Many thanks for the question and conversation! I'm the Director of Forest Preschool at North Branch Nature Center in Montpelier VT. I also train Early Childhood Educators around safety and best practices for outdoor play and learning. Our area has a snow day today so I have a little extra time to share.
A guiding thought that inspires my dirve to get kids outside learning and playing is this: Our parents, grandparents, and beyond, spent much more time outside as children and adults than we do now. The benefits of outdoor play and learning in all weather, except severe, are nemerous and vital!
In central VT over the past couple of weeks, we've had temperatures in the teens and 20's at night with some snow. The transition from grass and mud to ice and sparkly snow has been magical! It has offered our children delight, wonder, and direct, joyful learning. I was thinking about so many children who live in colder climates and don't have as much access to the incredible seasonal changes or direct learning and gross motor opportuinitues.
Thanks for the questions, when is it too cold to play outside? I wonder if there are more questions to ask as well: How can we safely bring kids outside in the winter so they don't get frostbite? How can we get them dressed properly so they stay warm and have fun playing and learning outside?
At our school in VT, we start every day outside, for the most part. In the winter, we base the amount of time spent outside on the windchill as opposed to temperature. Here is a link to a windchill guide that's mentioned above:
https://modernsurvivalblog.com/weather-preparedness/wind-chill-frostbite-chart/We had many mornings last winter around 0 degrees but the air was still, no windchill, and the sun was shining. On those days, we made sure the children had on proper layers including a neck warmer or balaclava. We kept children moving those mornings, sledding is a great way to do that, and also paid special attention to children letting us know when their feet were cold. We offer hand warms and foot warmers to those that seem to stuggle with circulation. On a zero degree day without a wind chill value, we stayed outside on average of 20-30 minutes, enough time to have a direct experience with sights, sounds, smells, feel, and taste of the day and moving bodies in satifying ways!
On a day where there is a wind chill, the wind chill chart if very helpful!
Having the proper clothing and gear for children is key to ensure skin does not get frost bite and children stay warm and happy. Having the proper clothing can, as some have talked about, be a real barrier to getting kids outside in the winter weather, especially in schools where free and reduced lunch numbers are high. This takes some extra effort but can be worth it! Our nature center works with public schools and finds that many children do not come to school with proper clothing and gear to be outside safely and happily. We suggest and have seen classroom teachers ask the school and borader community for winter clothing and gear donations. Some teachers head to thirift stores to purchase extra wool socks, hats, mits, and neck warmers. Boots a size bigger than feet offer an air pocket to keep feet warm. Boots that are too small = cold feet. Try 2 pairs of wool socks in boots to keep feet warm.
Enjoy the winter if you live in a part of the country that winter visits!
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Mary Zentara
Director
Forest Preschool at North Branch Nature Center
Montpelier VT
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-17-2018 01:33 PM
From: Rae Pica
Subject: How cold is too cold? - Winter outdoor play
Rusty Keeler addresses this issue in a 10-minute podcast called "How Cold Is Too Cold for Outdoor Recess?" You can find it here: http://www.bamradionetwork.com/student-centric-strategies/4205-canceling-school-recess-because-it-s-too-cold-bad-idea
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Rae Pica
Rae Pica Keynotes & Consulting
Alexandria VA
www.raepica.com
Original Message:
Sent: 11-14-2018 01:42 AM
From: Sara Larsen
Subject: How cold is too cold? - Winter outdoor play
PLEASE share any information/research based articles regarding benefits of children playing outdoors in cold weather AND/OR guidelines/policies your school/program follows regarding temperature/windchill (please indicate region you live in). I would very much appreciate any feedback and insight on this topic! Thank You!!!
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Sara Larsen
Concordia MO
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