There’s No Need to Hibernate with Our Cold Weather Playlist! 

Cooler weather doesn’t have to mean staying indoors. In fact, once children start moving, they often forget all about the temperature! 

A crisp morning or chilly afternoon offers children a completely different outdoor play experience. Breath hangs in the air, dew sparkles on the grass, and the cooler temperatures make energetic play more comfortable than on hot days. Whether children are building cubbies, searching for nature treasures or racing through the playground, movement quickly becomes the best way to stay warm.

Spending time outdoors throughout the year helps children build confidence, resilience, and an appreciation for the changing seasons. Experiencing cooler weather also encourages them to be more adaptable to changing conditions.

Cooler Days on Noongar Country

Western Australia is home to such diverse regional climates that cooler weather can look and feel different from one region to the next. Across Noongar Country in the south-west of the state, Makuru is generally the coldest and wettest season. Makuru usually spans the months of June and July, bringing crisp mornings, frequent rain and a landscape transformed by flowing waterways and fresh green growth.  

As Makuru gives way to Djilba across the months of  August and September, signs of new life begin to emerge alongside brighter days, reminding us that every season (across every region) offers its own opportunities for children to observe the many seasonal changes to Country. 

Tips for Being Prepared for Cold Weather Play

With a few extra layers of clothing and plenty of opportunities to stay active, cold weather can become one of the best times to get outside. Here are our top tips for making the most of outdoor playtime on cold days:

• Dress children in layers for warmth, choosing play clothes that are safe to get messy. 
• Be prepared with spare clothes and a towel in case children get wet or muddy. 
• Encourage physically active play as a strategy for keeping warm. 
• Observe how children are responding to the weather and adjust the length of outdoor play times accordingly, providing opportunities to warm up as needed.

Additionally, in childcare and school settings:

• Check the forecast and, wherever possible, be flexible about when you head outdoors with the children. Consider multiple, shorter sessions of outdoor time as necessary. 
• Share outdoor supervision during cold weather by rotating educators, ensuring everyone takes an equal turn.

The Cold Weather Playlist

These cold weather play ideas will help children embrace the cooler temperatures while enjoying all the benefits of nature play.

1. Try running on the spot to keep warm. Can you run very fast? And very slowly? Can you make up a running game to play? 
2. Find a nice tree to climb and have a go climbing it. 
3. Try building an outdoor shelter or windbreak with branches and leaves. 
4. Create a stick home for tiny creatures. 
5. Dig a big hole in the sand. Maybe you will find hidden treasure! 
6. Try making magic puffs of foggy breath in the cold air. These visible breaths are caused by condensation when warm, moist breath meets cold, outside air. 
7. Write or draw with a stick in a patch of damp sand or soil.

8. Race a friend to find five natural loose parts. Take turns to choose what to find. You might like to search for items of a specific colour, texture, size or type. 
9. Make a trail of stones that leads to something interesting. 
10. Count how many hops you can do on one leg. See how far you can travel or measure your biggest hop! 
11. Create beautiful patterns out of leaves and sticks you find on the ground.

12. Create a jumping challenge with fallen sticks, arranging them on the ground with the gap between each stick increasing for each jump. Then rearrange the sticks to create your own obstacle course. 
13. Find the perfect stick and decorate it as a nature wand. 
14. Look for birds and listen for bird calls. Can you make the same sounds? 
15. Mix swampy soup in a tub of warm water with natural items like flowers, grass and leaves.
16. Make up a story inspired by a shape you can see in the clouds. 
17. Help in the garden by pulling up weeds or raking up leaves. 
18. Make up a dance and perform it outdoors. 
19. Make a target on the ground with sticks. Invite a friend to play, each collecting five pebbles or gum nuts and taking it in turns to throw them at the target.  
20. Make your own insect using found items like sticks, leaves, flowers and seed pods. 
21. Visit somewhere new for a nature walk. Use our interactive Play in WA Map to find a place to explore.

Looking for play ideas for other weather conditions, check out our other nature playlists (click on an image below to be take to the related article);