This unit is an excellent "last chance" opportunity to reach our juniors and seniors and get them excited about outdoor winter activity. The Winter Adventure unit is a compilation of a variety of fun activities that are a "throw-back" to elementary lessons. In our school district we have sledding/snowboard relay races, snow-castle and snowmen building contests, snow football, and capture the flag.

In the sledding/snowboard races, students sled down the hill and then must race back up to hand off the sled. We have found that this is the safest system and one that really gets the students gassed, although they have smiles the entire time. The snow-castle/snow sculpture contests are self-explanatory. Snow football puts everyone on equal footing (no pun intended) because of the deep snow. It also helps to cushion any falls. Capture the flag is also more challenging due to the reduced advantage that the faster student in class experience.

The students may intially complain about going outside in "the cold," but it only takes a few minutes for everyone to have a smile on and for us to need to kindly remind students that snowballs, smashing snow in your friend's face, or tackling your boyfriend/girlfriend in the snow are not appropriate...Snow angels, however, are allowed. Enjoy!