Pulling into my daughter’s elementary school today, I saw a child, looked to be 4th or 5th grade, walking to school. Ski jacket and snow pants and boots on but no hat, gloves or ear muffs. Jacket was partially unzipped. I peered at my 4×4′s thermometer and it read “3 degrees” outside! And, that, my friends, was sans wind chill!
I’m not sure where that girl lived but if you look at a standard wind chill chart, she could have easily been at risk for frost bite if she had a good amount of walking to do and if the wind was really moving. Yesterday, the day after our Nor’Easter, winds were still in the 30MPH range and it was well below zero. This morning seemed a bit better but not by much.
This is truly the way we all have to think about the winter so our kids are safe. We have to have some understanding of wind chill and outside temperatures and know that our kids are not being kept inside for recess because the schools are being over cautious. In fact, there is not a teacher in any of our kids schools that actually wants indoor recess! So, if it is too cold for recess, it is too cold for your child to walk to school and too cold to play outside after school. Even for winter sports we have to consider the weather and pay attention to hypothermia and frostbite warnings at the mountains.
Here’s some more reading on this wintery topic to keep your kids as safe as possible as the deep freeze settles in for many of us:
Quick Tips: winter safety
Frostbite and Frostnip Info
Here’s to a fun but safe winter!
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