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  1. #1
    Starting to feel at home...
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    Outdoor Activities in the Winter

    Hi ladies,
    I have a 3 year old and 1 year old coming into my care and I'm wondering about outdoor activities daily. What do you guys do outside? I'm envisioning it taking all of my allotted outdoor time to get the kids dressed warmly and INTO a wagon or something. Because I have a 3 year old AND 1 yo, it complicates things a little bit. Doe you guys mind sharing your thoughts or ideas with me?

  2. #2
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    Bumpity bump!

  3. #3
    Euphoric !
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    Feb 2011
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    Most of us that hate winter are trying not to be the first to respond to this. When I have an older group as in they can all walk then we do dress and go outside to the yard and they basically just flop in the snow, use the kid size shovels whatever and that is it. I do not even attempt to go for a walk. Problem is I rarely have an all walking group or a group that can dress themselves. In that case I put the babies down for morning nap, the monitor in the kitchen, the older kids are dressed and put out the back door - which comes off the kitchen and I spend most of the time near the door listening to the monitor or open a window and put the monitor on the ledge so it can be heard from outside. That way I don't have to deal with infants outside and the older ones are too little to enjoy the snow very long so rarely more than 15 minutes and they are back in.

    What this means though by the time they are dressed, play out and come back and get undressed our usual lesson time that we would do when the babies are sleeping is gone. For that reason we don't go out everyday. I check the 5 day forcast and pick the 2-3 nicest days.

    All of this hinges of course on parents bringing proper clothes. Since the "new rules" discourage parents from putting their kids into carseats with coats on they use those snuggy things that the buckles go through and then zip up. So they carry the child to the car wrapped in a blanket, put them in the seat, and then bundle them in just the blanke to carry them into my house. I end up with a row of fleece blankets on hooks instead of snowsuits. Which is fine with me cause I didn't want the hassles of going out anyways.

    I open the windows every morning and evening for a few minutes to change out the air and we have an air filter inside anyways. As far as getting vitamin D from the sun they are too bundled with hats and scarves - no exposed skin so it is a mute point.

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  5. #4
    Shy
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    GTA
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    Hi! As a winter lover, I plan to have my kids out as much as possible!! I have 3 18 month olds and a 3 year old. My dc parents and I all feel that kids need to move as much as possible so I don't have an allotted time for outdoor play. If we are having so much fun rolling in the snow and miss out on singing " wheels on the bus" then so be it, ha ha!

  6. #5
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    I really just go with the flow but I am very fast and efficient, also my three and four year old can dress themselves, and I get the school age kids to help the younger ones. We had to walk to the bus stop unless it was really cold so that got us out for fresh air a number of times a week. I get the parents to have extra supplies here so must have snowpants, hats, and mitts just for my house. I don't worry about routine though so I have no set time for most things except meals and naps and even those I have no problem changing by 15-20 minutes. Last year we went sledding if the weather wasn't to cold even my one year old loved it obviously on a fairly small hill. I go sledding with them as well. I'm not sure how this winter will go but I'll have half an hour to wait at one school most mornings so will bring the kids outwear and we can play there.

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