Activity 5: 
What Should I Wear 

Purpose

  •  To educate participants on properly dressing for the weather to assist in safe walking  

  • To encourage participants in an active learning session to select proper seasonal clothing  

Location

  • Large open field or space free of obstacles. 

Materials

  • Hoops

  • Pylons to designate the start line for the relay race

  • A table should any participants find bending down to the ground, a challenge. 

  • A variety of clothing used in the four seasons such as:

    • winter jackets, snow pants, mittens, hats, scarves, ball caps, sun glasses, rubber boots, raincoats, long pants, t-shirts, and shorts.

    • Be sure to have enough for multiple groups, if needed.

    • Several days in advance of the session ask the participants if they have any of these items and if they can share them with the crew.

Instructional Considerations  

  • Keep the weather conditions simple. 

  • Weather conditions can be repeated but not one after another to ensure participants are challenged and not just copying the person before them.  

  • Provide positive reinforcement by giving praise to participants as they come back to their crew. 

  • Ensure participants are cheering and praising their slower group mates as well as their speedier ones. 

  • If the runner is having trouble deciding, participants can call out to the runner to help them choose clothing that is appropriate for the weather conditions. 

Things to Observe

  • If in crews, the crew members are cheering on their runner and helping them if they are unsure which clothing to select for the weather conditions.  

Safety Considerations

  • Ensure that an open area is available and free of any objects that the participants may trip over. Clothing that is laid out on the floor or table should stay in a designated “dressing area” so that participants are not running over clothing. The “dressing area” will be the area inside each hoop or on the table. 

Guidelines

  • Set up relay race course prior to participants arriving.  

  • Before starting the relay, discuss with the participants the guidelines for wearing proper clothing based on weather, seasons, and time of day (light versus dark clothing).  

  • If dealing with a larger group, place participants into small crews. Each small crew will stand in a line behind their designated pylon. Directly across from the pylon (about 20 metres away) will be their dressing area which will be designated by a hoop. Next to the hoop there will be their designated pile of assorted clothes on the floor or a table, that one participant (at a time) will dig through.  

On the command, “Go,” you will call out to the participants what weather they will need to dress for.
Some possible choices include a…  

 
 

  • Rainy day

  • Snowy night

  • Sunny and hot lunch time

  • Foggy morning

  • Freezing rain morning walk to school 

  • Clear evening walk to the community centre  

  • Windy and cold night walk to a friend’s house  

  • The first participant (from each small crew) will then run up to the dressing area, dig through the pile of clothes next to the hoop, and lay out the clothing that they think is appropriate for the chosen weather condition.  

  • Once you confirm that the choice is correct, the participant must move the clothing back to the assorted pile of clothing, run back to their crew, “high five” the next person in line, and go stand at the end of the line.  

  • Repeat until all participants in each small crew have gone at least once.  

Debrief  

At the end of the activity with participants. Ask them to respond to these questions:  

  • Why is it important to dress properly for the weather/seasons?  

  • Can you think of a time when you didn’t dress properly for the weather? What happened?