Everyone loves picnics in the stressful ‘Modern’ life. A picnic is a wonderful way to relax and spend time in natural surroundings. It involves delicious food, fun-filled games and sometimes, a campfire. If you keep in mind a few precautions, the fun and joy will not be spoiled by an accident.
PICNIC FOOD
1. Keep each sandwich in a separate plastic wrapper and keep them all in an icebox so that they remain fresh.
2. Use small containers for pre-cooked food so that the core of the container can also get cold in the icebox, otherwise, the food in the middle will remain warm and may get spoiled. Keep each sandwich in separate plastic wrapper
3. Cook the food well. Bacterial poisoning is a real danger.
4. Do not leave salad, etc. in the closed trunk of a car for long. The high tempera¬ture inside may spoil it. Milk, meat, fish, custard, etc. should be finished quickly or they are likely to get spoiled.
5. Wash hands very thoroughly. Do not decide they are clean by just looking at them because you cannot see the bacteria crawling about. They are there for sure even though they are not visible. Wash knives, picnic tables, cutting boards, etc. too.
Be careful of snakes
6. In a jungle or grassy area, be careful of snakes and insects, etc.
7. To light a fire for cooking, gasoline or kerosene should be sprinkled very lightly on the charcoal or wood. Too much of fuel may form an explosive mixture with air and explode in your face on lighting. When a fire is already burning, do not pour more fuel directly onto the fire, since the flames can travel very fast towards you. Use a ladle instead to add the fuel to the fire.
8. Do not touch a hot cooking grill nor let any loose clothing come into contact with it.
CAMP ‘BON’ FIRES
1. Always go for the camp fire away from combustibles such as tent, plastic materials, bed sheets, electrical wires, waste paper etc.
2. Preferably keep the fire small and do put it out completely before leaving the place. A few buckets of water or sand should be kept ready for use in case of emergency.
3. If children are going on a picnic with friends (or with school or club), find out the names, addresses and phone numbers of their friends, the places being visited, mode of transport, time of departure and return and children should be strictly instructed to inform their parents or guardians if they will be returning later than expected.
ENJOYING KITE FLYING
Many people love to fly kites, especially children but a few precautions will make it safe and more enjoyable.
1. Fly the kites from a ground level lawn, garden, park or open space but if it must be done from a roof-top, then the roof should have at least one metre high wall all around. Entry to the roof must be locked or blocked to prevent children from falling through it, while moving back and forth engrossed in flying his kite or observing other kites. There should be atleast two persons on the roof to help out in an emergency.
2. Children should be clearly instructed to avoid climbing onto the boundary walls, rush up and down the stairs while looking at kites in the sky or while trying to catch a ‘cut’ kite, as they may loose their balance and tumble down the stairs or off the walls.
3. Loose poles or wooden staff should be removed from the roof to prevent children from using them to catch other kites as they may fall over the side walls onto the street or the ground below.
4. Avoid entangling kites in TV antennae, as they may be damaged.
5. Do not fly a kite if the sun in above your head since long exposure to hot sunlight can be very harmful to skin and eyes.
6. Do not fly kites from a roof which has an electric pole or wires in close vicinity as children may be tempted to untangle kites caught in them using a stick or metal rod and hence may get an electric shock, which can be fatal. We have read so many reports of such unfortunate incidents in daily newspapers.