If you live in a snowy climate, at what age are snowpants no longer a thing that kids wear to school? DS is in 4th and still wears them when there's snow on the ground, but just curious how long that's going to last...
Post by steamboat185 on Jan 16, 2023 10:18:10 GMT -5
We’ve basically never had the kids (4th and 1st) wear snow pants to school. They are required to have snow boots to play off the blacktop, but I don’t see any of the kids wearing snow pants. I think we sent the older kid with them once or twice when she was in kindergarten when we had a bunch of snow and the teacher wanted to do an outdoor activity.
We’ve had snow on the ground since mid December and are expecting 5-10 inches more this week. Wearing snow boots and carrying sneakers is enough of a pain.
Post by minniemouse on Jan 16, 2023 10:21:54 GMT -5
I’m near Buffalo, NY. We get snow, although not as much as people think (minus the two recent major storms!!). My kids have never worn snow pants to school. Occasionally the school may ask we send in snow gear to play outside but that’s maybe once/year? When the kids were in daycare we left a pair of snow pants in their cubby.
Not just a Canadian thing but maybe Canada-adjacent? I live in rural New England and my kids have a lot of recess time including mornings before class starts. They also have weekly forest time so snow pants are for warmth, not just sledding and rolling in the snow!
My sixth grader wore snow pants to school all winter last year and just this year has stopped and doesn’t want to wear boots either. My fourth grader no longer wants to even wear a jacket! But from what I see at school dropoff, plenty of fourth graders wear snow pants to school and it seems to become much less common in fifth grade.
Post by plutosmoon on Jan 16, 2023 10:58:25 GMT -5
DD is in 4th and wears snow pants at recess. I still send them in her bag and she has the option to wear them. She usually does because she hates being cold or wet, school also recommends them. I'm in MA, so I don't think it's a Canadian thing. I think most of the kids wear them through elementary (6th grade here) during recess. School let us know we can leave boots and snow gear at the school in their lockers if we want. I think at this age I'd send them and leave it up to your kid what they want to do during recess.
I have subbed in both preschool and kinder here (CO) and lots of kids change into snow pants for recess after a recent snowfall. My 3rd grader this year decided to stop bringing his; he just wears boots, gloves and jacket.
It is a pain for teachers and they ask that we have the kids practice so they can dress themselves for the weather as much as possible, but when subbing I do help a lot with gloves and zippers and sometimes pants (especially the overall/bib style ones).
My kid is 6 and he and his classmates definitely wear snow pants to school when there is snow in the ground, a) because most of us are walkers and otherwise the kids will be wet / cold when they get to school and b) the playground is covered in snow at recess. His school is PK-8th and I haven’t noticed the age cutoff but I’ll look tomorrow (we got snow today).
DD is in 4th and wears snow pants at recess. I still send them in her bag and she has the option to wear them. She usually does because she hates being cold or wet, school also recommends them. I'm in MA, so I don't think it's a Canadian thing. I think most of the kids wear them through elementary (6th grade here) during recess. School let us know we can leave boots and snow gear at the school in their lockers if we want. I think at this age I'd send them and leave it up to your kid what they want to do during recess.
Does she wear them even when it doesn’t snow? All our family is in MA and they keep telling us they have only had like 2 inches so far, which melted very quickly. (Just curious).
Oh, and our schools have a temp cutoff for recess. Pretty sure it's 20F. So they are not necessarily needed for warmth for the 20 min they're outside, more to prevent wet clothes.
I think my 3rd grader mostly plays tag rather than rolling/sitting in snow. The recess monitors restrict activities for kids who don't have snow gear (eg they have to stay on the blacktop).
All through elementary, which is through fifth grade. All the kids bring them, and wear them. They have to have snow pants and boots in order to go off the blacktop, and nobody wants to just stay on the blacktop. ALL the grades want to play in the snow or in the snowy field.
Once they go to middle school in sixth grade, they no longer have recess (sad). So, they don’t need them at school anymore in sixth grade.
ETA: they don’t wear them on the bus. They bring a bag of snow clothes every day.
DD is in 4th and wears snow pants at recess. I still send them in her bag and she has the option to wear them. She usually does because she hates being cold or wet, school also recommends them. I'm in MA, so I don't think it's a Canadian thing. I think most of the kids wear them through elementary (6th grade here) during recess. School let us know we can leave boots and snow gear at the school in their lockers if we want. I think at this age I'd send them and leave it up to your kid what they want to do during recess.
Does she wear them even when it doesn’t snow? All our family is in MA and they keep telling us they have only had like 2 inches so far, which melted very quickly. (Just curious).
Sometimes, if it's cold (under 20ish) she might. I really leave the choice with her,so I'm not entirely sure. We don't have any snow on the ground at the moment and it's been warm this year, so she hasn't really needed them. I throw them into her bag on super cold days. I'm in the mountains of western MA, so winters are usually really really cold and the kids still go outside most days, I'm not aware of a cold temp cutoff. I know she's not wearing them if there's no snow and above freezing.
They have a temp cutoff for outdoor recess here too. I think it might be 30? But the playground is mostly on blacktop and snow melts pretty quick here in CO- they might even clear the snow in the playground area I'm not sure but its never been an issue not to have snow pants on.
I'm in Nebraska and they bring snow pants if there is a decent amount of snow. Otherwise they aren't allowed to go into the snow and are restricted to the blacktop I think. I'm assuming it's an elementary only thing.
Canadian - kids go outside for recess until it’s -20C (-4F) so snow pants are an important part of keeping warm. It’s been a warmer winter than usual, but a solid half of my grade 5 class is wearing snow pants at recess still.
DS is in grade 3 and still wears them daily. When it’s a bit warmer he’ll wear rain pants instead so it’s not as bulky.
Post by countthestars on Jan 16, 2023 12:13:39 GMT -5
We send snow pants when there’s snow on the ground - mine are in 4th and 1st. I see 5th graders with snow gear, but 6th grade is in a higher school so I assume that’s when they stop. I’m not positive though!
Post by midwestmama on Jan 16, 2023 12:17:31 GMT -5
We live in MI (greater Grand Rapids area) and always sent our kids to school with snowpants (November - early March) through elementary school (5th grade). I'm not sure if they wore snowpants every day, but they had them if they needed them.
Post by timorousbeastie on Jan 16, 2023 12:19:56 GMT -5
In metro Detroit, DD’s school (preschool-5th grade) requires all students to wear snow boots and snow pants if they want to be on the playground if there is any amount of snow. Otherwise they have to stay on the blacktop. From what I’ve seen at drop off, it seems like almost all the kids bring their snow gear with them.
My 5th grader still took them occasionally last year, but they have the option to stay inside for recess. So he usually does that instead. I don’t think he has taken them this year (we have a 5/6 building and they still get recess.)
My 3rd grader takes them if there’s any snow anywhere. They’re not allowed off of the blacktop without snow pants & boots, so that really limits what they’re allowed to do outside. Sometimes even if there isn’t much snow, he still wears them because they’re so much warmer. They go out for recess as long as the wind chill is above 0, I think…and those athletic pants don’t keep you warm! He often wears his snow pants on the bus. He likes to be as warm as possible, and it’s one less thing for him to carry.
I am in the NE (US) and it’s snowy here. All the kids brought them through 5th in elementary school. It was required to go outside on cold/snow days for all kids. So, if anyone didn’t have them, the class stayed indoors. So, DD always brought them in a bag.