It’s normal for kids to complain about the cold at recess. (Snow-on-the-ground temperatures). Teachers would typically tell them “go run around for a bit. You’ll warm up.” I’ve heard this both as a student and as staff. But is this the right advice? Because I get warm when I exercise, but then once I’m sweaty and start to relax, I cool off quickly and feel colder than before. What’s the best advice for these kids if I have no say in going indoors? ELI5.
In: Biology
You can either keep moving, which might mean keeping more of a steady pace, or you can wear really good winter clothing, including a layer of wool against your skin. The better your clothing can insulate and still breathe, the better you can deal with fluctuations of body temperature.
I do construction outdoors in weather that gets as cold as -37C, and my activity levels fluctuate a lot; some of the time I’ll be up and down ladders or carrying heavy material, other times I’ll be standing still for an hour, fussing over a small detail. Wearing only wool against my skin has been the single most important thing I’ve done to improve my winter work experience. Wool not only breathes and insulates well, but it also retains far more of it’s insulative value when it does eventually become wet. Absolute game-changer.
Kids often find it to be too scratchy tho. If you or the kids have access to good money, get Merino Wool base layers from an outdoorsy store. Merino wool is not only better at all of the things ordinary wool is good at (good insulative value, and loses less of it when wet), it’s also really comfortable against your skin. It’s not cheap tho.
The indigenous Inuit of the Arctic have a lot of good movement techniques, they highly value maintaining a lower, even level of exertion over long periods of time, rather than short bursts of energy followed by resting periods.
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