Picnic facts for kids

Picnic at the Meiji Shrine in Tokyo

A picnic is an event to eat outdoors, have a break, enjoy the warm sunshine, and have fun in a free time. It is usually held in a park or other open places. People bring the food for picnics in lunch boxes or in picnic baskets. Food for picnics is prepared on location such as grilled foods or at home. After the meal, people often play games and sports, for example, playing catch, badminton and Frisbee. Having a picnic, we eat wherever we want to. Creating your original foods and games can be enjoyments of picnics.

History

In the 12th century, a picnic was described in the Persian poetry of The Rubaiyat:

"A book of verse beneath the bough,

A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou

Beside me singing in the Wilderness –

Ah, wilderness were paradise enough!"

— Omar Khayyam

In 1800, the Picnic Society in London was organized by people who met from time to time to dine together.

Related pages

Images for kids

A nobleman with his entourage enjoying a picnic. Illustration from a French edition of The Hunting Book of Gaston Phoebus, 15th century
The artist Thomas Cole depicted "The Picnic" prior to 1860.
A picnic assembles in Columbus, Ohio, c. 1950.
Hunt Picnic by François Lemoyne, 1723
A table on the dock awaits picnickers at Lake Providence, Louisiana, 2013.
United States Army officers and their families having a picnic at Fort Thomas, Arizona, in 1886
Picnic in a wooded area (Harry Walker, photographer, circa 1900–1949)
Picnic area in Haute-Savoie (east of France), autumn 2012
Picnic area next to the Nature Center at YMCA Camp Bernie
Picnic shelter at Indian Springs State Park