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Outdoor Winter Activitiesby Pat Doylefrom Active Healthy Kids, Canada The winter provides endless ways for one to become creative, inventive and adaptive in modifying the elements. However, it is often difficult for kids to just "get out and play", especially in the winter when the daylight hours are shorter and there are already fewer safe places where kids can engage in unstructured activity. Using the winter outdoors as a theme, educators can provide an opportunity for kids to experience some winter fun and physical activity. Getting ready Using a black board or flip chart, have the children brainstorm as many winter physical activities as possible that they could do outdoors at school, at home, or in their community. Once the list is complete, develop an equipment list and some safety considerations for each activity. You then might finish by heading out to the school yard to play one of the school yard activities the class has listed. Frosty Walks Make a questionnaire that asks students to record the number of items that they can see from various parts of the school yard. For example: how many windows can you see if you are standing by the slide? How many trees are on the playground? Etc. With a clipboard and pencil, students move about the school yard for about 15-20 minutes with a partner to answer the questionnaire. You may even ask groups to develop a question and answer of their own that was not on the list. Come back inside and compare and discuss the answers. Snowball Weigh-In Take your class on a winter walk around the playground with the only task being to create their very own snowball by the end of the walk. Back in the classroom, students will weigh and measure their snowballs and record this information. Next, place each snowball in its own dish in various areas of the classroom (e.g. under the radiator, by the window or on the teacher's desk) and have students monitor the time it takes for the snowballs to melt in each location and record how much water each produces. Arrange the students into groups of 5 or 6 and have them perform the following activities: 1. Snow Pile-Each team has five minutes to build the highest snow pile. 2. Spoon Balls - Each team is given a spoon and a snowball. One at a time, each member puts the snowball on the spoon and runs around a marker. Variation: (1) students continue taking turns for a specified amount of time instead of stopping after each student has gone once 3. Dog Sled Race - Students (drivers) take turns being pulled by their teams (dogs) around a marked course on a toboggan. 4. Fill it Up - Teams fill a bucket full of snow using a scoop. See which team can fill the bucket the fastest or see which team has the most snow in their bucket after a certain period of time. 5. Heart Energizer - Divide your class into 4 teams. Set up a four corner box using cones for each corner and make the box approximately 10 metres squared. Assign each team to a cone. Place as many bean bags as there are players in the centre and place one hoop around each team's cone. On the GO signal one player from each team begins the relay by running to the centre, picking up one bean bag, and returning it to their hoop. Each player takes their turn repeating the action. When all bags are gone from the centre players are then allowed to take one bag from another team's hoop (each time they have their turn). Play as long as you wish and add up the bags in your hoop at the end.
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