The importance of outdoor play in early childhood has gained more traction in recent years, yet a main subtopic in conversation has been how to safely support outdoor play in cold weather.

Early childhood practitioners working in places that experience cold weather have abundant knowledge regarding cold-weather play from their daily lives and activities as educators. To collect this working knowledge, early childhood practitioners from 39 early learning and care programs within the Minnesota Early Childhood Outdoors responded to an online questionnaire about cold-weather outdoor play. Additionally, eight nature-based early childhood practitioners in MN and two nature-based early childhood practitioners in Norway participated in semi-structured interviews.

Their collective knowledge of cold-weather outdoor play is compiled in this handbook, which is intended to serve as a practical “how-to” guide for early childhood practitioners and programs seeking to extend their outdoor play into cold-weather months. As one practitioner pointed out, “Learning how to navigate cold weather/winter is a life skill that is a game changer for children, families, and educators/practitioners.”

Whether you’re reading this as someone quite familiar with cold-weather outdoor play or as someone just venturing out, this compilation of early childhood practitioners’ knowledge and insight developed at the University of Minnesota Duluth in partnership with the Natural Start Alliance will inspire and support your facilitation of cold-weather outdoor play!