in a slow cooker, it’s perfect for any occasion when you won’t have lots of time to cook. It’s also versatile. Check out these recipes for tacos and pan-fried burritos using the same pork as the base.
Pulled Pork sandwiches are easy to pull together. Dress them up with whatever fixings you like: Slaw, different sauces or fresh vegetables.
Dilled Cucumber Salad is a fast and fresh summer side dish. Make it ahead of time and let it sit in the fridge, where it will get tastier as it rests!
Finish your picnic with a s’mores bar like the one we featured in our book Eat, Laugh, Talk: The Family Dinner Playbook. You can let your imagination run wild creating new delicious options!
Fun
A read-aloud is a great way to keep kids engaged for family time, and it works for any age group. All readers in the family can take turns, so everyone has a chance to eat. You can pick anything you’d like to read together, from storybooks to novels or even an interesting news article. Make it silly with a collection of funny poetry, or serious with a book on a topic your family wants to learn about. And if you need more ideas to engage everyone, try some of the literacy games below!
Conversation
Keep the theme going with these conversation starters about books and reading.
