(Originally published January 2017)
The mission of the LREC Teacher Partnership Program is to equip teachers to become effective outdoor place-based educators; using outdoor spaces to enhance learning, develop schoolyard native plant habitats and engage with their community.
We can’t mean wintertime, too…can we? After all, teachers have to be sensible and keep their students safe.
And schools have rules:
Below 20°F: stay inside; 20° to 95°F: outside normal time; 95°F and above: stay inside.
—Rockwood School District
If the air temperature and/or wind chill is 15° to 20°F, then outdoor recess will be limited to ten minutes. If the air temperature and/or wind chill is below 15°F, then only indoor recess will be held.
—Francis Howell School District
Well…that rules out a handful of days each school year, including this week in St Louis! Let’s check on schools in more northerly climes:
Elementary school students will go outside for daily recess unless the temperature or wind chill factor reaches -10°F.
—Anchorage School District
Conditions warranting indoor recesses: (a) Rain, thunderstorms, lightning, hail, extreme winds and extreme cold. (b) Cold weather: When temperature and/or wind chill factor indicates -28°C [-18.4°F] or lower children will remain indoors due to risk of frostnip and frostbite. When temperature and/or wind chill factor indicates -20°C to -28°C [-4°F to -18.4°F], recesses may be shortened to 10 minutes and lunch recess be 20 minutes depending on local conditions.
—Toronto District School Board
Students are to stay inside the school when the temperature with the wind chill is -27°C [-16.6°F]. When the wind chill is -20°C to -26°C [-4° to -14.8°F], students are expected to dress warmly and go outside during recess and noon hour, for fresh air and exercise. Students can come into the school to warm up in the boot room and are then expected to return outside after a few minutes. Fresh air and exercise provides energy for the rest of the day and we are working hard to ensure our staff and students remain in motion!
—Saskatoon Public Schools
Check out this pediatrician’s take on children and cold weather:
Kids and cold: Bundle ‘em up, send ‘em out, doctor says
From Scandinavia and Europe to West Africa and the USA, parents speak out:
How Cold is Too Cold for Recess? 24 Parents Across the Globe Weigh In
If recess and play aren’t hampered by cold weather, then outdoor learning can
continue, too! A couple of resources for you and your students:
Get outside regularly with your students this winter. And let us know what’s happening in your schoolyard!