to think it's ridiculous that the new nursery curriclum says kids must

[furrycat]

...play outside whatever the weather?

I don't go out when it's chucking it down, so why should my kids?

My two ds play outside in tne nursery's garden twice a day. It's a mudbath so they need TWO changes of clothing a day which means the washing machine is on constantly.

I've also searched high and low for wellies but all the shops are still full of back to school shoes and the only ones I can find are £17.

Get the milksops outside I say. I was delighted when my DS1's CM said "winter's coming, please send child with wellies and waterproofs". I'm not aware of a single day in two years that they weren't outside. They played in the garden, went to the park, went for walks, did the school run, learned how to go shopping etc. Sounded like excellent life experience to me.

I go to the shops in the rain. I just put on my raincoat and the right footwear.

I'm not in favour of draconic rules but children really do need to learn that being outside is part of normal life, not just something you do when he sun shines.

duh like these

DH always has and EVEN STILL now mine are teens - calls then to come in if its raining.

they dont melt in the rain

in fact the best play for little 'uns is rainy weather - puddle stoming - getting dirty

dirty washes - kids dont melt.

the only problem i see with this is the change of clothes and making sure that
a) the parent brings them - and the child doesn't feel ostracised
b) the disproportionate amount of time it takes to change the clothes of a class of wet school children.

wet play in itself is not the problem i think

its the organisation around making it happen and keeping the children comfortable for the rest of the day

we have been running outside sessions for older kids in parks, loads don't come if it rains

Hi you should find wellies for £4/£5 in MNothercare or Next (online, certainly) that's where I buy mine!

Seems a bit crazy though, I wouldn't expect my childminder to force my kids out if it's really wet - surely that's what art and carfts are for??

I think it's a fab idea and if mine were younger, I'd be happy to send them to a precshool which promoted playing outdoors as much as possible.
I mean, they're not going to left outside crying in the rain, shivering in thin shirts, FFS while the staff sit inside with hot drinks and a stop watch saying ''cheer up Hermione, only another 45 minutes left''.

my ds1 did PE outside yestersay in torrential rain and came home glowing and energised (he is 10) and tbh, if we had been at home, I'd have been the one saying ''nah, let's watch a dvd instead''.

at the playgroup that dd1 and dd2 went to, they asked for old wellies to be donated so they had a huge size range

then after a fundraiser, macs were purchased and some new wellies

they now have about 30 or so for all the children so they go out in all weathers

if you stay in because it is raining, you would never go out in this country!

wrap up, put crappy clothes on, get muddy and wet, children love it (or mine do)

I don't

but I don't like my children when they are caged up all day as they become a complete pain in the arse

I've been sending my toddler to his CM with wellies and a mac since he was walking, as he often plays out in the garden/the park etc in the rain. I'm pleased that he gets outside. He often asks to play out in the rain at home.

And yes, I do go out in (pretty much) all weathers myself, as I don't have a car during the week and otherwise wouldn't go anywhere! Need to update our waterproofs for the autumn/winter tho....

My gran used to say 'you're not made of sugar' (to add to the 'not-melting' theme)

Bundle, I'm glad someone else said charity shops for wellies.

I was also very lucky to get a brand new muddy puddly dungarees and jacket in second hand shop for £2.50. I have since handed it on to the lovely mum who had the cottage next door to me on a (muddy) farm holiday in Devon as DS had been given some 'new' ones by a friend - they are from the USA and rubbery, they wipe clean and are brill.

I was thinking about this just now as DS and I went up to see the chickens in the light drizzle, we are outside more than 50% of the daylight hours the children are home. Even I have a set of waterproofs (rockfish, so slightly more stylish and I use them to ride in when wet). We actually go on special trips with DS to find big puddles, but we live in the sticks not much else to do!

we find big puddles too!

dd2 loves it

in fact I did an AIBU thread recently whereby they were both wet up to their arse from puddle jumping and some old git at the park cafe huffed and said 'they would catch their death'

death of what you old crone? honestly!

Where's the bit that says that the garden won't do and that the children have to be on the streets or in a wood 50% of the time. Can someone cut and paste or link it for me please?

StarlightMcKenzie on Thu 04-Sep-08 14:51:00
Wot do they do in countries with worse weather than ours? Lock them up? Build underground tunnels?"

In Gothenburg (Sweden) they have a nursery which has no indoors premises, merely a shed for storing outdoor equipment. And it rains a LOT in Gothenburg! But the children's wear on sale in the shops is much more geared towards the outdoors.

TBH the problem with nurseries is the amount of time that is required to get all the children dressed/undressed etc. I think the children should be outside a lot but it can be difficult to manage the logistics.

Ds goes to a nursery which has a door to their garden kept open at all times. Each time a child comes in they need to take off waterproof clothing, then put it on to go back out. I have watched the palavar it is to get 18 children ready to go outside appropriately dressed and that is on a normal, light jacket only type day. This is with a ratio of 1 teacher to 5 children (2-5 yr olds), much higher than you get in some other nurseries.

I think a lot of the idea of spending time outside all day in nursery is great in theory but more difficult in practice. In fact an outdoor nursery would in many ways be better as you just need to be very well dressed and don't need to keep taking off/adding layers every time you come in /go out etc.

Ds has a proper waterproof jacket a bit big so he can wear several layers if needed. In the winter he wears a vest, short sleeve or long sleeve tshirt (sometimes both), then a warm sweater. The mac goes on over this. In very cold weather he wears a waterproof padded thick jacket instead of the mac. Also gloves, scarf and and hat are a must.

I also provide a very good quality pair of waterproof trousers to go over the normal trousers. As well a warm socks and wellies

The truth is though that I think these over trousers have almost never been worn at the nursery mostly probably because it has never been that cold and if it is raining hard (the time I mostly the over trousers) the children tend to be kept inside.

I am generally quite surprised though how lightly dressed some of the children are in quite cold weather. Maybe it is the Italian in me

My husband is currently in Gothenburg. Do you have the name of that nursery? I would very interested. The Swedes are usually quite strict about premises.

Am chuckling to myself, this discussion makes me think of the Peter Kaye dialogue about how ALL dinner ladies at school would get into a flap at the mearest hint of rain at dinner time.....

"Inside, quickly - ITS SPITTING!!!!"

I bought a great rainproof down to the ankle coat last winter as love the rain hate cold wet legs it is designed for horse riders and is great, in fact had to unlayer beneath as it really retains body heat, so off comes the jumper over the long sleeved top and on goes the coat and am toasty and dry, if only i could find 'nice' waterproof boots (not walking or wellies) i would be grand.

I love getting the babies out in the rain, it is fresh and peaceful and they are snug and serene

surely it is much healthier to spend longer periods in the outdoors. many children are outdoor learners so if they are couped up all the time then this has an impact on their behaviour. common sense must prevail though surely???!!!

in my ds's nursery they are not allowed out in the sun cause they might get sunburnt but MUST go out for outdoor play if its raining or cold.

However we must provide the waterproof coat and wellies or the child gets sat inside watching the kids outside play

Its like a nazi camp! i wish there was a different nursery closer to me!

When my childminded children want to go outside they ask

The little ones either bring their shoes over or sit banging on the cupboard door where their shoes are

However parents don't really provide appropriate clothing & I was told on a training course it was my responsibility to buy them - which I thought a bit odd

I have tbh the things that worry me are not the rain but firstly the sun

I am told to keep young children out of the midday sun - so is that 10:30 til 2:30 or shorter? or longer?

And also as it is my house I don't want my back door open for hours on end in midwinter - my house would never warm up

sigh. not sure why I get sucked into these google searches. I was looking for an article I read about 2 years ago with new evidence that getting wet was linked to catching cold. there are a few articles out there about hypotheses linking cooling of body and colds
cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=13920644
but then I got bored.
anyhow,
for anna8888 and tiktok , an article about a possible link between acute cooling of the feet and the common coldfampra.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/22/6/608