Be My Guest

Activity Overview

How do we celebrate being together and care for each other through the sharing of food? By having a picnic, of course! Picnics are traditional ways that groups gather to celebrate life outdoors, be active with one another, and enjoy a meal together in the sunshine. Students will use the picnic role-play below, to practice caring for their stuffed animals, while also being exposed to how important it is to be a host when friends gather together. Children are often put in the role of guest, whether going to family gatherings or playdates where they are cared for by others. In this exercise, children will also practice being the host, and how to interact with others when you bring them together for a hospitable experience.

What You Need

• Picnic blanket

• Play food

• Stuffed animals

• Scissors

• Picnic Basket template

• Picnic Foods visual examples

Steps

1. Has your student ever had a picnic before? Have a discussion with them, eliciting pre-existing knowledge from their previous experiences. Touch on why it’s fun to have a picnic, how people feel at picnics, and how to prepare for one. Consider showing students examples of the food they might eat at a picnic.

2. Make some choices about the picnic you will have - create the menu, decide on a location, and of course, make invitations to your invited stuffed animals.

3. You might choose to keep this work representational by using the Picnic Basket template and Picnic Foods visual examples to create a collage as you prepare for a pretend picnic. Or, you might choose to have a real picnic, and gather supplies from the kitchen, prepare dishes and set out for a meal in the sun.

4. Set up the picnic - pretend or real - at the location you have chosen may it be at the park, backyard, or indoors. As the host, students will take care of the stuffed animals by offering them food, drinks and games.

5. Support your student by asking noticing the needs of the “guests” and asking questions that help the student embrace the role of host that they are playing. For example, “The puppy looks thirsty, what does she need?” “The puppy looks hungry, what can we offer her?”

Guiding Questions

• Have you ever been on a picnic? What’s a picnic like? Why do we have them?

• How do we get ready for a picnic? What do we need to do first, second, last?

• What is a host, and what is a guest? How do we care for our guests?

Extensions

• Make a menu for your stuffed animals.

• Invite human friends to your real picnic!