by Heidi Trilling

Finger foods and seashell utensils make beach picnics fun for kids. Photo: Heidi Trilling.

Aug. 1, 2010 — What would you do if you were a sailor, shipwrecked on shore with some food — but no dishes or silverware?

What would you eat if you were a mermaid, at a celebration feast in the sea?

Ask the children in your life these questions, and you’ll be on your way to a unique and memorable ocean-themed meal at the seashore. Picnics for children at the beach can be magical afternoons filled with imaginative play and fun finger foods. But they can also be a little messy.

Try minimizing the mess and the waste at the beach by simplifying and using some creativity. Don’t forget to break some rules and have some fun!

Reduce:

Why tote along plates, bowls, utensils and napkins? Use “edible” plates, like pita bread or tortillas or large leaves of romaine lettuce. Need utensils? Use your fingers! Or, there are plenty of seashells and rocks on the beach — some of them are sharp enough for grown-ups to use as knives, if things need cutting. You can also ditch the cloth napkins. Let the kids wipe their mouths and fingers on their swimsuits or clothes, for once. They’ll love it, and they can wash off in the water later. For the inevitable major spills, bring an extra beach towel.

Reuse:

© Anna Dudek | Dreamstime.com

Transporting foods in reusable containers is pretty standard behavior these days. But since this is a picnic for children, why not get a little silly? Forget the Tupperware. Bring foods wrapped up in a beach towel and tied with a jump rope. Or carry individual lunches in large plastic pails with shovels; then, after lunch, play with all the empty toys. Or load up one of those snow disks or toboggans and pull the food across the sand. It works like a dream and the kids will love using a “snow” thing for a “beach” outing.

Recycle:

Save rinds, stems and pits from your picnic fruits and vegetables and use them as decorations for sand castles. You can make a game of collecting them again at the day’s end, and then compost them at home.

Above all, have fun planning, preparing and sharing the meal with your children. They’ll love it, and so will you.

Ocean-themed Beach Picnic Menu for Kids

Main Course:

Watermelon: an essential beach picnic dessert. Photo: Heidi Trilling.

Pita, tortilla or naan “plate.”

“Sea Green Guacamole.” Make the guacamole with mashed avocado, agave syrup, salt and lemon; serve with chips.

“Turtle Eggs” — hard-boiled chicken eggs.

“Starfish and Seaweed” — Cheddar cheese chunks cut in star shapes with a cookie cutter and wrapped in nori (roasted and salted seaweed).

“Rainbow Kabobs.” Make veggie kabobs with a skinny-cut celery stick and your choice of vegetable wedges; make fruit kabobs with a skinny-cut carrot stick with your choice of fruit wedges. Or use natural wooden skewers and compost them when you get home. Don’t forget to arrange the vegetable or fruit wedges in “rainbow order” on each stick: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet.

© Penywise | Dreamstime.com

Beverages:

Water or juice from a canteen is always fun. Or, for a special treat, drink young coconut water right from the shell with licorice straws.

Dessert:

Mini watermelons are essential beach picnic desserts. Crack them open on the nearest big rock and eat them with clam or mussel shells found on the beach and rinsed clean. Or, eat them without any utensils at all.

Enjoy!