Alfresco Dining with Kids

Eating outdoors with your family sounds idyllic. In your head, you picture a big family sitting together smiling and laughing while they dig into a beautiful spread, before raising a glass to each other and basking in sunlight. Sounds like bliss.

In reality this is rarely the way it works out, especially when small children are involved. Getting them to sit down to eat is the first problem, then there’s the ensuing food related drama of making sure that the picnic food is cool enough and the meat on the barbeque has been cooked through. By the time we’ve done all this, we’ve still got to spend time pleading with kids to actually eat something, before they dive straight into the pudding course.

1. Lemongrove Melamine plates by Lakeland – from £3.79

In fact, the whole experience can be so frustrating that it is tempting to just ditch the whole idea altogether and just stay indoors. But, with so many important benefits to eating outdoors, including fresh air, vitamin D and quality family time, dining outside is a family tradition worth pursuing. Follow our guide and find out how you can turn dining disaster into alfresco heaven.

Could you please just sit down?

If eating outside isn’t a daily occurrence in your family life, your kids are bound to get a little bit over excited by the whole idea. After all, the great outdoors offers a whole host of distractions just waiting to steal your children’s attention away from their lunch. planning a picnic as part of a day trip to a tourist attraction, park or beach, try to factor in time for your kids to explore their surroundings first. Letting them run about, will help them burn off some steam and build up an appetite.

If you’re just eating in your garden or someplace familiar, try to make the place they dine, just as exciting as their environment. Consider building a den or putting up a tent for them to eat inside – they’ll be reluctant to leave and much more likely to eat what’s in front of them.

I don’t like it!

While it can be tempting to create something a little bit different, when you’re planning a big family picnic or barbeque, it’s probably not going to be well received by children who are already fussy eaters.

Making up a mixture of different foods, so that children can at least eat something that they know and like, is usually the best plan. Make up some Tupperware boxes with items that are guaranteed to go down well (sandwiches, salads, carrot sticks, grapes, apples etc) along with more adventurous foods like homemade pasta, tartlets and quiches that you can tempt them to try.

With so many important benefits to eating outdoors, including fresh air, vitamin D and quality family time, dining outside is a family tradition worth pursuing."

Another good way of encouraging your child to eat is to let them help with the food preparations. Even small children, can help cut rolls, slice fruit and chop vegetables when using a kids safe knife – it’s guaranteed to make their food taste better.

Is it safe to eat?

Another stressful element of eating outdoors is ensuring that the food is safe to eat. While most of us are confident in our abilities to cook safely in the kitchen, preparing food to be consumed outside is a whole different ball game.

When using barbeques, it’s really important that all food is cooked thoroughly. Consider cooking food in your own oven first, before barbequing it outside to add in that chargrilled flavour. It will taste every bit as good!

You should also cut all meat in half to ensure that it’s cooked through, making sure that it’s no longer pink inside and has steam coming out of it. For added peace of mind, consider investing in a food probe which will allow you to check that the meat has reached 75 degrees inside.

Hand hygiene is also really important when cooking on a barbeque. Make sure that you wash your hands properly and use different utensils for handling raw and cooked meats.

For picnics, a good cool bag is a must for transporting chilled food. Keeping food items like sandwiches, salads and quiches in the fridge until the last minute, will also help them stay cool for longer.

The tools of the trade

Creating the perfect alfresco dining experience is much easier when you have the right tools. Here’s a selection of our favourite outdoor dining gear...

1. Lemongrove Melamine plates by Lakeland – from £3.79 (see first image)

A durable option for picnics and outdoor dining. Made from super strong material, there’s no need to worry about your picnicware getting scratched or broken.

2. Summerhouse Coast Family Picnic Blanket by Navigate – from £24.00

This large picnic rug is both practical and chic. It’s waterproof base also makes sure that there will be no wet bottoms, even if your picnic spot is wet!

3. VonShef 22L Cooler Bag Grey – from £14.99

Stylish and compact. Thanks to its fold down mechanism, this cool bag is perfect for keeping fridge goods chilled. With ample room inside, you might even have room to pack a bottle of wine!

4. Mountain Warehouse 4 Person Picnic Set Patterned - XL – Navy – £29.99

This backpack hamper is perfect for picnicking with kids – leaving you free to hold small hands. With a large cool bag compartment, a detachable bottle cooler and enough picnic dining gear for four, this hamper is brilliant for families on the go.

5. Thermos King Grey Small Food Flask by Lakeland – £20.99

This food flask is a must for picnics - keeping food or drinks hot for 9 hours and cold for 14. With a large lid, this item can also be used for keeping baby food hot or for heating up bottles on the go.

6. Joules Blaze Set Of 4 Melamine Beakers by Millbry Hill - £19.95

Made out of melamine plastic, which is renowned for being tough, these beakers are durable when dropped and beautiful to hold.

Now that you’re armed with all the tricks and tools that you need to create the perfect alfresco experience, all you need is a nice sunny day! Good luck and bon appetit! •

By Dawn Geddes