The Group Picnic Planner

Count a group once, then turn it into a per-dish list for your hours, drinks by the hour, the blankets you already own, one trip from the car and a fair split of the cost

PicnicPlan's calculators each answer one question, and they count the same group three ways. The Food Per Guest Calculator weighs a child at half an adult and adds a quarter to the food past three hours; the Portion Planner weighs a child at 0.6 and has no clock; and the drinks come out as servings by the hour, a flat two cans an adult, or one bottle of water a head. None of them says what the group weighs to carry, how many of your own blankets it takes, or what each household owes. The Group Picnic Planner counts the group once and runs it through all of them. In its worked example, 8 adults and 4 children staying 4 hours need 20 sandwiches rather than 16, and 40 drink servings rather than 21: 3.75 gallons, about 31 lb, two-thirds of a 46.7 lb load that two people carry from the car. Two 60 x 80 in blankets cover the 56 sq ft the group needs on the ground, so nobody buys a 6.5 x 9 ft one, and a $110.20 shop splits by household to the cent. Every figure is computed from the site's own calculators, and the worked numbers are examples tagged as such. It is picnic arithmetic only: it gives no cooling, ice, temperatures or holding times, and sends you to a food-safety authority for how long food can stay out. Included: 7 steps with a named rule each, a headcount and shopping sheet, a carry and seat plan, a cost split sheet, a group card for 2 to 30 guests and a quickstart, plus a personalised sheet worked on the numbers you entered in the calculator.

Look inside

Two full pages from the planner, exactly as printed. Click either to read it at full size before you decide.

What is in it

• Heads for Things, Eaters for Food: one guest list counted as heads and as eaters, with both of the site's child factors
• Shop by the Dish, Carry by the Pound: the per-dish list for your hours, with the site's extra quarter past three hours
• Count Drinks by the Hour: three tools' answers reconciled, as servings, gallons, containers and weight
• Measure the Blankets You Own: the space on the ground counted in blankets you already have
• Weigh It Before You Carry It: food, drinks and blankets in pounds, and the carriers that takes
• Split by What Each Household Eats: the list priced, and shares that add back to the total to the cent
• Pack It In, Pack It Out: the packing list with its counts, and the park rules for sun, insects, grills and trash
• A headcount and shopping sheet, and a carry and seat plan, printable
• A cost split sheet, printable
• A group card from 2 to 30 guests, and a one-page quickstart

The planner picks up where the free Food Per Guest Calculator leaves off. The calculators count the same group three ways: Food Per Guest weighs a child at half an adult and adds a quarter past three hours, the Portion Planner weighs a child at 0.6 and has no clock, and drinks come out as servings by the hour, a flat two an adult, or one bottle of water a head. The planner counts the group once, sizes the per-dish list for your hours, counts the drinks by the hour, fits the space from the Picnic Blanket Size Calculator onto the blankets you already own, weighs the load from the car, splits the cost by household to the cent, and packs from the Picnic Packing List. It is picnic arithmetic only: keep perishable food cold and follow a food-safety authority (e.g. USDA or FoodSafety.gov) for how long food can stay out. The worked figures are examples.