6 Things You Need for a Backyard Family Fun Day
While the world is slowly opening up, you can still have a great day outside right in the comfort of your backyard where there are no crowds and no travel time! Here are some items you need to create your own backyard fun with the whole family.
You can’t have a great day without some delicious food. To prep snacks for the day, cut up fruit and veggies and keep them fresh using the FoodSaver® Cordless Handheld Sealer and FoodSaver® Vacuum Seal Zipper Bags. Vacuum sealers can save you food, time and space – especially since this device is hand-held and compact. It will keep all your food like deli meats, cheese, fruits and veggies fresh and dry all day even if you’re tossing it into an icy cooler for your picnic. Afterward, because it’s sealed tight, any leftovers can be tossed in your fridge and freezer, and it won’t take up a lot of space! Available at all major retailers.
There’s nothing better than a cool cocktail in the sun like these Matt & Steve’s ready-to-drink lightly spiced and hot & spicy caesars. They are the perfect drink to bring backyard entertainment to a new level. It’s a Canadian company and they only use quality ingredients to make all the pickled snacks that go great with Caesars like the Asparagoos and Extreme Bean. Layout all the goodies so the adults can customize their own drinks so you’re out of the kitchen and into the sun where all the fun is!
Obviously, sun protection is a must – especially if we’re going to be outside for hours. One of our favourites is this natural mineral sunscreen from The Green Beaver Company with SPF 40 broad-spectrum protection. It’s made in Canada and it’s part of the Thoughtful Choices at Shoppers Drug Mart lineup. Shoppers Drug Mart offers a wide assortment of beauty and personal care products that are mindful of our plant, cruelty-free and ingredient-conscious. This biodegradable sunscreen uses safe active ingredients like mineral zinc oxide to provide a barrier of protection against harmful UV rays while maintaining your skin’s moisture.
If there’s one way to ruin your time outdoors, it’s when you’re burdened with the buzz of mosquitoes! Summer is short, and we want to get outside as much as possible and enjoy our time! Set up your backyard with Thermacell mosquito repellents! They’re mess-free, deet-free and odorless. They look great on the deck, and you can get the compact, powerful and rechargeable E55 and/or the patio shield that uses heat to disperse a highly effective repellent, creating a 15ft zone of protection for you and others nearby, so you can not only practice safe distancing from people but from mosquitoes too!
Clean up at the end of the day requires some quality garbage, recycling and compost bags. This summer, Glad has a Change Movement campaign wherein the company is challenging every Canadian to pick up at least 50 pieces of litter. It starts now and runs until the end of August. They have partnered with a Canadian app, One Piece a Day, that allows you to track and see how much litter you have picked up so you can actually see the difference you’re making. Make it fun, take a selfie and upload it with the hashtag #GladForChange and you may even inspire others!
Lastly, to bring the party outside, don’t forget the music! Get an outdoor speaker and make a playlist but don’t just load it with all your music – get your teen involved! That way they can’t complain about the tunes but it’s a great way to bond too. And you never know – they might just teach you a dance move or two!