Cancel Recess If Some Kids Are Shivering?

My school district (Rochester N.Y.) is not the one to talk to — it is a battle just to get some teachers to take the kids outside in NICE weather, let alone in (admittedly cold) winter.
But I visited State College, Pa. recently and was told the kids go outside almost all winter; so maybe you can check with them!
Good luck

Here in Fairbanks, Alaska they go outside unless it’s below -20. That’s 20 degrees below zero. Your warned to simply dress kids appropriately. We have no cut off temp for canceling school. In the six years I’ve lived here I’ve never seen school cancelled for weather reasons.

Montgomery County is home to one of the country’s best girl’s Ice Hockey teams ( http://www.pridehockey.com/ ) with one of their players also on the USA U-18 team that recently won the world championships in Sweden. Maybe they can put on clinics at the local schools to show what girls are capable of when they tough out the cold 😉

My daughter’s school (private, MA) sends them outside unless it is below 20 (which seems perfectly reasonable to me). If you didn’t send your kid with appropriate clothing for the weather, they will keep her inside and tell you to send better clothes next time (which also seems reasonable to me).

Oh, I forgot–they *don’t* send them out if it’s raining. I can kind of see that–too hard to make sure kids have rain pants–but it annoys me nonetheless.

I’ve taught in various places around the country. When I lived in Texas kids weren’t allowed to go out if it was below 40 (which rarely happened) , In Colorado and here in MI the rule is 20 degrees with wind chil, and the rule is flexible based on how it actually feels that day. I’ve seen kids cheer indoor recess, because they don’t want to be out in the cold. In all places they of course are not allowed to go outside if it’s wet. In all of the schools I’ve worked at the kids still get some sort of free time to play even if they don’t get to go out for recess and provided the kids get PE more than once a week that’s fine. It’s when the kids only have gym once a week and they’re expected to be quiet at lunch and indoor recess that you get a proble,.

The actual temperature guidelines are going to vary based on where in the country you live. Kids in South Texas aren’t as prepared for or as acclimated to the cold weather (and don’t have heavy coats and boots and sweaters ect. . . ) as kids are that live in northern regions. It also doesn’t get as cold so the number of days they’re kept inside is small.

There are a couple of really freerange schools in Washington State (on an island but I forget the name). Do some research on that – they are pre-schools, early ed, and the kids do almost ALL of their lessons out door, rain or shine!

Hereabouts (near Anchorage, AK), policy is recess goes on until -10F. Or if it’s too icy out.

At my son’s elementary school in Minnesota, the kids go outside as long as the temperature (including wind chill) is above zero.

From Olathe, KS The policy at our school which I think is the same for the whole district.

“Recess times are scheduled during the day for learners’ enjoyment and physical activity. It is expected that all students will participate. At the beginning of each school year, teachers review safety procedures and rules of conduct for the playground.

Temperature: The temperature of the air, wind speed, relative humidity, and amount of sunshine all effect whether the normal recess schedule is maintained. The following wind chill index is used:

Outdoor recess ——14 degrees or above
Limited recess———9 degrees or above
Indoor recess———-8 degrees or below

Condition of the Playground Area: Due to children’s safety, the amount of snow and ice may prohibit the use of the playground even when the temperature warrants outside or limited outside recess.

Appropriate Student Dress: Attire is another factor that affects the normal recess schedule. Particularly during cold weather, gloves/mittens, hats and boots are encouraged. If a student should come to school without clothing appropriate for the weather, the building staff will determine the appropriate course of action, dependent upon the conditions. “

My child attends school in Howard County, MD and they are going outside for recess. The official policy is that they go out as long as it’s 20 and above (windchill is factored in as well) and every child must wear the coat/gloves/hat they wore to school that morning. They only stay inside when there’s a storm, or the forecast says one is coming due to the dangers of lightning.

I find it to be a reasonable policy, and yet some parents here complain about the school “making” their children go out. Sad thing is, in most cases the complainers children want to be outside as much as their classmates.

At my elementary school, there was a plowed blacktop area and an unplowed area where the soccer fields were. The rules were different for kids who had snowpants than those who didn’t; no proper gear, no going in the snow. Also, any students who felt cold were allowed to ask a teacher to let them in.

Why not make a new policy: students sent to school with hats, gloves, etc. are allowed the choice of playing outside?

Our school in Minneapolis has the same policy as Anne’s: kids go outside unless the thermometer is below 0F. Everyone, K-8, plays outside before school til the bell rings (that’s as much as 25 minutes, depending on when their bus arrives). After lunch the elementary kids have to go outside and they let the 6-8th graders decide whether to go out or play in the gym.

I hope that if my kids complained about shivering, a teacher would advise them to dress more appropriately.

Here in Grand Rapids, MI, indoor recess is implemented if it is at or below 0 degrees. At our preschool, they suggest two pair of snowpants, one to leave at school, and one for home, and a pair of shoes for school, so you take your kid in boots, jacket and mittens, and they change into shoes for inside.
I have never not been able to find secondhand snowpants for $5 or under. Thrift stores in early spring/late fall. Awesome! You know they’re only gonna fit one winter anyway…

The town we’re moving to this summer has no listed policy. Anywhere. But, it’s in Montana, where the whole culture revolves around the outdoors. So, I take this as a sign that they go outside. Lots. The district also encourages walking and biking. So. Yeah.

What really ticks me off is the thought that somehow little girl ones are less hardy than little boy ones. What freaking century is this?!

*eyeroll* Some girls shiver regardless of where they are – I don’t know how often my classmates yelled at me to ‘close the window, it’s COLD!’

(I’m Austrian, and we never went outside during recess. I think that practise doesn’t exist at all here… I wish it did. Esp. since – see above – they won’t even let you open the windows.)

My son’s Catholic school has a policy that states they go outside as long as temps are above 0 F. I don’t know if they include windchill in that factor.

Parents should make sure kids are dressed appropriately. If the kids don’t have snow shoes, they are not allowed off the paved area (which means a much colder recess since all the activity is going on in the snow covered areas).

The school suggests packing along an extra pair of socks and gloves for kids if their own get wet during recess.

My kid is the LAST one to want to go outside, but he has never complained that it’s too cold once he does. He just gets so busy having fun, they don’t notice. It’s a lot like the cold swimming pool in summer. Parents get in and their arms are raised over the water in effort to keep any part of their body dry that they can, but little kids? Once they get moving and wet, they start bragging about how warm the water is!

My son is only in preschool but it’s a very “outdoorsy” place and they go outside pretty much whatever the weather (the ice has kept them inside this week).

HOWEVER, I know that they can’t go outside unless all the kids have the appropriate snowpants, hats, boots, etc. If one child is missing gloves, they all have to stay inside.

(They do have a lost and found that they’ll “borrow” from if necessary, but they can’t do it for everyone).

So, even if kids do get permission to go outside, I could see parents being passive agressive and “forgetting” to send the appropriate outdoor clothing.

You know, I grew up in Montgomery County, and went to the public schools there in the 1970s and early 80s. I remember going out for recess in everything but rain (recess was moved to the gym once we had one, and the cafeteria before that). I also remember in junior high, we had to run the cross-country course even when puddles of water were still covered with ice. And we were wearing shorts.

I can’t believe that kids in Montgomery County are less hardy than we were, but it sounds like some of the parents are.

Sign of the times and also place. In Minnesota (where I used to be a teacher) the kids went out everyday unless it was below 0 or actively snowing/raining. Kids HAD to wear snow pants everyday. Now in Ohio, they have indoor recess and no school for the slightest things. My daughter’s friends rarely dress appropriately for the weather when they come over cuz it’s ‘cold’ they can’t play outside. And I can’t get the teacher or the principal to get my kid to put on her snow pants (only on the few really snowy days) to walk home from school. They tell me – they will ‘try’. In MN we got those kids bundled.
As far as recess, I am with you. They should go outside most days. My daughter would really like it. I think it’s the lazy staff that don’t want to stand out there. My daughter says they will have outdoor recess in the Spring.

It would be a little more time consuming than finding a master-list, but you can always look up the website for school districts in different areas – especially those with a similar general climate, where other factors (i.e. what clothing kids tend to own, and so forth) might be in line with your area. Many have it listed, and if not, they have email links where you can ask about policies.

Out here, our schools have simply been closed all week, which is going to be a serious pain in the sit-upon come the end of the year, when these days will need to be made up (ahh… around the time the temps jump up over 100). Actually, the whole metroplex has shut down, with the few available resources going towards getting things ready for the Superbowl.

Of course, the funny thing is that while the schools tend to decide somewhere around the 40’s that it is too cold outside for the kids (the kids all hate it when they are forced indoors and think it silly), as soon as there is a snow day, guess where they all are! (Yes, these *are* the same children who will try to convince you it is too cold to walk to school as soon as it is 60 or below, and it is miraculous how much more tolerable the cold gets the moment they hear “no school”. LOL)

I believe children should be out in all sorts of weather. It bothers me when my daughter comes home and says “we didn’t have recess again today.” I usually, at that point, send her right back outside to play, telling her she can do her homework afterwards. Otherwise, she’s not going to be able to concentrate much, anyway. I grew up in South Florida, and unfortunately that meant we had a lot of rainy days, but we always had actual *physical* indoor activities to make up for it, even if it was just the teachers getting us up and having us stretch and jump and “shake-it-out”. (At home, we did of course just play in the rain, as long as there was no lightening, and I keep that same policy with my daughter.)

I think that schools should send a letter home, explaining the proper clothing needed for outdoor activities for different weather. I know that in the schools we’ve dealt with, they have addressed when a student’s family could not afford some of the needed items. They work with the local organization that collects and distributes such things, keep on hand things left from previous years’ lost-and-found (or donated) for use when needed, and have had (or at least one of the schools did) donations of gift cards and such for shoes and outerwear.

I’m not sure how I feel about the idea of kids being able to “opt out”, though. I think kids are getting used to too much individualized, special treatment. So many of them are exposed, already, to things such as the attitude of the mother of the hothouse flower “shiverer”, and I don’t think that’s healthy. Is it always pleasant outside? No. But so long as they have adequate clothing for *actual* safety, I don’t think a little discomfort is going to truly hurt them. I do think that learning that you sometimes have to just deal with it *is* a valuable lesson in life, though. After spending quite a bit of time volunteering at the elementary school, I really believe that there are a lot of kids who need to learn that they cannot just do or not do whatever they want, whenever they want, and that they are not the “special snowflake” (or hothouse flower) exception to everything.

Heh. Earlier this year it was full out raining, and I went to go get my daughter from Kindergarten. Where did I find the school? The Yard Duties out with umbrellas and the kids playing in the rain, that even I batted an eye and asked the Principal, .. “It’s only drizzling” was the response. (Like hell! :P) Even when it snowed, where were the kids out? Outside in the snow. They have an option when the rain is bad, to stay in and watch a movie in the Caffitera or go outside, most opt to go play in the snow or rain. My son regularly comes home with grass and mud stains on his jeans.

I think perhaps we’re one of the last few places that allow things like that, hugging is just fine, (As one of the Yard duties told a child earlier this week, however pick up hugs are not, someone could get hurt), But with that said, I live in a mountain town in the high Sierra Nevada Mountains, there are maybe 500 kids in all if that from K – 8th at their school. My daughter has 15 people or so in her classroom, and there are two Kindergarten classes, so I feel that we really lucked out moving here.

I can spell. Honest. cafeteria* Weather is bad*

Indoor recess drives me insane. Here the kids haven’t had outdoor recess since November. Most days it’s 20-30F midday, warm enough if you have a coat, hat, and gloves on.

I don’t buy that it’s a safety concern. The school has no issue leaving the bigger kids on the playground outside before school no matter the weather (K-2nd are inside). I think it’s convenience- getting kids into coats and gloves can be labor intensive and time consuming, the school doesn’t want to deal with it.

I live in Minneapolis. My older daughter goes out unless it’s below 0F / below -10 windchill. The limits are slightly higher at my younger daughter’s school — they may stay in for a 0F windchill. You need snowpants and boots to leave the asphalt and play in the snow.

To be fair — EVERYONE in Minnesota has a coat and mittens or gloves. These are basic necessities. Schools try to provide boots and snowpants for kids whose families can’t afford them. A family in Houston, Texas probably does not invest in high-quality coats, boots, snowpants, and mittens for their kids — also, with generally warmer temperatures you just don’t acclimate. It was 30 here today and sunny and it felt incredibly warm to me, whereas in October a 30 degree day would have me digging out my warmer coat and cursing the coming of winter. If I were setting policy for a school in the south I would NOT say “go out if it’s above 0F.” I see absolutely no reason to set a limit that’s above 32F, though. My older daughter has a really high tolerance for cold and when she persisted in leaving the house in short sleeves as the temperatures dropped one fall, I looked up frostbite risk. If you’re dry, frostbite risk doesn’t even start to become a factor until the temperature and/or windchill drops below 17F, IIRC.

(Also, to be fair — around here we have days when summer camps cancel all their physically intense activities because it’s considered “dangerously hot.” I’m sure Texans would look at temperatures we consider unacceptably hot and would laugh and laugh and laugh. But I’m sure they have a set of coping behaviors as the temperature goes up that they don’t think about any more than we think about our fleece gloves, wool socks, etc. It really does matter what you’re used to.)

I don’t know about temperature requirements from when I was a kid (no kids for me yet), but at the very least when it was raining and we were kept in we played in the gym. No Omer was ever expected to stay in the classrooms during recess!

Here in Montana at both the public schools and the Montessori school that my daughter attends the policy is that they go outside unless it below zero. We never have “snow days” and parents are expected to send children with appropriate clothing for cold weather – snow pants, gloves, hats, etc. The kids are used to it and love playing outside especially in the snow.

My child hasn’t been out for recess in weeks — and it seems the kids are all going batty as a result. I have no idea what our school policy is with regard to outdoor recess, but this bears investigating. (Today was perfectly okay to go out, being a sunny, relatively balmy 32 or so degrees in Northern NJ.) And considering that the recess period is about 30 minutes (usually after lunch), it’d be ideal for everyone to get some fresh air and exercise.

I think the main reason for indoor recess has to do with all the snow that’s accumulated since after Christmas. Apparently, school policy dictates that children are NOT allowed to play in/with the snow on school property, and any child caught doing so during school hours will be sent to the prinicipal’s office. (Even the “safety monitors” will bark at kids to leave the snow alone.) I find this to be silly, butI guess there’s been instances where snowballs/ice were thrown and someone’s child was injured, only to ruin it for other kids. Or am I missing something here?

I should add that they’re whooping it up in the snow on the playground… we have snow on the ground for at least 3 straight months every year… Maybe it’s the prevalence of the snow in our area, but there just doesn’t seem to be a problem with kids “messing” with it and ruining things for everyone else. I would imagine some kids are nasty and whack others with ice-packed snowballs, but they’re probably the same kids who’d be throwing mud-balls in the spring – the snow has nothing to do with it!

Our kids love being able to play on the (snowy) playground equipment in their snow gear – makes it more fun, somehow. 🙂

I believe our policy is to have the kids outside if it is above zero degrees Fahrenheit. Once the windchill or regular temp dips below 0, they’re kept in. However…

Our school has two gyms, so if one is open, indoor recess is usually spent in there, running around and being fools.

“Sledding Parties” are often used as a reward for the kids (this is a parochial grade school. Covers grades Preschool-eight). Several weeks ago, my son’s first grade class finished their “Marble Jar”, meaning that they had earned enough good behavior to fill the jar. Their reward, I kid you not, was to be allowed to bring their SLEDS to school, and go sledding for a half hour during the school day on the hill next to the playground. Their teacher and the Principal joined in on the fun.

I *heart* our school!

Staying in for recess because it’s under 20 degrees??LMAO, I guess we’re just tougher in the Midwest. I believe the policy in my WI town is outside recess unless the air temp or the wind chill is -10 or colder. All the kids (starting at age4) are expected to dress themselves appropriately, ie snowpants, boots, mittens etc. In fact my daughter’s 2nd grade class just had a walking field trip to the post office, -about a 3block walk- last week. It was about 15degrees out and snowing when they went—oooh the horror!!
I suppose I understand in southern climates they may not have appropriate clothing but still.

I don’t have references to suggest, but this conversation did remind me of a press conference President Obama gave his first winter in the White House. He expressed his shock that his daughters’ school was closed for a snow day when, as his younger daughter pointed out, in Chicago they not only would still have had school, but they would even have gone out for recess! Perhaps bringing this up might help other parents and teachers consider a more reasonable perspective.

As far as “go outside for recess in the cold” policies? Students need their recess time, to release steam and get thier wiggles out. However one has to look at the degree and wind chill of the weather to see if it is adequate enough for the students to be outside. The way the students are dressed is also a vital point. If my students are not adequately dressed then I would not take them outside. Recess is vital but one has to use thier common sense and know what is best for the students.

The question I have, though, is have you ever tried to find a new winter coat for a child in February? If they have outgrown their current coat?
Try it.
Even goodwill seems to be full of swimsuits. Target has sold all their winter clothes. I can order online, but can’t have the kid try it on first. It’s like trying to buy a new swimsuit in August.

I send my kids outside in all kinds of weather, but I see so many children in clothes designed in California (I suppose). Let’s have a movement for locally appropriate fashions too. Maybe girls would be more willing to be outside, and warmer, if they could be convinced not to wear tank tops in January.

Good grief. I hate “indoor recess” because it typically just means the kids are all going to have the flu a week later. Here in Edmonton, Alberta, the kids go outside unless it is colder than -20 Celsius. Which is about -2 Farenheit I think. If we worried about shivering we wouldn’t be able to leave the house for a good 5 months of the year!

Marcy, I totally agree on appropriate clothing for the place! A couple of weeks ago we were a bit early for an appointment, so I took my kids to the park. It was about 25 F. While waiting, the school bus stopped and let off a bunch of middle and high school kids.

Not one of the girls had a coat on – all were carrying them, and only two out of the 10 were wearing anything with sleeves – the rest had on tank tops! Granted,these were teens, and the boys I am sure though the effect was great -but all I could think was “not my daughter!”

What if you suggest to give it a trial run. Let the kids who WANT to go out (including girls) do so, and the ones who WANT to stay in do that. Then they can see what the majority is.

When I was in elementary, we LOVED going out in the snow. We’d play on the 10 foot ice mounds from the plows, and roll up our pants so we could pack snow into the cuff and then throw it at the chalk board. Ahhh, those were the days!

Also they do have gym class, so they are getting time to run around during the day. That is usually 30 minutes of a high activity game, they even still do dodgeball 🙂

Around here, everyone goes outside, no matter what, unless it’s colder than -15F (-25C). Even then, we sometimes make the kids run around the playground once and then come back in.

Worried about shivering. How ridiculous. I remember my toes actually hurting with cold at recess. And guess what. I survived. Staying in at 20F… Good grief. You’d have to be laying down in a snowbank with nothing but a t-shirt to actually have a problem in that temperature.

In my kids school in Iowa the rule is above 0 including wind chill it’s outside recess. Unless it is actively raining or snowing hard – not just a sprinkle or flurry.

Actually, keep kids away from the cold, in truth, is far more damaging than the need to keep them “safe”. I wrote in once before about the summer I ended without A/C in VIrginia during a heatwave that put us over 110. At first, it was just plain unbearable, until my body realized that the temp was a constant, and adapted.

It is the same with children. By depriving them of any instance of real cold, they are unintentionally crippling children’s ability to adapt to that environment, setting them up for greater difficulty later on should they end up stuck outside in cold weather later on.

My husbands memories in the UK are of public school (read ‘shorts in winter’) and playing rugby on the ice! its all just so crazy! lets protect ’em from every bit of discomfort we can think of. No wonder we’re globally warming!

In southeastern Germany the kids go outside in all weather conditions except for pouring rain or hail. Even in kindergarten (preschool) kids go outside when it is cold and snowy. Parents know that they have to bring appropriate clothing for their kids. The parents also know to bring extra gloves, hats, and clothing for preschoolers when there is snow. In secondary schools (starting in 5th grade) the kids have the choice to go outside or stay inside during their breaks. When there’s snow, the kids prefer to go outside and play (American) football in the snow or have snowball fights. Some of the kids even build snowmen or forts. In my son’s time in the German school system (3 years in kindergarten, currently in 6th grade), school has never been closed for snow. Teachers don’t penalize the kids for coming to school late when there has been a heavy snowfall the previous night. But cancel school? Never!

Elementary and secondary schools here have special winter sports days, where the kids in each class vote for an activity (sledding, skiing, ice skating) and spend that day doing it. During those days the kids bring backpacks to school with a change of clothing. If they get wet during the activity, they simply change into their dry clothes afterward.

Sometimes being cold for a short time is a good lesson. Last year my son and a friend rode their bikes to the local toy store. It was damp and about 5 C (41 F). My son was in such a hurry to go to the store with his friend, he forgot to put his jacket on. I was in another room when the boys left, so I didn’t notice that my son forgot his jacket until I saw it hanging on its hook in the entrance hall. When my son came back, I just said, “I bet you were cold.” He said that he was. After that he always remembered to wear his jacket.

By the way my son (age almost 12) read the original post and thinks that people in the States are wimps because they don’t let their kids go outside in the cold. He even said that if kids here couldn’t go outside when it’s cold, they’d be indoors 9 months of the year.

I have always scoffed at stories involving the hardships of people dealing with temps below 40 and clearing two inches of snow. I would sit back and smirk knowing that here in Michigan not so wimpy. I’m still not very sympathetic to those who close school in anticipation of what I would call a dusting, but beginning to come around to the notion of context.

Elementary schools here warn parents they go outside in all kinds of weather, and to dress children accordingly. Here it’s a reasonable expectation for children to have heavy coats and boots. But if you don’t normally get a 100 or more inches of snow a year, and can understand the economic necessity of not having arctic circle rated gear on hand.

I still think staying inside when the temp get below 40 is wimpy, but I am getting off my high horse about it.

There was only one type of weather that could stop recess at my elementary school. With heavy rain we were kept inside, but I still treasured those bits of recess, because we were not restricted to our seats. We were allowed to roam the classroom, sit anywhere we wanted and play card and board games.

Where I live, we have pretty cold winters, but that didn’t mean we didn’t get to go outside. In fact, outdoor recess in winter resulted in plenty of snowmen and snowball fights. Yes, it was cold, and by the end of recess my hands were freezing, but it was the most fun I remember having in my then short life.

There is nothing unsafe about outdoor recess in the cold unless the kid in question is ill already.

I too have come over the years to agree with Mike H.

Sure we get a LOT of snow here (there is currently about 4 feet of it on my lawn, and more where I’ve shovelled the driveway onto the lawn too!) and sure it gets REALLY COLD here, but we are used to it. Even the teenagers wear warm coats, mitts and boots in this weather!

My friend who lives in a much warmer climate has a winter coat that I would consider barely warm enough for the fall, certainly not for winter here. When it snows there the roads shut down (no plows), the schools shut down (no way to get there) and no one goes outside if they can help it. Wimpy? Or just unprepared for something that rarely happens? Same when it gets cold… her little jacket, even with a sweater under it would leave her shivering(!) in minutes and risking hypothermia in half an hour. She simply isn’t prepared to deal with the cold – because she doesn’t have to be!

Even as we speak, there are countries, such as Finland, where children in the elementary schools and middle schools get a 15 minute recess every 45 minutes. They can stay inside with a special permit or if the weather is extremely cold; say -15 Celsius.(~10F?) When i was going to elementary school -15C was also the temperature when we didn’t have to bring our skis and skates to school. If it was any warmer than that automatically skis or skates were the required gear. Sometimes we skied around the school building during recess. That fresh air and recess outside was great great exercise for the whole body; including our developing brains.
So, having two or even one recess a day shouldn’t be such a BIG DEAL!!!

I live in So Cal so we don’t have the cold issue. We do have days when the principal makes the judgment call to keep kids indoors during lunch/recess if it’s too hot. Usually if it’s in the 100s+ she’ll make the call.

I was kind of upset the hear that they didn’t bring the kids indoors at our school during a lightning storm. I know someone who was struck by lightning (happened when I was in HS) and she had a very difficult recovery. I know it can be serious.

My kids attend a school that sends out the following at the beginning of the cold weather season:

“There is no inappropriate weather, only inappropriate dress. All children will go outside for recess whether they are dressed appropriately or not. Please send your child with the correct clothes for the weather including coats, snow pants, hats, gloves, and boots. Thank you”

It gets cold here (like in the single digits) and teachers sometimes let them stay in if it is miserable, like heavy rain or wind advisory warnings, but the teachers pointed out that keeping them indoors all day just sets them up to fail.

I’m a teacher and I get sick of being asked if I’m cold. Our school was built in the late 60’s each grade has a pod of 4 classrooms. Each pod opens onto a garden that is the heart of the school. It is surrounded by the building on 4 sides (with a gate that goes out to the playground and doors to the main building. The bathrooms for our grade are outside of the garden and don’t have heat or ac.

Our kids don’t have heavy winter coats. We are the in the subtropics day time temps below 50’s are unusual the average low in Houston Dec – Feb is mid 40’s and that is nighttime.

So Wednesday we had indoor recess because the kids didn’t have coats. We were standing outside at the bathrooms getting ready to go to lunch. One little girl dressed in long sleeves, polo shirt over that, and cloth hoody was shivering to beat the band. I handed her my proper winter jacket.

When we went in one of the teachers chided me for setting a bad example – just then the girl came running back to me from the line and handed me back my jacket.

I often get scolded for not wearing a coat. To me it is more trouble to put it one for the 90 second walk into the building, then have to carry the blasted thing around inside. If I wear it inside – I get overheated.

I want to scream I’m an adult and know if I’m cold or not. (I have worn the coat in from my car because it is raining and damp clothes are not fun.) Umbrellas are useless for me because of wind and the gear I carry back and forth to school.

I live in central Ontario – and my children’s school follows the Canadian Pediatric Society’s guidelines. Recess is only cancelled when is it colder than -25. And that is before the wind chill factor. 🙂

This came home with my kids (RI) just after winter break:

The School Improvement Team developed Winter Recess Guidelines at their December meeting. Beginning Monday, January 10th, the following guidelines were shared with the students:

– Outdoor recess occurs during the winter on all days when the wind chill temperature is above 20 degrees. Please make certain that your children are dressed appropriately for outdoor play.
-Children will be allowed to play in the snow as long as they are wearing appropriate winter gear: snow boots, gloves, hats, coats and snow pants. If they are not dressed with snow play gear they will have “blacktop” recess.
– Students will be reminded that snow is not to be thrown.

Lastly, please be clear with your child on what is an appropriate boot. For example: You may not want your child playing in the snow with Ugg-type boots. At the school level, staff will not be making determinations on what is an appropriate boot. Please make certain you discuss this with your child.”

I am THRILLED to have not only a policy that encourages outdoor play, but also SNOW PLAY! and to have a school that uses common sense and personal responsibility rather than administrative parenting – how great that they say the parents need to determine what snow boots are, rather than making up some arcane definition for what encompasses appropriate footwear for the snow.

I think that kids should decide for themselves if its too cold for them. Why do we feel our adult opinions are more valid than our children’s.

Here in Ottawa Canada the limit is somewhere around -20C. I also coach our Peewee XC ski team (9 to 11 years old). They aren’t allowed to race or train hard if it’s below -15C because it can damage their lungs (it’s temporary but it can take a while to recover). We still go for easy skis down to as cold as it gets here. Usually that’s around -25C or -30.

Oh… having gotten a chance to ask my daughter about her school’s *official* policy (we’re in North Texas, at ground zero for Superbowl Madness), it seems that the winter they don’t go out if it is under 40F, and the rest of the year they don’t go out if it is over 90F (which is a lot of the time). This week, we got a few inches of snow and ice (high temps in the 20’s) so the whole city just shut down, due to a lack of equipment to deal with those conditions, a lack of driving experience for said conditions amongst the locals, and fun things like rolling blackouts because the power grid couldn’t handle the extra surge of everyone being home trying to keep themselves entertained (on top of the weather-related blowouts).

KLY exactly right, with regards to things like “children need to learn that the world is not going to hand them everything they want, when they want it. It is not going to always cater to their whims, and sometimes they will be required to put up with things… cold temperatures being the least of them.”

Exactly right. Today, in fact, with it about 40 °F and left-over snow starting to melt, I booted the 2 kids (3 ½ and 1 ½) while we straightened up the house a little. The 1 ½ year-old, who normally plays outside with joy, was protesting–but was made to spend a good 30 minutes outdoors anyway. I even physically disciplined him when he protested too much.

LRH

As a DC-area educator I can tell you I dread indoor recess days because my kids are extra wiggly and have more discipline problems. They need to be able to run around and play and let off some steam! I’m fine with flexible recess on cold days to allow students to stay inside if it’s too cold for them but why punish the whole group?

@kherbert
It is extremely soft, imo. Around these parts, they tend to treat all weather (not just the unusual stuff like this week) as if they have never seen it before.

Annoyingly, they will cut it for temps that are standard for the season, but ignore air quality all together. I’m not keep on too much exposure on an orange or higher sort of day.

It makes me batty that they will keep the kids inside and crank the air as soon as it starts warming up at the end of the school year, because then we get them dumped on us for the summer with *no* tolerance built up, having not acclimated enough.

A good part of the problem, though, is that the adults who have to supervise them simply do not want to “deal” with the weather, themselves. Apparently, this year my daughter has someone who is “not [her] favorite, but fair” in charge of them at recess, but I know past years there have been times they didn’t go out – or it got cut short – because the one in charge didn’t want to stand outside for 20 minutes. (Yes, 20 minutes. That is what they get, if everything is on time and running smoothly.)

But that’s how it seems to be around here. People avoid going outside if they can manage it. Nobody really opens their windows, no matter how awesome the weather, and everyone goes from climate controlled house, to cc’d vehicle to cc’d job/school, lather-rinse-repeat. There aren’t even sidewalks around most areas, and no one walks anywhere. (They look at me like I am crazy, at the grocery store, when I ask them to bag things a certain way because I am carrying it home… and I literally live on the other side of the fence that runs behind the store.)
Of course, with this complete shunning of the outdoors, everyone then acts surprised that they have a bazillion allergies. 😛

Let me toss in a comment from a different angle: when I was a kid, I *liked* indoor recess, because I was a nerd, and looked forward to the opportunity to read or write or draw outside of the confines of school lessons. So what is the point of recess? Is it exercise? Social interaction? Or simply a chance to have some time to oneself outside the strictures of the day?

Here in northern IL, we get extreme temps during the school year. In the 6 years I’ve been employed with my district, we’ve never kept the kids in when it’s been over 90…we do have a district policy that states if the temperature is below 10F (including wind chill), that the children stay in. This usually isn’t a huge concern, but every few years we get a couple-week stretch where we’re all inside, going stir-crazy. Administration make decisions on other issues, such as when the playground is so icy that it’s a safety issue to be outside. Several parents went on Facebook to bash our “lazy” staff for not wanting to be outside in the cold (had they bothered to check they would have known it was actually about the fact that we couldn’t have kids cracking their skulls on the icy blacktop), but I have yet to see any of those parents volunteer to supervise recess. And if “indoors for days on end” bothers them, they could certainly send their kids outside when they get home! We’d rather have the kids outdoors than not, because we see first-hand what happens when they don’t get that fresh air and exercise.

Sadly, not every family can afford proper winter gear, and even those that CAN don’t always send it…you’d be amazed at how many kids don’t have snow pants or snow boots…cutesy UGG boots and fake leather boots with 1-1/2″ heels are NOT snow boots where 7-year-olds are concerned. Nor are those “skinny” cheap, stretchy gloves you buy at Target for $1 a pair..We have some kids who come to school with a hoodie for winter wear not because it’s stylish but because it’s what they have. Our school started a fund to make “on the sly” donations of coats, etc. to families in need, which has helped–but we can’t provide it to everyone who needs it, and there are some who are too proud to accept it.

Bottom line: Kids need good winter jackets that keep them warm enough for the conditions experienced where they live, and those jackets need hoods AND functioning zippers that they can manage on their own; they need snow pants, snow boots that are insulated, heavy mittens or gloves, perhaps a hat and a scarf…AND a pair of shoes to put on when they’re in the school!

Beaumont Real Estate commented, “I think that kids should decide for themselves if its too cold for them. Why do we feel our adult opinions are more valid than our children’s.”

I agree in principle, but the devil is in the details. When we had freezing daytime temps last week (an incredibly rare occurrence here as you know if you are in Beaumont, TX) I was looking forward to going outside for recess duty. Cold weather is a novelty and I was prepared to enjoy it.

Only a few students had proper clothing, though. Many were wearing shorts and tee shirts with no jackets or only light hoodies. While I would have loved to go outside with them we don’t have the staffing to do that. Teacher’s are required to have a 30 minute duty-free lunch. We only have enough staff available in our schedule to be either inside the cafeteria/gym or outside for recess. Not both. Therefore we have to decide what’s best for the entire group of students instead of letting them choose.

We do go outside in what most places would consider really hot weather, though. I think we only stay inside when it’s over 100. Temps and humidity in the 90’s are normal weather and we are acclimated to that. When I was a kid the schools weren’t air conditioned and I don’t ever remember being concerned about the heat. We were just used to it. But we closed school for freezing precip because we didn’t have the resources to deal with that.

I think it’s important for kids to go outside when it’s at all possible, but each location is going to have different ideas about what extreme weather is.

where I am in SW Michigan, most schools don’t allow the kids out unless it’s above 20 degrees. About the only way they stay in (over 20 degrees anwyay) is if the wind is really bad or it’s raining/snowing really bad. Other than that, they’re outside. If they don’t have boots or snowpants, they have to stay on the paved area of the playground. Amazing though, they send home oodles of notes saying “it’s winter. dress the kids warm. that includes, snowpants, hats, boots, mittens and/or gloves.” and people STILL don’t send their kids to school dressed for the weather.

I taught in 3 different districts in Massachusetts–Boston, Newton and Cambridge. All had the same policy…below freezing on a thermometer meant indoor recess. It sucked for everyone involved.

Larry – I’m not opposed to parents taking care of themselves sometimes at the expense of the kid’s happiness, but I’m not going to force my child to do something I wouldn’t do. If I think it’s too cold/hot for me to be outside, I’m not going to force my child to be outside. I’ll try to get her to go out, but if she’s cold and I agree that it’s cold (and she’s not just whining to get her way), then I’m not going to insist. If she’s driving me crazy, I just have to deal. Dealing with annoying kids occasionally is part of being a parent. And if she’s happily playing by herself, I see no reason to interrupt regardless if she’s been inside all day and it’s beautiful out.

If it isn’t below zero (windchill can count as below zero) they go out. We use a windchill chart put out by NOAA, and compare it to the amount of time the kids are out, 15 min. for 1st and last recess, 30 min for lunch recess. Since we have a number of kids with financial needs, we also have an assortment of extra coats, hats, gloves, boots, and snowpants the kids may borrow from. There are also days where kids may stay in to read or play chess during certain recesses if they would prefer to do that.

Donna, declaring that holding one’s own opinion as a parent above a child’s is as bad as helicopter parenting is, to be blunt, patently ridiculous. It requires huge leaps of assumption and a fair amount of judgmental thinking.

One of the basic principles in Free Range Parenting is that we, as parents, know our children and know what they are (or are not) capable of managing for themselves. This includes assessing their own judgement in assessing *their* needs, as compared to their wants and whims. We don’t just allow children to do whatever they think they should be able to do, unless we agree they are ready and that it is for their greater good.

Children can, with much conviction, tell you that they are miserable and far too uncomfortable to stand in line at the grocery store for five minutes, when in truth they are just bored. They can tell you that they are *starving* and try to convince you that you need to buy something to eat, instead of waiting the ten minutes it will take to get home. No matter how convinced they are, though, or even how “uncomfortable”, we – as parents – know that dealing with it is not going to cause them any permanent damage or trauma… and, in fact, might teach them a lesson in patience if you do it right.

Going back to the cold weather issue, it is just as common for kids to decide they “don’t need a coat” (or hat/socks/gloves/any-of-these-things), even to go play outside when it is wet or snowy. They are convinced they know what they need or don’t need… and we, as parents, know better.

I know my child. I know her better than anyone, including herself. I know better what she is capable of dealing with, and I know the way her whims and moods work. Yes, absolutely, I am going to put this knowledge to use by sometimes vetoing her opinions. That does not mean I do not listen to her, or that I discount her thoughts and feelings entirely; it just means that I am better at seeing the bigger picture and sometimes that means holding to my own judgement and overriding hers.

Yes, especially at the beginning of winter, she complains about the cold. At the start of summer, she also complains about the heat. I simply make sure she’s properly dressed for the weather (and properly hydrated in the heat) and nudge her out the door and tell her “You’ll live.” This helps her adjust to the seasonal weather, and makes sure she is less miserable for the remainder of it. It works, too, and before too long it is hard to keep her indoors at all, even as the weather gets more severe. If I let her avoid it, she’d end up keeping herself cooped up, inside, for most of the year, avoiding conditions she never gave herself a chance to get used to. Adults these days tend to spend less time out of doors when the weather is “too hot” or “too cold”, and never really adjust. I make sure I also spend a good bit of time acclimating when the seasons change (necessary, as I walk everywhere). It’s actually easier for kids in winter, because they tend to run around and be more physical, which negates a lot of the cold, anyway. The added bonus to making sure the household adjusts to the climate is that I save money on heating and cooling the house, since I don’t have to keep the a/c or heater cranked as high as some.
Kids sometimes just have moments where they are feeling lazy, or when they suffer from a bout of “Oooh, Shiny!” over something else. They just don’t want to bother with getting on all their warm clothing, or they’ve gotten sucked into doing something else (which is why the computer and such have time limits to counteract this). “It’s too cold” is an easy excuse, and it is not one that will automatically make me change my mind about the fact that she *needs* that physical activity every day she can possibly get it (not to mention the fresh air, because I don’t really feel like dealing with a growing list of allergies like most of the people I know out here), just to make sure she can focus on what she needs to, that she can settle down later in the evening, and that she will sleep well. Physical activity in the house is *very* limited, because I just don’t have that kind of space (and she’s nearly as big as I am, officially tallest in her class now).

She is, btw, perfectly capable of telling when she is *truly* too cold/wet/hot and needs to come in, and good at communicating that. In fact, because I tell her to go ahead and go out when she’s too quick to assume/claim it is too cold, she’s getting better at realistically assessing that, because common sense is something that needs to be modeled in a way that *isn’t* whim-based.

Unfortunately, sitting at their desks is precisely what happens in our school and many others, when they do not go outside. This makes for kids who are stir-crazy and have difficulty concentrating, and can lead to being too wound up in the evening to sleep like they should.

As my daughter gets older, I use things like this discussion here to talk with her about different ideas and how she feels about them. Today we had a talk about adults making decisions vs. leaving things up to the kids. My daughter has it a bit of both ways, as my ex is trying to make up for some past stuff by “empowering” her by leaving a lot of choices up to her about their plans and what she wants to do.
She hates it. She feels overwhelmed and anxious about making the wrong choice, and does not feel ready to be responsible for so many decisions. She likes the way I handle things, and tells me straight out that it makes her feel more secure knowing I am going to ask her what she thinks, but correct the course where I think there is a better way. Heh… she did say she hates that I am always right, but told me that she also knew it made things better. Free Ranging doesn’t mean just letting the child run their own life, it means guiding them through the decision making process and letting them take over in different areas as they are ready.

My daughter also tells me about kids she knows who do think they should get to do whatever they want, because their parents never make them do anything. Those children, she finds “extremely irritating”. Frankly, so do I. One of the things I have seen going along with the “new parenting” ideas (and paranoias) that have led to helicoptering is this idea of catering to and coddling children – and their every whim – out of some fear of oppressing them or hurting their feelings and causing some lifelong trauma. The idea that sometimes children should do something “because I said so” is seen as tantamount to abuse and the notion that parents *do* often know what is truly best for their child is seen as damaging to their little psyches. I’m not sure where this concept that our kids are delicate little snowflakes who cannot handle being *parented* came from, but I have seen some of the results and they scare me a little bit. I have friends who teach high school… they spend all day fighting an uphill battle against kids who were never taught that sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do, and not everything you have to do in life is pleasant. I’m not sure what their parents thought they were protecting them from, but all they did was make sure the kids have no concept of authority or respect for anyone with experience/expertise, and that they are incredibly ill-prepared for the real world.

I actually believe strongly that *more* parents should remember that they are, in fact, the parents and that the kids are *kids*. Free Ranging doesn’t mean allowing children to dictate everything in their lives and ours. It is up to us to have the confidence in our judgement as parents to know that *we* are the best at determining what are children are capable of and ready for, and this means that *yes* we should believe that our decisions/opinions/assessments do carry more weight.

Heh… Gail, we’ve had temps up into the 80’s during this *winter* (one of the reasons this late freeze w/snow has thrown everyone so much). Man, we could have used a little plow/salting action this past week… since we have no equipment, it shut the whole city down for a week.

But yeah… when people tell us we are wimps for not being able to handle “real cold”, I invite them back for the summer… when it can be 110*F in the shade (literally).
(Of course, that doesn’t mean the schools aren’t just as silly about the heat, keeping kids inside if it gets to 90… uhg.)

Unfortunately, some parents are either too ignorant to know what constitutes cold weather gear, too poor to purchase it, or too apathetic to insist their child has the appropriate apparel for chilly weather. I used to work at a elementary school as a lunchtime/recess playground monitor and kids would often wear shoes with no socks, windbreakers or no jackets at all, and gloves and hats? Please. So again, lowest common denominator rears its ugly head. Make everyone stay inside because some kids are not dressed for the weather.

At my school the rule was when it hit -30 C without windchill, we got indoor recess. At that point, you can make a case for it being a safety issue – little kids won’t always notice the signs of frostbite. Needless to say, this made most of the school populations hate the days where it was -27 degrees out, but that’s life. If you had tried to keep us in when it was -7 degrees (a bit below 20 F) we’d have laughed in your face.

This in today’s Children in Nature Network newsletter:

“The Children Must Play”
Here’s an excerpt from an excellent article, “The Children Must Play, What the US could learn from Finland about education reform” in The New Republic by Samuel Abrams:
While observing recess outside the Kallahti Comprehensive School on the eastern edge of Helsinki on a chilly day in April 2009, I asked Principal Timo Heikkinen if students go out when it’s very cold. Heikkinen said they do. I then asked if they go out when it’s very, very cold. Heikkinen smiled and said, “If minus 15 (Celsius) and windy, maybe not, but otherwise, yes. The children can’t learn if they don’t play. The children must play.”

My kids both went to the same school/preschool building here in central Minnesota. Written school policy dictates that recess is held outdoors unless the AIR TEMPERATURE is colder than NEGATIVE TEN degrees and/or windchill at colder than negative 15. Kids are hearty, and if teachers keep a few extra hats and mitts around, we all know they NEED that time outside.

@Eris de Suzerain there is a school near my sister’s house that I’ve seen kids rollerblading at either recess or gym. I think it is so cool. I might suggest that for Coach’s LEAF grant next year.

@ KLY – Sorry but I see a real disconnect with the idea that a child is responsible enough to wander around town on their own and make any number of decisions but not responsible enough to make such a basic decision as to whether it’s too cold/hot for her to play outside. Maybe I’d feel differently if I had a child that had to be forced outside or forced into activity or complained frequently. But I don’t so it doesn’t seem like too much to ask to allow a child who is complaining of being cold when it is genuinely cold to come in.

And I also do mean play outside. If we have to be outside in inclement weather, she just has to deal. I also don’t agree at all with separate arrangements for different kids so if the class is going out, she needs to go out no matter how cold she is since she needs to learn that the world doesn’t revolve around her.

I do have a problem with forcing kids out to play in weather that you wouldn’t want to be out in. If I thought it was so important that my child go out to play on a cold day, I’d go out with her. I wouldn’t, however, force her to do something that I won’t do.

My son’s daycare has all the children go outside at least once a day, especially if it is nice outside. The other day my son was sitting outside in his carseat, perfectly bundled and warm, watching the older kids sledding (he’s 5 months). I was so happy to see him outside! Here in Vermont, you go outside no matter what the weather, because if you let the weather keep you inside, you’d never leave the house!

The school management should be responsible in childrens health. They need to find out first can kids
handle the cold outside the school. I don’t think their
is that kind of policy.

Our school division policy: indoor recess if the temperture is -30 celcius (= -22 F) or below, whether that is -30 or -30 with the windchill factor (e.g. -20 but very windy). We had an unusually warm fall, but when it got cold, it went right into a cold snap (-20s and -30s), so the first really cold day, a lot of kids were not wearing warm enough winter clothes, so the school had an indoor recess. In the middle of winter, you are supposed to be sending your kids with warm enough clothing for the weather.

I hate being cold and I don’t particularly like going out in cold weather, but last year, when our well froze and my husband was away and I had to go out and check on things during the -40 cold snap (yes, that’s minus four zero and it’s the same in celcius or fahrenheit), I put on my ski pants and warmest coat and big mits and scarf and touque, and actually, except for around my eyes, it wasn’t bad. Certainly I felt a lot warmer than most winter days. So if the daughter is “shivering”, then the parents need to invest in some winter clothes.

Incidentally, in our school, you can send a note asking for a child to be kept in at recess. Maybe that is a better choice for the shivering girl, rather than keeping all the kids in. My kids complain bitterly when there is no outdoor recess.

i don’t understand all those posts about shivering outside. can’t you people learn to dress properly for winter already for heaven’s sake? you need your underwear, thermal underwear that is. then you some cotton shirts and sweaters, snowsuits for kids and ski pants for adults. add warm winter gloves or ski gloves, scarfs and a real warm hat.. and you can stay outside for hours! bad weather should NEVER stop you from enjoying the outside!

I want to add that I always hated indoor recess as a child. They didn’t even let us have recess in the gym to run around! We had to sit and play quietly with educational toys or we’d watch a movie in the dark.

i currently live in central florida but have lived mostly in south florida… I am not allowed to take my class outside if it is in the 50s… Mostly because the parents still send their kids to school with shorts and cotton dresses and sandals… and for kids who are used to temperatures in the 80s/90s 50 is freezing especially when there is wind…. When parents learn to send their kids dress appropriately for the weather than I won’t be held hostage all day by a gang of 4 year olds all day long who just wanna run and climb….

I’m all for cold weather recess. I wrote an article last week when the temps were frigid. You can read it at http://www.getkidsoutsidenow.com. I think we’re raising kids to be fearful of the cold. I also think that teachers don’t want to go outside either. Safety is one thing. Not wanting to supervise in cold weather is another.

Here in NE Ohio the policy seems to be for elementary kids (K-4) when it’s 20 something or above. Dependent on damp and windchill (Sensible).

Meanwhile on the SAME property, kids in 5-8 go outside – never.

The teachers make the call and THEY don’t like to go outside, so they don’t. Reasons range from “Kids don’t dress right” to “they’ll fight.” Apparently kids learning to dress right and or being disciplined so they don’t fight is just tooooo haarrrdd.

It’s maddening. My kids would love to go outside

when it comes to Spain, gradually comfortable these minds. No matter range just how far would be the bliss person. Blunt those spring season photo voltaic may easily very warm the particular freezing of the planet; truthful