Third Weekly Summer of Independence Challenge: Picnic Time!

Do your kids know that even cold liver tastes great if you eat it outside?

Well, it doesn’t. But most other things do. That’s why for this week’s sweet, simple “challenge,” we suggest they take some food and friends outside and enjoy their independ-ants!

Why is it that something as simple as eating a sandwich on a blanket is so darn delightful? Our theory is that it represents many things that humans come pre-wired to enjoy:

1 – Food! The satisfaction of satiation.

2 – Being out where so much is going on: clouds, maybe some grass or trees, and whatever is buzzing around. Stimulation abounds.

3 – The ancient sense of being an animal. Outside is where you eat.

4 – Unlimited-ness. Beats four corners and some electric source of light. The world expands. Time expands. You are part of something bigger.

5 – Sinking into summer. For those of us in four-season climates, eating outside is not something you do in December. A picnic signals the special, too-short season that sits opposite the rest of the year.

Not that you need to enumerate to your kids the joys of picnicking. Just that it’s fun to think about what makes it far more than simply an alternative eating space.

Of course it’s more fun if your kids can take some friends or siblings out there with ’em. But even if not, shoo them out the door with whatever food they want to make or take. And, if possible, sneak a picture of them picnicking. You can share it on our Facebook group, Raising Independent Kids. Or you can save it to enter in our Let Grow Independence Challenge, which is almost upon us.

Enjoy a checkered present. Picnic!