As I detailed in my last post, one of the first things that we do in our family when we come in from outside is coat our hands and any other dry patches in lotion.  In our family we have a lot of issues with winter dry skin, and have had to use gallons upon gallons of lotions and creams in my day.

Rather than just referring to getting my own little son ready to play in the snow outside, I could have titled this post: Lessons Learned From Working in Childcare in the Winter.  I worked my way through undergad schooling by working in a daycare center and was honored to be promoted to the role of assistant preschool teacher.  I loved getting to work with kids in this way, and I feel like it has greatly influenced my parenting style to this day.

Whatever the actual role, my working with preschool and early elementary aged kids meant that about twice a day in the winter we would undergo the momentous task of taking around 20 kids to the playground, and first dressing them in 2 boots, 2 mittens, a hat, a coat and snowpants each.  Suffice it to say, I have put a lot of mittens on a lot of hands before my own son ever came around.  In my years at St. Michael Lutheran, my fellow teachers and I were able to come up with a pretty good system for efficiently getting everyone ready for playing in the snow, which I have now adapted for my own home.  I know that a few of these ideas may be self- explanatory, but for those who may be venturing out with their kids in the snow for the first time, the process of getting ready can seem intimidating.  It has been used for comedic purposes in countless shows and movies, typically with the child needing to pee the instant that they are fully dressed.

• First, and probably the most obvious is to send everyone to the bathroom. While this was going on we would have one person...
• Set all of the kids' clothes out around the room so that mittens and hats do not end up on the wrong hands.  (An aside-- if you send your child to daycare PLEASE label everything clearly.  It is nearly impossible for your child's teachers to tell one pair of black gloves from 10 others.) This is when I would typically put on my own snow-pants and boots, but nothing else since if I was fully dressed it was harder to move and I would end up sweaty before even entering the playground.
• Put on children's socks, snow-pants, boots and hats.  Then I have would have most kids put on their mittens so that they would be inserting mittened hands into coat sleeves.  This was a lot easier to do to get the mittens under the sleeve cuffs than putting them on later. 
• Put on your coat and head outside.

One of the most fun and most fulfilling ways to get your kids connected with nature is by having them help in caring for a pet.  They are probably already asking for a pet of some sort.  Or begging, or wheedling, or bargaining for that cute little puppy. 

The evidence in the medical community of the positive results of caring for an animal back up the anecdotal evidence in my own home and from friends. 

It is fairly easy to make the connection of caring for a pet to our belief of God caring for us, as well as the concept of our command to be caretakers of the world and all of its creatures found in the first chapter of Genesis, as well as the story of Adam naming all of the creatures of the earth in Genesis 2:19. 

A few important things to remember:

• Pick a pet that is appropriate to your home and lifestyle.  
• You may end up doing much of the care of the animal, especially if your children are young, so only choose an animal that you would be willing to care for.
• A pet is for life- be sure that you are ready for a commitment of a pet's lifespan.
•  Pets may bite you or your furniture or cause other destruction in the home. Be ready to deal with this with grace.  

We experienced some of these issues here in our home with a rabbit we rescued.  Because he  came to us unexpectedly, we were not ready with all of the supplies we needed, and the bun ended up living inside our home, which resulted in chewed on furniture, as well as a nipped finger on my son's hand.  However, this did little to dampen his love of "Fred" and with some adjustments and purchases, Fred was able to happily live outside, munching on the grass instead of our shoes. 

Children learn through caring for a pet.

My three year old son was easily able to assist with feeding the bunny veggies from our garden or the store, giving affection to the bunny (and eventually got better at gentle touches) and loved to come up to Fred and tell him, "I'm eating a yogurt, bunny!"  My son was also very helpful at picking Fred's favorite greens from the yard-- clover and dandelions and feeding them to him.  

This has prompted many conversations about what is good for a rabbit to eat-- Timothy Hay, and what is not-- my son's cereal bar.  This, in turn, prompted discussion of how many different animals were created to eat different things, and that we are responsible to make sure that he has these good things that are designed for him to eat.  

Let's face it, there are sometimes when the weather is too yucky out to head outside with your kids.  But how cold is that?  This can be especially an issue if your children are to the age where they can be outside in the back yard or neighborhood without you being outdoors as well.

I have heard parents attest that anything under 50 degrees is too cold for them to head out with their toddlers and little kids, and this makes me so sad for the world of cold weather adventures that these families are missing out on exploring.  Here in the Minneapolis area we would NEVER get outside from December and into April if this were the case.

When I used to work in childcare we had other, more specific requirements.  When I began working with kids, the temperature, combined with the wind chill was required to be 20 degrees or above in order for us to head outside.  However, this policy was changed because it was found that the number of days that meant we were confined to the indoors would be too great and the lack of outdoor play too great a loss.  It was then decided that for children of preschool age there was no temperature where they could not play outside for a short while, as long as they were properly dressed.

A teacher friend of mine lives in Alaska and the children there spend their winter recesses playing outside even in weather of -20 degrees.  I know that when our temps reach that level here, I simply do not want to head out much because of the sheer pain in my face, but other than that, we typically bundle up and head out for a few minutes.

There are a few considerations when heading out in frigid temperatures of course.  Children are smaller and need to be dressed in at least one more layer than we are dressed in; this rule is especially true if your outdoor activity is something where you are active, but kids are riding along more passively, such as taking a walk where they are sitting in a stroller and you are pushing.  It is much easier for them to become overly chilled in this sort of activity.  However, it is also a wonderful way to see the winter sights when their little legs would normally get bogged down under snowpants and the depth of the snow.

One further issue is that of the sun.  It may seem like a strange idea, but even in the coldest weather your children may need some form of sun protection.  While babies under 6 months old should not wear sunscreen, older babies and kids can wear sunscreen to protect against sunlight reflected from the snow and a hat or sunglasses that protect their eyes from the bright light.

I know that this has not totally answered the question that this blog post opened with, and the answer is simply as varied as the weather.  It is up to you as parent or guardian to gauge the components of the weather-- the temperature, the wetness, the wind and the light and to decide if it is appropriate to explore outside.  And the great thing about getting chilly is that it means that when you return inside that it is time for cocoa and snuggles under a blanket.  What could be better?

On this blog we talk about gear, activities and ways to motivate children and families in outdoor exploration.  However, I would be remiss if I didn't talk about a different kind of Outdoor Family-- those with no choice and no freedom to escape exposure to the elements.

For our children if the weather outside gets bad, or if there are mosquitoes in the evening we have abundant choices available to us-- to either go inside and totally be free (except for that one annoying bug that follows us inside) or to stay in a screened porch or tent, or to use abundant and cheap bug repellents and candles.

In Africa, there is a different story.  Every 30 seconds a child dies from malaria, a totally preventable disease.  We talk about ways to increase children's enjoyment of their time in the outdoors, but in your purchasing of crafts, backpacks, shoes, tents and many of the other pieces of equipment, I would love to encourage you to take a few minutes and visit UNICEF USA's site and look at their initiative to provide badly needed mosquito nets that children and their mothers can sleep under to repel mosquitoes and other pests.

These tents are inexpensive and can really make a difference for a child or multiple children.  According to UNICEF, in some countries, the usage of mosquito nets is as low as 5%.  Imagine the difference if every time a person bought a tent for their family to use in their outdoor adventures they bought a tent so that another family could be safe and sound.


To donate a mosquito tent to a child in need, visit UNICEF USA's site at http://www.unicefusa.org/ for the general page of by clicking on the direct link to the donation page to give a tent.

Nature journaling?  Why am I writing about nature journaling when my son cannot yet do the traditional form of journaling? Or maybe you are simply asking-- what is nature journaling?  It is simply the act of writing and sketching observations from the natural world around you.  It can be an action to stave off writer's block, or a way to practice your artistic talents on new subjects.  Recently it has become more popular as a way to encourage scientific observation and insight in children. 

Although my child cannot yet write in words what he sees, he can still observe the natural world around him and put these thoughts to paper. Typically on a hike we take along a small backpack that Noah can carry on his own, which has things like snacks, diapers/ underpants and more fun things like his binoculars (an old pair that are broken, but he doesn't care) and an old Babar pencil case and a small notebook.  After a walk or a visit to the nature center Noah will grab this and color his versions of what we have just seen and done.

A few of my favorite articles on nature journaling:

Simple Homemade's recent article.

The Sierra Club has a template for a nature journal, but it is not necessary to print something-- any notebook or paper that you have on hand is perfectly fine.  Their article that accompanies this pdf is worth a read, however, and compares the practice to the historical figure John Muir's practice of observing the natural world.

The Handbook of Nature Study has many wonderful resources for parents looking to introduce the natural world to their kids, and nature journaling is a big part of this.

I have been writing to you with my thoughts on the importance of outdoor play for children of all ages, but maybe I have left something out.  You could read my posts here and wonder if I am spending all of my time online writing about being outside while I sit inside in my comfortable office chair not practicing what I preach.

Yes, it is something that I have to consciously decide when it is 8 degrees like today (it will soon be much colder here in MN) and when I am working to finish a project for a client or for grad school it is pretty hard to take a break and take a walk, but I deeply believe that taking those pauses to get outside and simply breathe will help me to be a better mom, student, worker as well as for the health of my child.

Recently, my family and I got the chance to take part in a wonderful example of how wonderful time spent in the outdoors can be, even in the winter months and after dark.  My husband and I for our 5th wedding anniversary decided to take a weekend away up in Duluth, MN which is one of our favorite getaways.  Since both of us grew up in SW Michigan, we are used to having the Great Lakes easily accessible, and although it is farther away, Duluth is our most convenient access to one of the Big Lakes.

Because Noah is a pretty important result of our marriage, and because he would love the event that we were heading to, we made it a family anniversary weekend.  The beauty of the waves, and the way that the city is perched almost ludicrously on the steep hills heading down to the frigid lake, these are all reasons why we love the city.  Another reason is because it is a place that seems to get it.  It would be pretty hard not to understand the importance of nature with it impacting such a large amount of your economy.

While we were there we took the opportunity to enjoy one of the quirky events that makes this town so wonderful-- The Bentlyville Tour of Lights.  While not strictly an activity geared toward nature (in fact, some animals were probably frightened away by the 157 foot LED laden Christmas Tree) but as one tours the lights it quickly becomes apparent that the event is working hard to make sure that people enjoy their time outdoors in the night air.

There are numerous free snacks, from popcorn to cookies and cocoa, but as one walks to the farthest point of the tour, they are met with warm fires blazing and complimentary marshmallows and sticks to roast your own treat.  This detail may seem small, but the act of adding in the extra sensory experiences of the smell of the fire and taste of the lightly browned sugary treat in the midst of the cold and light of the fire and decorations adds something wonderful to the experience.  The strategic placement of fires as well as the warming house nearby show a care and thought for the experience of families looking to spend time outside in the winter months that I really love.