Join the Challenge: Sign up for the Outdoor Learning Winter Challenge here!
Participate and Go Outside: This is the most important step! You and your learners spend as much time outside as much as possible between Feb 2nd-13th, whether it’s once, or every day. If you’re looking for ideas, start at the resource section below. We have a fun tracker coming soon! Don't forget to share your outdoor learning moments with us by using our photo submission form where you can upload stories and photos of your time outside throughout the challenge.
Inspire: Share with others on social media with the hashtag #TMOWinterChallenge! We’ll be giving away prizes every single day of the Challenge! Follow us for more on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. And if you don’t use social media, you can email your adventures to info@takemeoutside.ca.
Prizes & Discounts: There is a special discount for all Winter Challenge Participants to both the Outdoor Learning School & Store and Take Me Outside Store (check your confirmation email for details and codes). We will also have amazing prizes to give away each day of the challenge.
"*" indicates required fields
Join experienced Indigenous Educators and Curriculum Designers Launa, Sherrelle and Jenna who will share about favourite resources and offer hands-on activities for supporting youth in learning from the Land. Non-Indigenous educator Jade will reflect on how incorporating these teachings and resources have helped her grow and decolonize her teaching practice and how you can do this in an appropriate way too!
Register: https://outdoorlearning.com/event/supporting-youth-in-learning-from-the-land/
What to Wear for Winter (video)
Lynx shares a brief description of what kind of clothing and layering should be considered for taking students outside.
What’s in Your Backpack? (video)
In this short outdoor learning video, Lynx shows teachers what she packs in her backpack when taking students outside during the winter.
Canadian Wildlife Federation: Below Zero
Winter is a vital part of our Canadian heritage, our traditions, and in some respects, our livelihood. While we may not always appreciate mounds of snow and freezing temperatures consistent with a Canadian winter, the fact is winter plays an important role in helping maintain ecological balance in the ecosystems on which both humans and wildlife depend.
Game of Groans: Winter is Coming! (webinar recording)
Dave Quinn is a BC-certified teacher, certified wilderness guide, and wildlife biologist who has led expeditions across the globe. He believes outdoor learning year-round offers a host of social, mental, and academic outcomes for students of all ages, and is happy to provide ideas, tips, and tools to help others find success throughout the year.
Get Outside: Learning Outdoors in Winter (webinar recording)
Pamela Gibson from Learning for a Sustainable Future shows the plethora of interesting, motivating curriculum connections winter offers – and it’s easier than you think! Her passion is making curriculum come alive through experiential learning, and helping students feel a sense of belonging and love for the earth, connected to nature and community.
2023 Winter Challenge Activity Guides
A different engaging activity for each day of the Challenge – sure to give you an idea or two! We hope this inspires you to try something new, get creative, and head outside. But most importantly… have fun! If you’re looking for even more ideas, check out what we did during each day of the 2022 Winter Challenge here.
Offering over 160 resources in a plethora of topics, this database is a great place to start for ideas and activities. Search by keywords or scan the page, and you’ll surely leave inspired!
This program of Learning for a Sustainable Future offers a searchable database of over 1200 resources, and is available in French too! They also publish regular nature guides which follow the seasons and offers numerous starting points for learners of all ages in a variety of subjects.
10 fun and easy outdoor winter activities for kids! Keep your learners outdoors and entertained this winter break with these engaging and accessible activities, curated by Evergreen’s team of Outdoor Educators.
Active for Life: Physical Literacy Development
Active for Life is a Canadian not-for-profit social initiative created to help give children the right start in life through the development of physical literacy. Three lists to start off from their extensive library: Outdoor winter activities for kids when there’s no snow; 29 fun games kids can play in the snow; Creative activities across Canada to beat the winter blues.
Lessons in Grass: Winter Activities
Go out even in winter… We have an activity for every single day!
8 80 Cities Winter Placemaking Guide
The snowy season is here; why dread it, when we can embrace it! Winter placemaking is the active reimagining and repurposing of parks and public spaces during our coldest season to make winter an inviting and social time of the year for everyone.
The #NatureForAll Love Fest focuses on bringing together, sharing, and celebrating personal stories throughout February from around the world about love for Nature and how that feeling inspires us to conserve it.
Birds are everywhere, all the time, doing fascinating things. Join us, February 14–17, 2025, when the world comes together for the love of birds. In as little as 15 minutes notice the birds around you. Identify them, count them, and submit them to help scientists better understand and protect birds around the world.
Out Grown: Winter Walks with Wox
Can you aim to spend 10 minutes outdoors each day all month long? There’s SNOW reason to stay indoors! Join Out Grown this February for our Winter Walk with Wox! It’s free, it’s fun, and the benefits of time outside are yours to keep. We’ve got lots of fun activity ideas to inspire you, a tracker for your progress, and you can join our community pages to stay motivated daily!
The Arctic Winter Games are a biennial multi-sport and cultural event hosted by contingents in the Arctic region, specifically focusing on circumpolar communities from areas like Canada, Alaska, Kalaallit Nunaat, and Northern Scandinavia. More than just a sporting competition, the Arctic Winter Games inspires athletes, artists, and communities to come together to celebrate the Circumpolar North.
A population often faced with harsh winters decided to put on a snow festival to warm their hearts. The tradition of celebrating from the end of January until mid-February has been around for a long time! In Quebec City, the world’s snow capital, the first major winter carnival made its debut in 1894.
Click here to head to our collaborative Padlet – share, get inspired, and head outside!
Educators who leave their name and are registered for the Challenge will be chosen at random to win toques from #NatureForAll and gift cards to the Outdoor Learning Store. This is in partnership with the #NatureForAll Love Fest – a celebration of inspiring love of nature across the world.
Be sure to scroll through each of the grade options to add your activity where it best fits.
