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…dine anywhere with The Picnic Lunch Box & Placemat ($12.99). These adorable, and ingenious, containers hold food just like a regular lunch box, but when unzipped, they open up to create a personal placemat. Perfect for an impromptu spring picnic or outdoor snack time at the park. Easy-to-clean, the insulated material keeps food cool for up to seven hours. Choose from six comical animals from frogs to cats at neat-oh.com. |
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…create, design and play for hours with the Sunrise Cafe from Urban Canvas ($35). Made from recycled cardboard, this modular build-and-play set can be configured in endless ways using connectors and movable walls. The set also comes with furniture, tableware, and a four-person family. The surfaces are crayon erasable, so kids can decorate again and again using the included crayons and eraser. Best for kids 6+; available at urban-canvas.com. |
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Enjoy an old-fashioned family picnic on the long Memorial Day weekend with red, white, and blue foods. Make a triple-decker sandwich layered with cherry jelly, cream cheese, and blueberry jelly for a tasty and patriotic lunch, or create strawberry, marshmallow, and blueberry kabobs—just bring the items unassembled so the kids can put them together for a fun activity. Go on a nature hunt for sticks and stones, followed by playing checkers on this scarf-turned-game-board. ($26 from New Jersey-based website littlenamedesign.com.) |
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Make Mother’s Day (or any day) extra-special for mothers and daughters with these ideas from Hilary Morris of the website afancygirlmust.com. Morris suggests finding something you both like, whether it’s getting a manicure (let your mini-me pick your color, no matter how outrageous!) or taking a train ride together to explore a new town. As Morris puts it, “Really, most fancy girls want to be just like mom and do whatever fancy things she does. It’s just about feeling like a ‘big girl’ and doing something special (and fancy) with mom.” |
