Written by Holly Horch, All Weather Adventuring
Winter is here and the snow and cold temps have officially rolled into the Treasure Valley! With the proper gear, kids can play happily outside for hours and it doesn’t have to be super expensive to get all of the necessary gear. Shop sales or secondhand when you can or check out some of the affordable options listed at the bottom of this post.
Here’s how we dress ourselves and our kids for adventuring in the cold weather:
Non-cotton base layer
Why no cotton? It makes a terrible base layer because it pulls heat away from your skin, and takes forever to dry once you sweat in it or if it gets wet. Wearing cotton in extremely cold temps can lead to hypothermia so it’s just a no. We love these lightweight affordable base layers for when we are hiking/doing something active. For colder days the kids love wearing their fleece-lined thermals from Lonecone Shop. (An added bonus is that this is a locally-owned business!) NOTE: add a fleece layer here if needed/for extremely cold temps.
Wool socks
I got these packs off Amazon for each of the kids that work great but you can shop at any of the local outdoor shops in town for some.
Boots
We have snow boots for our toddler and middle two kids from Jan and Jul and we LOVE them! Not only are they cute and warm, but they are so easy to get on and off!
Beanie
There are lots of options and styles for keeping your heads warm! You can grab a beanie from any outdoor shop or support a local small business like Tatorjo!
NOTE: If we are traveling to our snow adventure, I wait until we get to our destination to put on the outer layers to keep my toddler safely buckled in his car seat. My older kids wear their snow pants in the car, depending how far we are going to make it easier to get ready once we get to our destination.
Snow pants/bibs + snow jackets
We shop at consignment stores/secondhand for a lot of these items! Check out Kid to Kid and Kidz Again. We look for insulated or fleece-lined items. Waterproof outside layers are great for staying dry!
Gloves
We have these SnowStoppers gloves and mittens and I’ve also heard Lbow Gear gloves and mittens are great!
FOR THE BABIES
This is the baby snowsuit I used that I really loved, complete with booties and snap on gloves.
Local outdoor stores worth checking out:
-REI
-Scheels (opening in Meridian April 2024!)
And if you need some extra motivation or fun ideas for getting outside in the Winter, check out my business All Weather Adventuring! I have created seasonal kits, including a Winter Adventure Kit, and the Adventure Scratch-off Book which is full of great ideas for getting outside year round! Thanks for your support!
