People Do Play in the Snow!

My last post was about parents NOT letting their children play outside in the winter because they were afraid the children would fall and get hurt. Well, I must say I had the most pleasant surprise the other day when my husband and I were out for a walk along the shore of a local lake.

A Mom, A Dad, A Boy, & A Dog









As we parked our car we noticed what appeared to be two adults, a child, and a dog out on the ice with a wind surfing kite and snowboard. We could hear the adult encouraging the child to get the kite into the wind so he could be pulled on the snowboard. I thought “that is pretty cool” and we continued on our walk.

When we returned from our walk, they were still out on the ice, I thought to myself “what a great way to get some exercise and spend time as a family”.  We stopped to watch the snow surfing.

The dog came to shore to greet us, it seemed like a friendly dog, so I decided to wander out and check out this unusual sight. I met a mom, dad, and son (I'd already met the dog), we chatted for a few minutes. The parents shared that they often get outside to play during the winter and that they use the winter as a time for their son (a 5^th grader) to practice his Kite surfing skills. The parents shared that their son was very active and that he also played basketball.

Seeing this family out enjoying the winter weather has given me some hope that there are other families out there who get outside in the winter and play together --Thank you.

Go PLAY in the SNOW!

Hey wait a minute! What happened to February? I was shorted at least two days!

It has been an incredibly busy month and one of the snowiest in a long time. I think this school year may have seen a record number of snow days. The only other year I remember having had this many snow days was 1982, my senior year in high school-six weeks straight of Mondays off.

I read recently that 1 in 4 parents will not allow their children to play outside in the winter because they are afraid that their child(ren) will fall and get hurt. I was also told this same thing by several students when I suggested that they play outside more to build stronger bodies and build their aerobic capacity. With all of this snow we have gotten-that is a lot of children staying indoors! I have also read that children who spend a lot of time indoors especially in the winter, have a higher incidence of illness.  If children are ill they spend less time in school and learning potential suffers.

If these statements are true we are doing a great disservice to our children.

Go out and PLAY in the SNOW!