How to Lobby for Outdoor Recess
Per Nordic countries, outdoor recess is critical for learning, but in the US, skipping it during "inclement weather" is becoming a trend. Here's one way to change that.
This winter, I have been shocked more times than one, that days can go by and my kids don’t get to go outside for recess even once during the 7-hour school day. For anyone who grew up in the Nordics, this feels, well, crazy, as outdoor recess is considered the cornerstone for being able to learn and focus at school. In fact, in Finnish schools, kids have recess every 45 minutes for this very reason!
To try to figure out what to do, I recently asked you on Instagram how I could convince, and help, our American elementary school principal in making outdoor recess happen even on cold winter days. It turns out that we share this challenge—and no one has really figured out how to change the system that is increasingly keeping kids indoors.
In Finland, where I’m from, the Education Ministry strongly recommends that kids should spend 2-3 hours outside daily to enhance their wellbeing, and to thrive in class. Daycares (for 1-6 year olds), and schools (from 7 years old) take this very seriously. Weather conditions are never considered a barrier to going outside; you simply dress for the day’s weather before you leave in the morning. And… the test scores speak for themselves.
In our Connecticut school districts, during winter months, my boys told me that several kids would not only come to school without a jacket and in summer sneakers when there was snow on the ground, but that the school and teachers would quickly opt for indoor recess if the weather felt cold or rainy (when it snows, school tends to get canceled all together!). I thought the kids could then at least run around and do sports in the gymnasium, but no, they were asked to play board games or do other types of sitting-down activities. In Nordic thinking, that’s like locking wild animals into a cage, just when you should let them loose.
You can imagine what this does for active kids’ ability to focus and behave in class. But you can also imagine what awaits for you when they get home: your kids will be bursting from the seams, and literally jumping on the walls—all you can really do, is keep them outside for the entire evening and forget about homework and any other tasks that require some calm and focus.
So, we decided we had to do something.
I did a bit of digging about the school district guidelines in the two districts where my kids go to school.
One stated, in the Parents’ Handbook, “Dress Code” section:
“Parents are advised to be sure that students have outerwear appropriate to the weather and to the activities they will engage in, e.g. warm clothes for recess, rain/snow boots when needed and appropriate clothing in inclement weather.”
The other directs:
“Elementary schools are encouraged to develop schedules that provide time within every school day for students to enjoy supervised recess preferably outdoors.”
Supported by this encouraging information, my boys and I wrote a letter to the principal, which they hand delivered, asking for a meeting.
Dear…. (I’m keeping the Principal & school name private)
Signed by myself and my sons Lucas & Miles.
Within two days, the principal took action. She sent a gentle reminder to all the parents, explaining the school’s outdoor recess policy: the kids would be going outside no matter what, as long as it was warmer than 13F counting in wind chill (see the chart she shared with us below). She also reminded that all students should come to school in appropriate outdoor clothing including snow pants when you had snow on the ground.
The elementary school principal later told me at a principal’s coffee meeting with parents (how amazing is it that she has those?) that there’s only so much she can do to coax parents to send their kids to school in “weatherproof” outdoor clothing, due to respect for individual choice, but she also assured me that natural consequences often work better than any other type of requests.
In their meeting with the principal, my boys suggested they could try encourage the other kids to dress for the weather in a broadcast for the school’s TV station. I also suggested one of your ideas—a lending rack in the classroom for kids that “forgot" a jacket or warm accessories, but that was not allowed.
The kids have since gone out a lot more. Now, it might seem like small progress, but nevertheless it feels huge. I’m so proud of my boys for lobbying for this matter (OK, with me enticing them, helping and guiding), and I love that they saw for themselves what can happen when you take action: you change the world, one cold-weather recess at a time!
If you enjoyed these tips for more bandwidth, don’t forget to “like” this post!
Would you want more outdoor recess for your kids?
PS. Check what the weather will be for recess time to choose the right clothing in the morning or the night before. Look at the "hour by hour" and "feels like" temperature (not the high/low of the day), or check this app by Reima that not only tells you the temperature, wind chill and "feels like" conditions hour by hour and recommends exactly what type of clothing to wear (you don't need to buy the brands clothing; you can also just look at the weather tab for free— though if you shop, use my code ANNABELLA20 for 20% off using this link for the US shop: http://shrsl.com/4ifyu).
PS. Share this with friends who wish their kids had more fresh air breaks at school!
Annabella Daily
Read more posts for Nordic-style Bandwidth for Moms at scandiclass.substack.com!
