Latest / Kidcast Daily / Ep230: Winter Sports and Activities around the World

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Ep230: Winter Sports and Activities around the World · Kidcast Daily

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  Spin the wheel, let's take a ride.
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  Sports and science bursting from inside a world of wonder.
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  Open wide. Come on kids, let's amplify kid
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  cats. Daily starts yours.
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  Welcome to Kick Ass Daily, where we bring news, trivia, fun
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  facts, and more just for curious kids like you.
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  Today, we're exploring the cool world of winter sports and
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  activities from all around the globe.
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  Whether you live where it snows every winter or you've only seen
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  snow in pictures and movies, there's a lot to discover about
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  the ways people have fun and stay active when the weather
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  gets cold. Let's start with the basics.
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  Winter sports are activities and games that usually take place on
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  snow or ice. These sports can be played for
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  fun, as part of a team, or even in big competitions like the
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  Winter Olympics. The cold weather and frozen
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  landscapes make these sports unique, and they give people a
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  special way to enjoy winter time.
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  One of the most popular and oldest winter sports is ice
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  skating. Ice skating means gliding across
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  a sheet of ice using special shoes called skates with thin
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  metal blades on the bottom. People have been ice skating for
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  hundreds of years. In the Netherlands, where there
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  are many frozen canals in winter, people skate for fun and
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  even have races. In Canada and the United States,
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  you'll find ice skating rinks in parks and cities and sometimes
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  even outdoors on frozen ponds. Ice skating has led to other
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  sports too. For example, figure skating is a
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  sport where people perform jumps, spins, and dance like
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  moves on the ice. It's known for its beautiful
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  costumes and music. Did you know that the first
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  figure skating competition was held in the mid 1800s in Europe?
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  Today, figure skating is a popular event in the Winter
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  Olympics and is watched by millions of people.
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  Another exciting ice sport is ice hockey.
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  Ice hockey is a fast-paced team sport played on an ice rink.
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  Each team has six players, including a goalie, and they use
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  sticks to try to get a small rubber puck into the other
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  team's net. Ice hockey is very popular in
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  countries like Canada, Russia, Finland and Sweden.
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  In North America, many kids play hockey in youth leagues and some
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  even dream of becoming professional players.
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  A fun fact, the National Hockey League or NHL, is the most
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  famous Hockey League in the world and its championship
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  trophy is called the Stanley Cup.
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  Let's move from ice to snow. Skiing is one of the best known
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  winter sports and comes in many different styles.
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  Alpine skiing, also called downhill skiing, is when you go
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  down a snowy mountain on 2 long flat boards called skis.
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  Skiers use poles to help them balance and turn.
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  There are ski resorts in places like the Alps in Europe, the
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  Rocky Mountains in North America, and the Japanese Alps
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  in Asia. People of all ages enjoy skiing
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  for fun, and some train to race at high speeds in competitions.
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  Cross country skiing is a little different.
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  Instead of going down steep hills, you glide across flat or
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  gently rolling snowy landscapes. Cross country skiing is a
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  popular way to travel through snowy forests and fields,
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  especially in countries like Norway, Sweden and Finland.
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  In these places, it's not just a sport, it's also a way to get
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  around when the snow is deep. Another snow sport you might
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  have heard of is snowboarding. Snowboarding started in the
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  United States in the 1960s and quickly became popular around
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  the world. Instead of two skis,
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  snowboarders use a single wide board and slide down snowy
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  slopes, sometimes doing tricks and jumps.
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  Snowboarding is a big part of the Winter X Games, which is a
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  competition for action sports. If you like speed, you might
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  enjoy learning about bobsledding, luge, and skeleton.
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  These are all fast sports that take place on an ice track, kind
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  of like a frozen slide with lots of twists and turns.
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  In bobsledding, teams of two or four people ride in a sled and
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  race down the track trying to get the fastest time.
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  The sleds can go as fast as a car on a highway.
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  Luge and skeleton are similar, but in luge athletes lie on
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  their backs on a small sled and in skeleton they go head first
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  on their stomachs. These sports are very exciting
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  to watch and are also part of the Winter Olympics.
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  In some countries. People enjoy curling.
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  Curling is a team sport played on ice where players slide heavy
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  stones towards a target. It's a bit like bowling on ice,
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  but players also use brooms to sweep the ice in front of the
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  stone, helping it to travel further or change direction.
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  Curling is very popular in Canada and Scotland and is known
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  for being a sport that people of all ages can play together.
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  Did you know that there's a winter sport called biathlon?
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  Biathlon combines cross country skiing with target shooting.
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  Athletes ski a certain distance, then stop at a shooting range
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  and try to hit small targets with a rifle.
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  Then they ski again and stop to shoot a few.
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  It's a test of both speed and accuracy.
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  Biathlon is especially popular in European countries like
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  Germany, Norway, and Russia. Let's not forget about sledding,
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  which is a favorite winter activity for kids in many snowy
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  places. Sledding or tobogganing is when
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  you sit on a sled and slide down a snowy hill.
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  You don't need any special skills, just a sled and a good
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  hill. In some places, people build
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  long, twisty sledding tracks for extra fun.
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  Sledding is a great way for families and friends to enjoy
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  the outdoors in winter. In Japan, there's a special
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  tradition called Yukigasen, which is a snowball fighting
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  competition. Teams face off in a big snowball
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  battle with special rules and even referees.
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  Yukigasen is played at festivals and teams wear helmets and have
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  to follow safety rules. It started in a snowy town
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  called Sobetsu in Hokkaido, and now there are tournaments in
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  other countries too. Winter sports are not just for
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  cold places. Did you know that in some warm
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  countries, athletes train for winter sports using special
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  equipment? For example, Jamaican athletes
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  have competed in bobsledding even though Jamaica doesn't get
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  snow. They train using wheeled sleds
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  on tracks or travel to colder countries for practice.
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  The Jamaican bobsled team became famous after their first
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  appearance in the Winter Olympics in 1988.
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  Some winter activities don't require any special gear at all.
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  Building a snowman is a classic way to have fun in the snow.
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  People all over the world roll up big balls of snow and stack
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  them to make snowmen, adding things like scarves, hats and
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  carrots for noses. Making snow angels is another
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  favorite. Just lie down in the snow and
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  move your arms and legs to leave an Angel shaped pattern.
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  In Switzerland and Austria, people celebrate winter by
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  holding festivals with music, food and traditional games.
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  Sometimes there are ice carving contests where artists use
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  chisels and saws to make amazing sculptures out of blocks of ice.
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  Ice fishing is another winter activity that's popular in
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  places like Canada, Russia and Scandinavia.
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  People drill a hole in the ice on a frozen lake and fish
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  through the hole. Sometimes families build small
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  huts to stay warm while they fish.
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  Ice fishing takes patience, but it's a way that people can enjoy
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  nature and catch fish even when it's very cold outside.
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  Winter sports are also a big part of the Paralympic Games,
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  which are held after the Winter Olympics for athletes with
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  disabilities. Some of the sports include para
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  ice hockey, wheelchair curling, and Alpine skiing with special
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  equipment. These athletes train hard and
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  show that sports are for everyone, no matter what
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  challenges they might face. There are also some unique
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  winter activities in different cultures.
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  In Russia, people celebrate Maslanitza, a festival that
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  marks the end of winter, with sledding, snowball fights and
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  eating pancakes. In China, the Harbin
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  International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival is famous for
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  its giant ice castles and sculptures, which glow with
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  colorful lights at night. Safety is very important in all
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  winter sports and activities. People wear helmets and pads
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  when skiing, snowboarding, or playing hockey.
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  It's also important to dress warmly in layers, wear gloves,
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  and protect your eyes from the bright sun reflecting off the
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  snow. If you're ever trying a winter
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  sport for the first time, it's a good idea to go with an adult or
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  a coach who can teach you the basics and help you stay safe.
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  Let's do a quick recap of what we've learned today.
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  Winter sports and activities are a fun way to stay active when
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  it's cold outside. Some of the most popular winter
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  sports include ice skating, ice hockey, skiing, snowboarding,
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  bobsledding, curling, and biathlon.
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  There are also lots of ways to have fun in the snow, like
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  sledding, building snowmen, and making snow angels.
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  People all over the world have created special traditions and
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  festivals to celebrate winter, from snowball battles in Japan
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  to ice sculpture festivals in China.
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  Winter sports are for everyone, and with the right gear and
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  safety tips, they can be a great way to enjoy the season.
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  Thanks for joining us on Kit Cast Daily to explore winter
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  sports and activities around the world.
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  Stay curious and keep exploring no matter what the weather is
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  like where you live. See you next time.