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.