Picnic Time!

National Picnic Week runs from 18 to 26 June 2022

by Janice Ross

Suitable for Key Stage 3

Aims

To celebrate the picnic season.

Preparation and materials

• You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Picnic Time!) and the means to display them.

Assembly

1. Ask the students what kind of thing they look forward to most at this time of year.
   
   If possible, allow discussion in groups before listening to a range of responses.
   
   
2. Explain that when the good weather arrives, many of us like to venture outdoors. Often, that will involve food in some way and most of us enjoy going for picnics!
   
   You may wish to take a vote as to whether the students prefer to eat indoors or outdoors.
   
   
3. Explain that, in the UK, National Picnic Week runs from 18 to 26 June this year. In the USA, National Picnic Month is celebrated throughout July.
   
   
4. Show Slides 1 to 4.
   
   Point out that picnics can take many different forms. They might be big events that involve lots of effort and a wide variety of food. At the other end of the scale, they might include a few bits of simple food such as a sandwich and an apple.
   
   
5. Show Slides 5 to 7.
   
   Whatever we are eating, picnics are great opportunities to be together and enjoy the outdoors with family and friends.
   
   
6. Show Slide 8.
   
   Ask the students whether any of them have read The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame. If possible, ask a student to summarize the book.
   
   Point out that there is a part in The Wind in the Willows where, after Mole and Ratty have been messing around in a boat all morning, Mole begins to get hungry. He has seen Ratty stow a large wicker basket beneath Mole’s seat in the boat and he can’t help asking him what’s inside.
   
   
7. Explain that you are going to show Ratty’s answer exactly as it is written in the book.
   
   Tell the students that you want to see who can be the first to work out the full list of the basket’s contents. Alternatively, ask for a few volunteers to come to the front to record the answers and divide the students into teams to cheer them on!
   
   
8. Show Slide 9.
   
   Pause to allow time for the students to decipher what was in the picnic basket.
   
   
9. Show Slide 10 to reveal the answers.

Time for reflection

Point out that this term is particularly busy in school. Important exams are taking place and there are many activities as the school year nears its end. However, it is important for everyone to take time to relax and enjoy the beautiful world that we live in.

Remind the students that National Picnic Week runs from 18 to 26 June. Encourage them to make an effort during that week to have a picnic with friends and be refreshed by spending time outdoors.

Prayer
Dear God,
We thank you for the fun of eating picnics outside.
We thank you for warm summer days and for our favourite picnic spots.
Thank you for the beauty that you have put around us to enjoy.
Please help us always to be thankful
And to find the time to relax and enjoy the beautiful world in which we live.
Amen.