Snow Pants First Printable Sequence Chart

It may be March but it’s still winter in Wisconsin! We have snow on the ground yet so outdoor play requires snow pants, coats, boots, mittens and hats. If you live where it snows, you know the drill. Perhaps you’ve said, “Snow pants first!” a million times.

Helping my group of eight get ready to play outside is a big task. Even with help, getting everything on can be overwhelming for the child too. There’s quite a few steps and sometimes a process for getting each item on.

In an effort to help children learn the steps and minimize everyone’s frustration, I made a visual reminder of the steps to getting ready to go outside. Mine is personalized, with actual pictures of my child care children putting on their coats and snow pants, but this version works for everyone. Just print, laminate if desired and post near the closet. Show it to your children and talk about what comes first, second, third, and so on.

Snow Pants First Printable Sequence Chart

Download Get Ready to Play in the Snow Sequence Printable here.

The numbered photo chart helps children gain independence dressing themselves. Often I find they can do it, they just put things on in the wrong order which leads to frustration since they may need to start over if they forgot to put on snow pants first.

I have boots listed as second because it’s easier to bend over and put on boots without having the bulk of a coat. Then the coat and hat afterwards so if the child uses the flip-coat-over the-head method, they won’t lose their hat or get caught on mid flip. Gloves are always last.

I can’t help every child at once so I let the older ones do as much as they can on their own while I help the younger ones. Then I start helping with zippers and more complicated things like putting snow pants elastic over boots, tucking mittens under the coat cuffs and getting things comfortable.

It’s not a cure-all but it can help if you teach children to look at the chart, think and then put on their things in this order. And that’s what we want children to do – think and dress independently!