We love to be outside all year long, and believe that investing in good gear can make this possible. We especially prioritized gear after we enrolled A into forest preschool this year where he spends all of school outside – rain or shine or snow.

The climate we live in is not bitterly cold. It’s almost never not safe to be outside (unlike the cold winters I grew up with in the midwest). I found that if A is wearing enough layers and has the right wet weather shell to keep him dry, he could be outside the entire day!

For G, we mostly just have her wear our favorite baby-cold-weather-item on walks, hikes, or at the beach. That’s really all she needs right now.

What We Have And Love

The Rain Suit

As a mom of two kids in the PNW, I have so much to say about rain suits! We had this popular option off of Amazon, and it was fine. But A was outgrowing it, and I was ready to invest in something a little nicer since preschool was going to be all outside in a very wet forest.

I found these Fairechild rain suits off of Noble and I love them (and so does my child)! I never realized how nice it would be to have two separate pieces. I’ll have A wear his pants every day to school, but on days it’s not very wet or not as cold he can just wear his puffer jacket. I also machine wash the pants and rain jacket at the end of each week since they get covered in mud. Can’t recommend this set enough!

The Puffer Jacket

I’ve shared here what puffer jackets we all use. The Primary puffers are what our kids live in. They are machine washable and can withstand a lot of play. And are very affordable.

Puffer PANTS! And Some Base Layers

Back in November it started to get really cold at school drop off. I realized we couldn’t just double up on sweatpants, and I needed to get some proper laying clothes. I found these amazing jogger pants that have been AWESOME.

I also bought some base layers during a the Cyber Monday sale. Under the rain suit, A will wear his base layers, puffer pants, a sweatshirt, and then his puffer jacket. All of these together keep him nice and warm.

Hats & Gloves

Patagonia makes really thick hats for kids. The original one he had was pretty thin, and when I had stopped into an REI to grab something else, I picked up this hat and was pleasantly surprised how much thicker it was than his other hat. He now wears this almost every day when outside.

These mittens or gloves are the best option I’ve found. They are not exactly waterproof, but his hands stay warm. We started out with the mittens when he was two, and I’m thinking he’s ready to move on to some actual gloves now.

Boots

Did you know REI sells gently used items in their stores? Last summer I was in store (once again) and saw these boots on sale for $20. I wasn’t even sure if A would need them at school since this was going to be our first year doing a forest school and I wasn’t sure what to expect.

I am SO GLAD I bought them because he has been wearing them every day at school since October. His feet are never cold and they are very waterproof.

If it’s not as cold, or we’re going to be at the beach where it’s sandy and we’ll want to hose off shoes, we’ll have A wear these shoes from Zara (similar option). They are definitely not warm and are a typical rubber rain boot.