Children eating packed lunch outside?

Lunch not being eaten could happen inside too.
The soup could just as easily have been knocked down if it was on a table indoors.

There's always one isn't there?!

Both my DC had picnics outside this week and loved it. School sent pictures of the whole school enjoying their lunches together in the sunshine. What a lovely thing to do.

I was a child once…
(I say that as it sometimes seems, on posts like these, that many parents have forgotten that they were too and certainly what it was like being one)

… I would sometimes get distracted and forget to finish my lunch, I would spill some or drop some. Outside, inside, at school, not at school. None of the things you describe as issues are the failure of the school to insist on the children eating indoors at tables. They happen because these are children.

And, yes, eating packed lunches outside is not a new thing.

My kids are 20, 17 and 13 and always ate packed lunch on the grass at primary school, when it was warm and sunny. They liked it, yeah sometimes playing took over, but I was happy enough and so were they.

I am more surprised your child has soup for lunch. She must be starving. I would rather my child be outside as much as possible during the school day.

If it means that your DC are segregated from the school dinner children then YANBU. They should all be eating together.
If they can all eat outside (preferably at tables) then it's not a problem.

My child unfortunately choked on a ham sandwich last year because she was running around with it. I had to do abdominal thrusts to save her life. Children need to be told to sit down when they’re eating. As long as someone is policing it then I don’t think it’s a problem

Don't ruin it for everyone

I’m 55 and absolutely loved eating my packed lunch outside during the summer months. My friends and I, used to have a picnic on the large playing field and all share what we had.

The soup incident I think was unfortunate.

Well your kids may sit & eat first when you're supervising them, but clearly they've not actually learned to do this independently.... not the schools fault.

And the more I think about it, I actually think the real issue here was the hot soup in a thermos!

I was wondering why I couldn't remember a hot soup episode and then it dawned on me ... that was the era when bread sandwiches and babybel cheeses were still considered acceptable foodstuffs for children. We were not allowed thermos flasks because they keep liquid ... hot.

😂😂😂😂I spent my primary school years in NZ. Lunch outside 75% of the year, 25% at our desks when it was heavy rain. No 'dining hall'

eating lunch outside when it's nice weather is perfect.

LOL. Child in page 6 dropped their food again shocker.

We sat on grass! Yep real grass and it even had ants and ladybirds and things crawling in it!

Tough times!

We did have to sit within a particular area and there was a roving duty teacher to call over if there were any issues, but no chairs, no tables - not even napkins!!

"This generation of parents is bonkers."

For sure 😂

It's fine.

We did it at school in the summer term (in the 90s) and the children all knew to sit still and behave until the bell rang for play time.

That's childhood. A day without soup won't really stop them in their tracks long term and they will know next time to look after their soup better.

I'm kind of relieved actually how many posters are saying YABU because in this batty day and age I half expected a slew of "Oh my goodness their hands might be dirty" gasps and shrieks.

But we all survived it and I think it's healthy. He probably got a good dose of Vitamin D in lieu of the soup - think of it that way!

When I was in primary school a friend of mine choked on her school dinner (ate sat at a table). The teacher sat with us was completely oblivious.

Choking happens in dining halls and even nurseries.

It is not a reason never to have a picnic!

What? I think it’s bizarre to have a problem with this. The more fresh air and freedom the kids can get during the school day, the better. Give them picnic food instead of soup in the summer, and let them get on with it. Not eating your sandwiches because you’d rather play is a very normal part of childhood.

My concerns would be whether they have tables and chairs outside and whether they are being watched (due to possible choking I would want them to be made to sit down and eat, and also to be watched in case of choking, not lost in a sea of kids running around the yard)

I think it is fine, and in my experience eating inside or at tables makes no difference to whether they actually eat their lunch or not.

Generally I would say eating indoors. With chairs and a table. And no play going on around. And overseen by staff.

Well I would hate this as mine would demand yo have packed lunch so they could eat outside, and then never eat and come out hungry and irritable because they're so easily distracted by playing.
Luckily they sit down and eat packed or cooked lunch, as did I and everyone else I know with DC at school.

Can’t get worked up about this. All of my dc and their friends eat outside. They either sit on the grass on on the benches. There are tables but I don’t think any of the kids actually use them. I’ve seen kids each their lunch whilst playing football 🙄. Yeah sometimes their lunch has been stepped on or dropped or thrown away accidentally. It happens but it also teaches them to be more careful next time. They’re not going to starve because they’ve missed one portion of soup at lunch time. It’s really not that big a deal.

Everyone is being a bit harsh. I agree it's nice to eat outside but it's not unreasonable for there to be a bit of supervision and making sure children are eating a decent amount before going off to play.

Secondary school is very different. They stand outside in all weathers and nobody is bothered whether they eat or not. It's not great.