Children’s Skiwear Essentials with Muddy Puddles

If you follow my Instagram or Facebook feeds, you can’t help but have noticed we’ve been in the Alps! It was a refreshing break and meant that our eldest daughter got to continue her ski training. She went for the first time last Easter and recently had lessons at the Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead which I recently blogged about. We love skiing and it has been magical to see Mrs T embrace the sport as well.

We went to the Portes du Soleil resort in France which did a brilliant job at keeping the runs going despite the severe lack of snow in the Alps. Don’t let the blue, sunny skies fool you though, it was cold! The day we left the resort, temperatures had plunged to -12 as the snow finally fell. With such extreme conditions it is important that everyone, particularly young children, have the right skiwear on the mountain. This is where Muddy Puddles comes in! Mrs T (aged 4) wore items from the brand’s skiing range. I will detail what she wore, liked and how it faired in the freezing temperatures as well as let you know some of the other key skiwear essential necessary for a ski holiday with kids.

Base Layer

We are often told to ‘layer up’ in cold weather. It’s certainly the way forward in order to insulate and lock in warmth. Muddy Puddles has a three layer system which essentially helps to keep little ones nice and toasty and dry. For Mrs T’s first layer she wore the Pink Drift Base Layer, a pink long-sleeved top complete with thumb holes which she absolutely loves popping her thumbs through (and giving the thumbs up).

The thumb holes are very handy for holding the sleeves down so she can easily put on the rest of her layers and the top isn’t just restricted to the slopes. She has been asking to wear it when we aren’t skiing so I know it will get lots of use. She is also quite fascinated with the Muddy Puddles emblem, incorrectly but proudly, telling me she has a butterfly on her top. I’m not going to correct her!

Socks

Socks are such an important accessory, get it wrong and it can be very uncomfortable. Fortunately Muddy Puddles’ Pink Cloudy socks did the trick. They pulled up lovely and high so her ski boots fitted over them well. She particularly loves the clouds on them and with the merino wool mix there were no complaints about her feet being cold. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

Trousers

Now onto the all important outer layers. They need to be hardy to weather the wind, snow, rain and cold. Mrs T wore the Snow Flurry Salopettes which fitted her really well.

After ordering them, I started to worry about whether I should have got the ones with braces so they wouldn’t fall down but I needn’t have worried at all! These are adjustable with velcro at the sizes so fit snugly around Mrs T’s waist. I’m glad I went with this option as she hasn’t worn anything with braces before and there were enough new things for her to deal with! The bottom of the trousers went over the ski boots well and were a perfect length. They are also unisex so great to hand down.

Jacket

The purple Snow Flurry Ski Jacket was an item I was particularly impressed with in terms of  quality and style. I must say, she looked pretty cool wearing it on the slopes with the faux fur trim around the detachable hood and blue and purple hues.

There are lots of pockets in the jacket, including one on the arm to put the ski pass in. It was only after she had wore it a few times that we discovered it had thumb holes too. My ski jacket doesn’t so Mrs T enjoyed showing hers off to me.

From a practical point of view, the jacket has a ‘snow skirt’, a cuff inside the jacket which is detachable. It buttons up around the waist and keeps snow out if there happens to be any falls or over exuberant rolling around in the snow! The jacket is also fleece lined in a lovely light blue colour for extra warmth and comfort. The wrist cuffs have adjustable velcro on them so they can be tightened over or under gloves. The only thing she didn’t like was having the zip done right up to the neck but I think that isn’t unusual with four year olds! She wore a snood on the first day for some extra warmth around the neck. The jacket has been a very handy addition to her winter wardrobe, wearing it a lot off the slopes and it could be worn as a school coat.

Overall I was very impressed with the quality and price of the Muddy Puddles ski range with a few different options of colour and styles to choose from. They currently have an amazing sale on which gives incredibly good value for money. A ski jacket of this quality for under £30 is an absolute steal!

The Muddy Puddles website is very detailed in guiding you to what would be the best fit. Mrs T is wearing size 4-5 years old for all three items and the 6-9 in the socks. There’s some growing room in the clothing too so it may even last until next season. As a bit of an aside but something I wanted to mention, inside the jacket there is a large label to write a name and underneath the words, ‘hand me down to someone smaller than you’. I found that really sweet and another indication of its quality.

Skiwear Essentials checklist
– Base layer
– Leggings/thermals to wear under trousers if very cold
– Hoodie or fleece to wear as a second layer
– Ski jacket
– Salopettes
– Waterproof ski gloves
– Ski socks
– Googles/sunglasses. It was sunny when we went so only needed sunglasses. They are a lot more natural to wear when starting out whereas googles can be a bit cumbersome but are best if there’s bad light.
– Sun cream
– Hat
– Snow boots (for when the uncomfortable ski boots come off)
– Snood (Handy to wear around the neck to help protect the bottom of the face in cold weather)

To Hire
– Helmet
– Ski boots
– Skis

Are you going skiing with your children? Would you like to? What skiing essentials do you recommend to take?

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