A video went viral recently showing around a dozen children running out into the snow wearing just their pants before they threw ice cold water all over themselves.

The nursery children, aged between 3 and 6, were taking part in a daily ritual which teachers and doctors claimed will keep them healthy.

As the footage shows, most of the children taking part appeared to enjoy their drenching, despite the cold.

The youngsters got to warm up in a sauna first, before running out, many barefoot into the snow.

One little boy in the video said, “It’s not cold, I feel warm.”

While a girl called Alina added, “It’s exciting.”

Preschool teacher and swimming coach Oksana Kabotko, 41, told the Siberian Times, “Children have an ice cold shower if it’s no colder than minus 25 Celsius.

“Those children who have ice cold showers daily, not once every two weeks, come regularly to the kindergarten. Of course, sometimes they come down with an illness during winter but it passes quickly, after a few days at home.

“Those who don’t take an ice shower may spend up to two weeks at home recovering.”

She added, “The children who do have the ice showers are also more sensible, balanced — and optimistic. They are better organized.

“There are also some children who don’t go to our kindergarten but join us just for the shower.”

Another Siberian kindergarten director Olesya Osintseva claimed there were many cases of her young pupils going down with flu before she ordered ice showers.

“It was obvious that something needed to be done to make them grow stronger and be more resilient against viruses. This is how we came to the idea of boosting their immunity by doing this exercise with buckets of chilly water outside in the cold.

“We tested it on ourselves and our own children first, when both adults and children were first going out and splashing their feet with water, and gradually we poured cold water bucket over our heads.”

最近有段视频被疯转，大约十几名孩子只穿着短裤跑到雪地里，之后还往身上倒冰水。

这些幼儿园的孩子们年龄在三岁到六岁之间，他们正在参加的“冰桶挑战”已经成为一项日常活动，而老师和医生们声称这能让他们保持健康。正如视频所示，尽管天寒地冻，但大多数参与活动的孩子们对此非常热情，看起来也很享受冰水淋湿全身。

跑进雪地前，孩子们先洗桑拿浴热身。之后很多孩子会赤脚跑进雪地。

视频中一位小男孩儿说：“天气很冷，但我很暖和。”

女孩艾莉娜则补充说：“这很令人兴奋！”

41岁的幼儿教师兼游泳教练奥克萨娜告诉《西伯利亚时报》：“气温在零下25摄氏度以上时，孩子们才会进行冰桶淋浴。”

“每天都进行冰桶淋浴，而不是两周才参加一次的孩子们能够长期上幼儿园。”

“当然他们冬天也会生病，但在家待几天后好得更快。”

“而不参加冰桶淋浴的孩子们生病后可能要花两周的时间在家康复。”

她补充说：“参加冰桶淋浴的孩子们更懂事，发育更平衡，也更加乐观。他们也更有纪律。”

“还有一些没上我们幼儿园的孩子也来我们这里参加冰桶浴。”

另一位西伯利亚地区幼儿园的主管奥列西娅称，在开展冰桶挑战活动之前，有很多幼儿园的孩子们感冒。

“很明显需要做点儿什么来让他们身体更强壮，更能抵御病毒的侵袭。”

“因此我们想到了这个雪地冰桶挑战的活动，提高他们免疫力。”

“我们先在自己和自己的孩子身上做试验。大人和孩子先到雪地里，往脚上浇冰水，逐渐再向头上浇一桶冰水。”

Chinadaily.com.cn)

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

    【使...湿透】shǐ...shītòu drench wet thoroughly, soak

    【迅速恢复的】xùnsù huīfù de resilient recovering readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like