Picnic Games for Kids & Teens

A picnic is a great summer socializing event for children and teenagers. Besides enjoying the delicious foods and listening to favorite music hits, kids and teens enjoy participating in fun activities at picnics. The most popular activities are outdoor games. These games are great exercise and will provide fun summer memories for kids and teens.

Nature Scavenger Hunt

A scavenger hunt is a fun activity for kids and young adults in a safe outdoor setting. Create a list of things for players to find in nature such as specific types of rocks, flowers or trees. Give a copy of the list to all players. Players must mark off items as they find them. Let participants search individually or divide them into teams of two. The first person or team to find every item on the list wins the game.
To make the game more challenging, time players as they search for items. After the timer goes off, the player or team with the most items found wins the scavenger hunt.

Water Balloon Toss

A water balloon toss is a popular picnic game for kids and teens who don't mind getting a little wet. Fill latex balloons with water. Divide participants into teams of two. Let them stand a few feet apart facing each other. Give each team a water balloon to toss back and forth. After every toss, players must take a step back. The object of the game is for players to keep tossing the balloon and stepping back until only one team is left with an intact balloon.

Outdoor Racing Games

Potato sack racing is a classic and simple picnic game for teenagers and children. Create a start and finish line several feet apart. Give each player a potato sack. Players must stand inside a potato sack and jump to the finish line. The first player to arrive at the finish wins.
Another popular picnic favorite is an egg and spoon race. Provide kids with a spoon and an egg. Kids must carefully balance the egg in the spoon while running from start to finish and back to start. The first player to successfully complete the race wins.

Other Games to Consider

Badminton and volleyball are also fun picnic games that everyone from young children to young adults will enjoy. Purchase volleyball and badminton sets from general merchandise stores and set them up a few hours before guests arrive.

Description of the Family As a Social System

As a natural social structure, the family unit functions out of the complexity of its own set of processes, problems and properties. Similar to other operational social systems, the family unit is structured in a way that doesn't allow any of its members to function completely on his own. As a result of this, each member of the unit influences and affects every other part of his social network like any other social system.

Family Influences

The family social system is influenced by many aspects. Tradition, stability, loyalty, trust and interdependency are all important in understanding how a family really functions. Boundaries, rules and patterns of interaction as well as cultural influences also affect how families operate as a social system. These components all influence one another in their interrelationships within the family frame. These are the same components that are found within any social system.

Family Bonds

The social structure of a family contains elements such as communication forms, rules, patterns of resolution for arising conflicts, structures of power and family roles, which all assist in the solving of problems, the completion of various tasks and the obtainment of the family's goals. What makes the family different from other social systems is how it is built upon emotions like love, patience, forgiveness and endurance. This emotional bonding enables the family to build a foundation of understanding and acceptance between family members when communication is done properly.

Family Changes

Family social systems may operate on a generational basis, where things change down the line with each new generation coming up. A family social system must change along with it, much like other social systems. As children grow up to move on to lives of their own and parents grow older and go into retirement, these changes signal transitional shifts within the family social system.

Coping Mechanisms

Anxiety, anger, loss, fear, resentment and confusion are some of the emotions felt by different family members as the unit transitions to fit the new changes within the family structure and dynamic. How successfully a family copes with these changes depends largely on its perception of these transitions. The changes within the family system can be viewed as either conducive or destructive to the family nucleus and can either account for a positive change for the family or cause major dysfunction within the unit.

Importance of Communication

One other key component to the successful functioning of a family system is how well a family communicates and processes information. If information between family members is not communicated or processed properly it can cause major fallout and chaos within the family unit and disrupt the flow of the family system. Chaos and order within the family is determined by how information is shared between family members. How families communicate vital information with each other does affect the success and failure of how a family social system operates.

Treatment for Severe Lower Back Spasm

Severe lower back spasms are often caused by strained muscles, according to Spine-health.com. These muscle spasms can be a short-term problem or more chronic. Treatments typically include rest, immobilization, medication, heat and exercise.

Significance

Individuals that have severe muscle spasms in their lower back try resting for a few days. The best way to rest is on the back with a pillow under the knees.

Therapies

Heating pads can provide temporary relief for back spasms as they relax the muscles and nerves, according to Familydoctor.org. One should use a heating pad or lie in a hot tub of water for 20 or 30 minutes several times per day.

Medications

Anti-inflammatory medications such as naproxen, ibuprofen and aspirin can help relieve severe muscle spasms and pain. These medications can usually be taken every four to six hours as needed.

Exercise

Simple stretching exercises like lying on a hard floor and pulling one or both knees to the chest, or pressing the lower back to the floor, can help alleviate muscle spasms. Exercise increases flexibility in tight muscles.

Warning

Never rest for more than a few days as movement can increase blood flow in the lower back muscles. Blood carries oxygen and nutrients for healing. Also, always see a doctor for a proper diagnosis.

First Aid Games for Kids

When medical attention is necessary, children may panic if they don't know how to apply some basic first aid or if they don't understand what is being done to assist. Children have the capacity to learn first aid skills through games. The objective of these first aid games (keeping an individual healthy and safe) is serious, but the games present first aid in a way that is easier for children to remember and enjoy.

First Aid Maze

All Things First Aid has mazes related to first aid in which the child has to bring some kind of medical equipment to a first aid patient, such as bringing scissors to someone who needs bandages taken off. A variation of these mazes for groups involves creating a large maze outside with rope, twine or even garden hose. You set up the maze with a specific medical objective, such as cleaning a cut, and put pictures of everything you'll need to complete the objective in the maze, plus some additional non-necessary items leading to the dead ends. The children walk through the maze and collect the pictures--if they pick up items that aren't needed, they'll end up in a dead end. A variation might include having multiple mazes and having races to see who can provide aid fastest.

Red Light Green Light

Red Light Green Light is a traditional children's game in which children take steps forward when a leader calls out that the light is green and stay still when the leader calls out red light. Meaghan Lister created a first aid version of this game. Instead of simply calling out "red light" or "green light," the leader asks questions about first aid, such as whether you should pop a blister. If the answer to the question is "yes," then the children have a "green light" and take three steps forward. If the answer is "no," then the children stay put. This game allows whoever is overseeing the game to assess very quickly based on the children's movements what first aid topics may need to be addressed further with the children.

Fireman's Drag

The Boy Scouts have a game called Fireman's Drag, which is a relay in which each team has victims and firemen. This game basically involves the firemen from each team dragging victims from their own team back to safety in relay fashion. The team who finishes the relay first wins. This game might be varied to any first aid topic, such as putting on band aids or putting together a first aid kit one relay stage at a time.

Coleman Tent Kit

Features

• Comprehensive tent kit for setting up your tent
• 4 sturdy 10-inch steel tent stakes for tent corners
• Solid rubber mallet for pounding stakes into ground
• Handy whisk broom/dust pan combo for cleaning up
• Tent stake puller preserves fingers; mesh storage bag

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The Coleman tent kit comes with everything you need to set up and break down your tent. The kit starts with four sturdy 10-inch steel tent stakes, which keep your tent from blowing away in the middle of the night. The solid rubber mallet, meanwhile, makes it easy to pound the stakes into the ground, so you don't have to search fruitlessly for a nearby rock. When it's time to pack up, you can turn to the easy-to-use tent stake puller, which keeps your fingers from cramping up. And no one wants to bring the campsite home, which is why the kit includes a handy whisk broom/dust pan combo for cleaning the tent floor. A must-have for frequent campers, the tent comes with a handy mesh storage bag.

About Coleman
The Coleman Company has been creating and innovating products for recreational outdoor use since W.C. Coleman started selling gasoline-powered lanterns in 1900. Inventor of the hugely popular fold-up camp stove, Coleman developed a plastic liner for his galvanized steel coolers in 1957--the birth of the modern cooler--and the company has been improving their utility and design ever since. The array of products that bear the Coleman name now includes just about everything you might need to work or play outdoors, from tents and sleeping bags to boats, backpacks, and furniture.

Energizer Max Alkaline AA Batteries, 34 Count

Features

• Made with power seal technology which locks in power for up to 10 years
• The world's first zero mercury battery commercially available since 1991
• Includes two easy to open packages of 17 AA Energizer max batteries
• Packed in durable recycled corrugate, frustration free packaging
• Ships in Certified Frustration-Free Packaging
• These alkaline batteries are ideal for use in remotes, flashlights and children's toys

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Energizer Max alkaline batteries with Power Seal technology. view larger

Available in multiple cell sizes to power your whole house.
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Energizer Max batteries are great to use in low- to high-drain devices. view larger Energizer Max Alkaline Batteries with Power Seal Technology

Energizer Max batteries hold their power for up to 10 years.*

Your family is always on the go. Make sure your batteries can keep up.

Why should I choose Energizer batteries for my family?

World's first** zero mercury AA alkaline battery: Energizer is a leader in the industry in powering people's lives responsibly Up to 10 years shelf life on AA, AAA, C, and D batteries and up to five years shelf life on 9V

Where should I use Energizer Max AA batteries?

From your family's toys, home electronics, and flashlights, Energizer Max provides the power you need to keep your household running smoothly--dependable power for your everyday devices.

Energizer Max batteries are great to use in devices that are classified as low drain to high drain. Use the guide to the right to determine how to use Energizer Max batteries in your home.

The Energizer Family of batteries is ready to meet the many power needs you have throughout the day.

Energizer Family of Batteries

Energizer Max Batteries

Energizer Ultimate Lithium Batteries

Energizer Power Plus Recharge Batteries

Energizer Universal Recharge Batteries

Usage Everyday Use Alkaline High-tech devices--digital cameras, photo flash units, handheld GPS units Best for frequent-use devices: toys, digital cameras, wireless gaming devices, mp3 players Best for frequent-use/heavy-drain devices: toys, digital cameras, wireless gaming devices, mp3 players Chemistry Alkaline Lithium Nickel Metal Hydride Nickel Metal Hydride Key Benefits -- Holds power for

Coleman Family Sized Classic LED Lantern

Features

• Choose your power: use 4 D batteries or upgrade to the rechargeable CPX 6 power cartridge (sold separately)
• Bright LED runs 25 hours on High, 50 hours on Low
• Diffuser tube provides a perfect beam pattern and reduces glare
• Weather-resistant
• Convenient bail handle for carrying or hanging

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Product Description
With the Coleman Family-Sized Classic LED Lantern, bigger really is brighter: the lantern is perfect for lighting up a campsite, backyard entertaining, and emergency use. With Coleman's interchangeable CPX 6 system, you can choose your power: insert 4 D batteries (not included) into the battery cartridge, or upgrade by purchasing the CPX rechargeable power pack and make your lantern a rechargeable deviceand use either option interchangeably with any Coleman CPX 6 device! The Family-Sized LED Lantern features a super-bright high-intensity LED that never needs to be replaced, with a diffuser tube for a perfect beam pattern and reduced glare. On the Low setting, it runs for up to 50 hours, and on High for up to 25 hours. The Coleman LED Lantern is weather-resistant, so it's a reliable choice to withstand the elements. The wire bail handle is convenient for carrying or hanging the lantern wherever you need it.