Does your family enjoy a picnic? Is there any better way to enjoy the balmy air and bright sunshine than to get the family, and perhaps some congenial friends, together in some pleasant spot out of doors, lay aside your dignity, along with your town clothes and join the children in a real frolic with some good things to eat thrown in?
The lunch need not be an elaborate one because the enchantment of the outdoors makes the simplest food delicious. Roasted potatoes, sweet corn roasted in the husks, and steaks grilled over the open fire never fail to please, or if you are not the boy-or-girl-scout type, and do not enjoy outdoor cooking, the food can all be prepared at home. Good old potato salad with deviled eggs, hearty sandwiches and fruit are always easy to serve.
A true and tried way to prevent too many fist fights and too many ducklings in the creek by the younger members of the crowd is to keep them busy with games planned ahead of time. On the way to the picnic ground usually excitement prevails. To calm the younger members of the family and to ease that sense of tenseness, we divide our carload into two teams. One team watches the right-hand side of the road and the other the left. The teams count cows, winning one point for every cow seen except for the white ones which count five points.
This keeps the children busy, and busy children are not restless. To add spice to the game for the older youngsters we have a ruling that whenever a member of one team sees a white horse on the opponent side of the road, it cancels all the opponent's points, and that side must start over again. Usually a total of 100 or 150 points is agreed upon as game.
If our chosen picnic spot is so secluded that we must hike through the woods to reach it, we play the game by giving one point for every tree of a certain variety seen and five points for something special. For instance, in our locality we award one point for every spruce spotted, and five points for every white birch. This is a most fascinating game and incidentally teaches the children to be observing.
Right after our picnic lunch we try to have a game that is not too active and still exciting enough to interest even the most energetic. "Air, Water, and Fire", is quite a favorite with us. Many times we have played it as a car game while motoring through the country.
Here, at the picnic spot, all but one of the entire groups sits in a circle. The extra player stands inside the circle and throws a small ball or knotted handkerchief at someone and at the same time calls out one of the three words, "Air, Water, or Fire," and then quickly counts to ten.
Children are fond of picnic. They love going out and playing with their Mom and Dad. So, it is important to get everything prepared before going out to picnic.
