Rain and Shine

Emma, a Swede living in Scotland, writes about the lack of appropriate wear for children in her adopted home when the weather is not sunny and dry but rainy, windy and cold, as is often the case in Scotland. She reflects upon the Swedish expression det finns inget dåliga väder, bara dåliga kläder ("there is no bad weather, only bad clothes" - sounds better in Swedish rhyme) and wonders how come two very similar countries (especially Scotland where there is also snow parts of the year), weather-wise, can be so different when it comes to the outdoors and weather conditions.

Her post reminded me of an article I read today about the Swedish Ur och skur ("rain and shine") pre-schools being awarded the Nordic Council's Nature and Environment Prize.

The motivation was "Rain or Shine by Friluftsfrämjandet ("Outdoor Life") is a prime example of an organisation that has contributed to children's wellbeing and understanding of nature in an era where people spend more and more of their lives online. Rain or Shine concentrates almost exclusively on outdoor schooling, so the proximity of the individual child, not to mention the institutions, to nature is absolutely central to its activities."

Rain or Shine was founded by Friluftsfrämjandet in 1985. 30,000 children attend the organisation's 200 schools, mainly pre-schools. The philosophy behind Rain and Shine is a belief that children's senses can be developed by smelling, observing and listening to nature, and that outdoor activities can promote learning. Studies also show that Rain or Shine children are considerably more healthy than kids in traditional schools.

And I bet 1 million Swedish kronor that Rain and Shine kids wear proper water-proofs and wellingtons!