Picnics are a great way to get kids to eat the food they may not normally eat!

Picnics are a great way to get kids to eat the food they may not normally eat!

Why? Because:

1. Whatever you pack in the picnic is what there is - there’s no access to the food in your cupboards or your fridge like there might be at home.

   So they won’t be able to say to you “Ugggh I don’t want that, I want toast instead” because you haven’t brought the toaster with you (please tell me you haven’t brought the toaster with you!)

   So use picnics as a brilliant opportunity to get loads of food that you want them to eat into your kids.

2. And secondly they’re gonna be out in the open air and doing lots of running around and activities so they’ll be starved…. another great strategy for getting them to eat things they might turn their nose up at at home!

   But what should you pack for a picnic with the kids? Here’s some very simple food and drink ideas for picnics: the most popular picnic food of all - sandwiches!

Always use a source of protein in your sambas to keep the kids fuller for longer. We are big tuna or chicken fans in our house but check out this blog for 30 sandwich fillings that your family might like:

1. Hard boiled eggs

2. Cubes of cheese

3. Chopped veggies - tomatoes, cucumber, pepper sticks etc.

4. Hummus

5. Popcorn

6. Fruit - cubed melon, apples, oranges, berries. We tend to leave the bananas as home for picnics!

7. Something sweet or we buy ice creams when we’re out

To drink it’s always water …

We use our Nom Nom Kids reusable sandwich and snack bags or the kids lunch boxes to store food.

We are lucky to live in Wicklow with some gorgeous picnic spots close to home.

Some of our favs are :

Devil’s Glen

Glendalough

Brittas Bay