It’s really ‘COOL’ to play in the snow
– Elmwood High School teacher
The second annual Jack Frost Challenge for Schools was great
Participation tripled from last year, with over 10 000 students from 62 registered classes/schools, across 15 divisions. The “build-your-own” event let teachers and students choose how they wanted to enjoy time outdoors in the winter, with combinations of outdoor class activities and extracurricular events. Schools hosted carnivals, outdoor physical and health education classes, snow art, class walks, pick-up hockey, and more!
So many Champions
There were more than triple the numbers of participants from last year
We want to acknowledge all the hard work of the teachers and administrators who coordinated Jack Frost Challenge at their school. All participating schools will receive a participation certificate to celebrate their success! Keep an eye on your mailbox 🙂
These are the schools who took part:
| A.E. Wright Aboriginal Community Campus Amber Trails Community School Boissevain School Boyne Valley School Brock Corydon School Brooklands Carman Collegiate Collicutt Constable Edward Finney Ecole Belmont École Charleswood School École Laura Secord School École LaVérendrye École Leila North École Margaret Underhill École Marie-Anne Gaboury Ecole Riverview School Ecole St. AvilaElm Creek Elmwood High School Elwick Community School Frontenac School Garden Grove School General Wolfe |
Gordon Bell High School Harstone Children Centre Holland Elementary School InksterJohn G Stewart John Pritchard School Joseph Teres KillarneyLaidlaw Lions de LaVerendrye Major Pratt School McLeod Minitonas School Minnewastsa School Montrose Niverville Elementary Oak bank Elementary School Oakville R.H.G. Bonnycastle School Southwood School Ste. Marie School Treasure Keepers Children’s Centre Tyndall Park School UWSA Daycare Victory School West St Paul School |
“Tell someone to take you outside. It’s fun!”
– Student at Holland Elementary
Image Description: Holland elementary celebrates Winter Walk Day and plays follow-the-leader
Highlights
Schools went above and beyond. Check out these super fun and creative ways to be outside, learn, and have fun.
Winter Fun Day or Carnival
Include the whole school in a fun day in the snow. Gordon Bell, General Wolfe, and John Pritchard are some of the schools that hosted a school-wide event to encourage students to try-out outdoor winter fun and sports.
Set up outdoor activity stations (as many as you want!), and use a passport to help students explore new things or have fun doing what they already love. You can have student volunteers manage the stations, like a leadership class, a sports team, or an older grade.
Station Examples and Ideas:
- Sledding
- tire pull
- pick-up hockey
- snowshoeing
- sled pulling races
- skating
- fatbike rides
- cross-country skiing
- fire-building
- snow sculpting
- team ski races
- relay
Image description: Gordon Bell students ride fatbikes and play hockey
Image description: Students at Brock Corydon participate in a relay race
Outdoor Ed
Take a break from being in the gym and hit the snow for skiing, snowshoeing or skating.
Ask a local community centre for access to their ODR, or shake off the dust from cross-country skis stashed in a basement.
Image description: Students learn to ski at Killarney School
Outdoor Art
Take your students outside to get creative in the snow.
Turn the snow into a canvas with water tinted with paint, or use the snow in place of clay for some life-sized sculpting.
Snow shovels, and tools used to build in the sand work really well in snow!
“I didn’t know we could do art outside in the snow!! It was SO much fun to make flowers and butterflies! It almost felt like spring.”
– Teacher from Boyne Valley School
Image description: Student at Leila North creates snow rainbow
Image description: A bowling set made out of the snow by kids at Harstone Children’s Centre
Outdoor Class
Spend time outside as part of the class-time. Teach a lesson outside to provide experiential learning. Not sure where to start? Here are some examples of what some classes did for JFC 2020:
- Learn the solar system by building it in the snow
- Outdoor education and history – learn how to build a quinzee or igloo and talk about indigenous cultures in Canada
- Story-sharing around a winter fire or while on a walk as part of Learn to Read month
- Snowshoe and learn about Anishinaabe, Cree and Iroqois history
- Use a scavenger hunt to explore the environment and talk about ecosystems in the winter
Image description: Grade 1 and 2 students at Brock Corydon learn to build quinzees
“Winter is a great season to be outside and there is so much to learn about habitats and our environments during this season”
– Teacher at Montrose School
Image description: Leila North builds planets out of the snow to learn the solar system
Image description: Brock Corydon has a scavenger hunt to learn about the environment
Winter Walk Day
Go for a walk around your school community for winter walk day! Encourage students to make signs, so it’s like a fun parade to celebrate walking in the winter.
Take time to warm up after with a snack like hot chocolate and bannock!
Image description: Students walk with signs at Arthur E. Wright
Image description: Aboriginal Community Campus students take a walk along the river
Everyone Likes Prizes
Participation Prize
Prize category presented by CAA Manitoba.
Awarded to a school or class who registered and participated in outdoor activity.
- A FREE field trip to FortWhyte Alive for up to 30 students (value of $400)
Results: Congratulations to Tyndall Park Community School (Grade 3 Class) for celebrating winter!
–
Most Kilometres Kid
Awarded to the kid with the highest number of logged kilometres
- $20 Gift Card to Chaeban Ice Cream
- 2 single-day tickets to Festival du Voyageur
- 1 “Peg Ears” headband by Winterpeg Wear donated by FortWhyte Alive
- 1 Pack of Gorp Ready Mix
- 2 tickets to Assiniboine Park Zoo
Results: Congratulations to Deyton at Laidlaw School for completing 111 kilometres of outdoor activity!
–
Most Kilometres Class
Awarded to the classroom team with the highest average of logged kilometres during the challenge week of February 2-8, 2020
Prize category presented by CAA Manitoba
- Pizza Party ($50 gift card to pizza location of choice) & Ice Cream Party ($50 gift card to Fete Ice Cream & Coffee)
Results: Congratulations to 3/4 MUT Class at Laidlaw School (with an average of 64 km/person)!
“What a wonderful experience to give our students. January and February can be the hardest times of the year for mental health challenges. Physical activity and being outdoors are two amazing strategies to help us through these hard times. Healthy body, healthy mind!” – Teacher at Elwick Community School
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