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International Journal of the Whole Child                                         
2018, VOL. 3, NO. 1             

                                                                       
 

Pictures for Reflection 

                  
 

Playing in the Snow and Much More: What do you see in the photographs? 
If you say you see children playing in the snow, you are correct, but take a 
closer look. Do you see the children planning, organizing, and 
communicating? Do you see the children physically committed, 
intellectually strategic, and emotionally engaged? Playing in the snow 
provides children with a range of opportunities to experience, explore, and 
enjoy cold weather. Snow play can be as an individual, as a small group or 
as a larger organized team; the snow is for all ages, stages, and varied skill 
levels. Building snow villages, ice skating, cross and down-hill skiing, ice 
sculpturing, ice fishing, snow shoe walking, and ice hockey playing provide 
a diverse range of children with choices, challenges, and cold noses. As 
children learn to adapt and enjoy their environment, they as well develop a 
respect for the natural world. This regard for nature allows children to grow 
in empathy and therefore better enable their stewardship of our planet (Hoot 
& Szente, 2010). Where do our children first realize this deep and profound 
insight, appreciating that they are an integral part of nature? This relationship 
with a winter world may begin when, as a very young child, they stick out 
their tongue and catch their first and most beautiful snowflake. 


	Table 1: Major Term Definition
	Table 2: Demographic Information of Numerical Variables of Cross-national Couples
	Table 3: Demographic Information of Categorical Variables of Cross-national Couples
	Table 4: Interview Participants Demographic Information