Play Frontier’s guide to gear
Welcome to Play Frontier’s Guide to Gear! This edition focuses on our cold wet PNW winters, how to pick gear that works for your child and family, and how to make sure that gear is working well for your child every single day!
Rain
Our main goal in the rain is…to stay warm and dry. We talk about these two concepts separately with the kids so they can understand what each item of clothing actually does for them, and how to solve problems more easily when something goes wrong. We coach the kids to “keep the sunshine by keeping your clothes dry…so we can play and have fun the whole time!” Really, we want the kids to have FUN outside, and staying comfortable is a huge first step to that.
The two most important things for dressing for forest school are to stay warm with good base layers and stay dry with a proper boot cinch seal (more on that later!). The backpacking saying goes “wool is warm, and cotton kills” because wool will naturally keep you warm even if it gets wet… which is huge in our rainy temperate rainforest! Cotton, however, will absorb water and immediately also cool you down (and leads to hypothermia when backpacking and mountain climbing… we aren’t even remotely close to that level of cold, but kids get colder faster, and it impacts their ability to have fun very quickly!)
Forest School Discounts:
Outdoor School Shop offers used gear, and generally has the best pricing new
Ebay is a sneaky great place to find things once you know specifically what you’re looking for!
Local Shopping:
Lucky Littles in Hood River has rain and snow suit options
Cascade Farm and Outdoor has a variety of boots
Walmart classic black rubber boots are INDESTRUCTIBLE. We still have a pair kicking around from when we first opened!
In general, “super fancy” brands of gear are more reliable, but hot dog they are expensive. I’ve noted throughout where purchasing specific brands will make a difference in use and found the best bang-for-your-buck over the years! Also PLEASE NO CAMO… it actually camouflages them and becomes harder to track who is where.
Rainsuits
There are several styles of rain suits that work well, the best one for your child depends on exactly what your child individually likes and needs best. The two options that keep water out are the full body suit option and the bibs+coat option.
Full body suits need to have a bottom cinch mechanism that seals well with your child’s boots and is large enough (has enough fabric space) for your child to lift their hands without popping the ‘cinch’ over the top of their boots. That cinch, along with the durability of the seals inside the suit, are what keep your child dry all day. If they are working properly, no water gets inside the suit and it dries in time to put it on again for the afternoon if needed!
They come in ‘lined’ and ‘unlined’ varieties. This is slightly different than a snowsuit, and all rainsuits work in the snow but not all snowsuits work in the rain! Some snowsuits are great at keeping actual chunks of snow out but soak everything else up like a sponge. Generally the ‘super fancy’ ones are waterproof, knock-offs get into sponge territory. Additionally, any lined suit where the fleece extends all the way to the bottom of the cinch at the bottom will wick moisture all the way up the legs and never dry by the afternoon. Unlined ones can be worn over the top of snow bibs as well for the extra slushy days. This is Emma in an Oakiwear suit, her socks and pants were dry after “Lake Puddle”!
Two Piece Coat-and-Bib Suits also need to have that magic cinch mechanism that is strong enough to keep water out. Bibs are a great option for kids that get hot easily as it allows them to take coat off if just the ground is wet. They are also good for our bigger kiddos, kids that have shorter legs, and kids that need extra help navigating body spatial awareness - you can make the straps shorter easily and they don’t add extra bulk like the full suits tend to do. It also allows for more variability on the coat. Again, there are lined vs unlined options and whichever one you choose is up to you and what you think your child will like best.
Good Raincoats are harder to find than you might think! Look for things marked “waterproof” as opposed to “water resistant.” Less stressful to find a good one of these because the cinch seal at the wrists isn’t that important. Kids generally leave it kind of open and then cover the top with their mittens when they’re cold (more on that later). The cute fur hood liners are often just a cold wet rat by the end of our play time, can make faces and shirts wetter along the way. If you go for a ‘shell’ style, make sure you have a warm layer underneath - fleece or wool is best, thin sweatshirts just won’t cut it (and remember, cotton kills!)
A note on pants…Rainsuits generally do not keep our legs warm, just dry! Kids will need warm enough pants to keep them toasty, which means thicker options for winter. Regular thin ‘leggings’ are generally too chilly for the colder months and we suggest a fleece lined option instead. There are also machine washable wool leggings now that are pretty great for kids (Tiffany swears by them for grownups!)
Recommended Suit Brands:
Anything from the Outdoor School Kids Waterproof One Piece section EXCEPT Muddy Buddy suit (faulty zippers last year, never again!)
Target/Cat & Jack rainsuits - never online, but great if you can find them!
Every year a new brand pops up that is also great, use this list as a starting point and find the perfect one for you!
Recommended Coat Brands:
Anything ‘fleece’ for good warmth
Anything labeled ‘waterproof’ with a good hood
Therm Kids waterproof jackets (Big fan of their ‘all weather hoodie’)
LL Bean Kids down jackets (water repellant, fit under every rainsuit well and machine washable!)
Most rain and snow coats are great as long as they’re still working! Sometimes a spray with a waterproofer works wonders on hand-me-downs as well!
Hands & Mittens
Keeping hands warm and dry is one of the biggest challenges outdoors in the rainy PNW for kids! There are actually only a select few mittens that actually work well for us. Over the years we have tried every different style and arrangement, and only a select few actually keep up with our active (and often wet) kids!
Mitten Do’s …”Fleece lined rain mittens” are the BEST. They are longer and go over the top of the coat/suit, are fuzzy inside, and can literally be dipped in a puddle of slush water and not get wet inside. Kids can take them on and off themselves without assistance, which also means they just put them back on instead of dropping them on the ground! The other key here is ‘mittens’ as opposed to ‘gloves’, as they are quick to get just one thumb in the right place. When mittens actually work for preschoolers, suddenly instead of battling the cold and wet, we are back to their happy bouncy playing selves on the playground! The goal is for kids to use the same mittens all day long without having to swap to a fresh pair because they are wet on the inside.
Recommended Brands:
Mitten Don’ts… Please no bulky gloves or snow mittens - they are just big sponges for wet and so very hard for a damp set of hands to get back on. This happens the second a kid needs to wipe a raindrop off their face, so the back-on-ability is huge!
Thin “magic gloves” are what most kids like best BUT they immediately take them off at school because they get cold and wet the first time they pick something up. We blow through 5+ pairs per kid a day with this style. I have seen Polarn O Pyret make them in wool, however no amount of wool will survive a dunking in a slush bowl (believe me, every kid attempts almost every day in winter). If your child prefers this style, please make sure they have a real waterproof shell available as well - some very careful kids will keep them dry and I understand if that is not a battle you want to have each day too! These are the “magic” ones, and not my favorite if you can’t tell, ha!
Socks & Boots
Warm, tall socks with fully waterproof boots are SO IMPORTANT for cold days! Every combination of socks/boots is a little different, so you can really dial in what works best for your child along the way. Again, “wool is warm, cotton kills” when it comes to socks, too!
Socks are often forgotten, but very, very important for everyday use. Please make sure there are extra good socks in your child’s cubby because if there is a break in the rainsuit/boot system, the socks are the first thing to go! Wool socks are necessary for most of the wet months here. Also, please no ankle socks as they get sucked down into the boot and are constantly uncomfortable for kids. In general, super fancy socks last through more washes than off-brand, HOWEVER, the Amazon “wool sock” search has some of the best socks for kids!
In general, kids don’t need giant big fluffy socks every single day. I generally have one or two pairs of big beefy ones for the extra cold snow days.
Recommended Brands:
Really anything that says ‘wool’ or ‘merino’ will be amazing though!
Boots, specifically rain boots, are what we wear every day in the rainy season. They come in two types, ‘classic’ and ‘insulated’. The insulated ones work amazingly well for the snow, and the classic ones generally need an extra sock layer to build them up if it’s chilly. Height of the boot is the most important part though, because the taller the boot, the deeper the puddle we can jump in! Please no ‘short’ style boots, they are not tall enough for even our playground puddles and won’t hold a rainsuit
Classic ‘rubber’ boots are very waterproof AND hold coldness! If you go this route, make sure you have those good socks to support and maybe buy a size larger boot to accomodate. Either way, Make sure the toes have room to wiggle too! If the socks are big fluffy and the boots are a little tight it actually cuts off blood flow and, even with the best boots and socks, your toes will get freezing cold.
Cowboy boots and ‘cute’ kid boots are generally NOT waterproof unless they’re super fancy. Additionally, classic ‘snow boots’ are also not good for puddles! They keep the snow off and keep you warm, but aren’t sealed on the seams in the same way.
Recommended Brands:
Walmart Classic Chore Rain boot (These are not warm but surprisingly durable. We still have a pair kicking around the school from before we even opened!)
Washing and Care
Washing waterproof gear is tricky, as multiple soap cycles degrade the seals quickly. When we provide clothing items at school, it means we are required to be the ones to wash them no less than once a week! This EATS WATERPOOFING FOR BREAKFAST and is generally not recommended. To keep things clean and healthy, we are asking that you please monitor the dirt level for your own kiddos clothes, and we will do our best to hose them down when things get particularly muddy (more on this below). I’ll generally re-waterproof my gear once a year with Nikwax tech wash or a waterproofing spray to keep the seals strong.
Troubleshooting
…Or what to do if your child is getting sent home with wet clothes everyday! This is not the norm, and it is absolutely possible to use the same gear a second time each day as long as it is all working the way it should (to keep that warm dry sunshine in!) AND possible to keep socks and pants fully dry every day. If your child frequently has wet clothes sent home, it means there is a ‘break in the seal’ somewhere in this whole big system of waterproofing, and these happen for a few specific reasons:
Rainsuit not actually waterproof
Rainsuit bottom cinch not fully sealed at boot
Rain boots too short
Rain suit too small (they lift their arms and the suit bottom cinch pops off the boots)
Hole in suit or boot
Another common problem is MUD. Certain play styles involve kids turning into little piggies in their mud pits! This isn’t generally an everyday occurrence but there is always one kiddo who just loves to roll in it and become one with the earth. The really rubbery ‘classic sailor slicker’ material rainsuits work best for this, as they wont absorb the mud OR show the dirt ground in. We try our best to hose off extra dirty kids as we can, but this will help if your kid self-selects a mud bath each day!
Phew that was a lot, thanks for sticking with me! If you have any questions, please send them my way. I also love talking grown up gear and can help there too!
Enjoy the puddles, and always remember…
