After an unusually snow-free start to our winter, my state of Massachusetts received over 30” of snow in one storm! As I watched the snow pile up outside my window, I thought of how much fun the children would have in the snow: snow angels, foot prints, sliding down snow drifts, making snowmen, tasting and touching and smelling and talking about the cold snow. Fun for the children, sure, but challenging for the teachers and caregivers who are in charge of bundling the children up, keeping them safe and warm, and engaging the children in outdoor play during wintertime. Here are some tips for making winter outdoor play work for you.
Challenge: Children arrive to your program without the appropriate outdoor clothing.
Try this: This is perhaps the most common and persistent challenge for taking children outdoors to play in the winter. Although your program policies should clearly state that parents/guardians need to bring children to child care dressed appropriately for the weather, communication is key for making this happen.
Hold a brief parent conference or parent meeting in November. Among other topics, discuss the importance of outdoor play and your policy of requiring appropriate winter clothing.Send home a laminated checklist for parents/guardians to use as they prepare their child for child care. Encourage them to keep it handy so they don’t forget anything.Offer to keep an extra set of snow pants, hat, and mittens at your program.When needed, send a written reminder home and follow up with a quick phone call. Many families will donate their out-grown winter clothing to your program. Keep a collection of snowsuits, boots, mittens and hats.
Challenge: It takes too long to get the children ready, especially when there are infants, toddlers, and preschoolers all needing to be dressed for outdoors.
Try this:
Practice independent dressing skills with the toddlers and preschooler during circle time or group time. Zipping, pulling on snow pants and boots, and putting on mittens are all skills for children to learn before they can get themselves ready for outdoor play.Strategize as you help the children get ready to go outdoors. The three and four year olds can start dressing themselves, especially if their outdoor clothing is laid out on the floor for them. While they work at that, you can be dressing the infants and helping the toddlers. Keep a basket of books ready at the door for children who might need to wait for the others. If you have more than one adult, send children out as they get ready, and reverse the order when it’s time to come inside.Once you come back in, use the un-dressing time to pair up mittens and boots, and hang wet clothing up to dry - all great skills for young fingers and minds!
Challenge: There’s just not much to do once we get outdoors because the playground equipment is buried in snow.
Try this: Here are a few ideas for fun and safe winter outdoor play:
Make snowballs. Big or little, round or oval, children just love packing snow into balls. They will experience how the different textures of snow affect the success of the snowball. They’ll discover all the structures they can make from a collection of small or medium or large snowballs: snow people, totem poles, forts, pyramids, houses, and more.Make tracks. Before going outside, read “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats. Once the children are outdoors, guide them to recall what Peter did in the snow. Click here for a link to more activities based on this book. Sled on small hills and be safe. Sometimes for children under age four, sledding on their bottoms down a modest sized snow drift or pile of snow is just as much fun and safer than a sled. Older children will enjoy a saucer or old-fashioned toboggan. Encourage the children to pull one another on the sled with a rope attached to the front of the sled. Save the faster, larger hills and sled for family time with parents can make decisions about safety and speed.Snow art. Save or purchase empty trigger-type spray bottles. Fill them with water color or food coloring diluted with water. Invite the children to squirt the snow with bright colors. Or, bring out cookie cutters, pegs, Legos, and other “shape makers” for pressing into the flat snow.Examine the snow flakes. Catch falling snow flakes on a black or dark blue cloth or piece of paper, or better yet, demonstrate to the children how to catch them on a mitten. If the snowfall is too brisk for going outside, catch a few at a time and quickly bring them in to examine up close. It’s true that no two snowflakes are alike, so invite the children to sketch the snowflake. Learn more about the shape and uniqueness of each snowflake by reading Snowflake Bentley by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. Click here for more about this wonderful book and activities to expand it: Feed the birds. Make simple birdfeeders from pinecones or hand suet balls to share with the birds. Take a walk and notice all the changes created by the snow. Measure the drifts, identify tracks of adults and children and animals, and notice how the plants change in the cold. Follow the children’s lead: Most children are delighted by snow and will easily find plenty to explore and experience. Bundle up, be patient, and enjoy watching children discover the wonders and miracles of a snowy day!
Challenge: It’s just too cold to go outside.
Try this: How cold is too cold? You might be surprised at what is considered safe weather for outdoor play.
Children do not get sick from outdoor play. The germs and infections that cause children to become sick live inside our closed-in buildings. Click here to access the “Child Care Weather Watch” guide for safe outdoor play.Keep winter outdoor play time short. 15 - 20 minutes is usually enough to give children opportunities to experience the winter, breath the clean, cold air, and get the vigorous exercise they need every day. You’ll find it takes longer to get the children ready than the time actually spent outdoors, but it’s worth it! And guess what? They'll all be ready for sleep at naptime!
I’ve got more ideas on my Pinterest board titled “Snow and Winter.” Click here to check it out!
Thanks for reading! See you out in the snow!
Linda