Ep 34 | Adventure Walkers: Why Kids Need Creeks, Logs, Frogs, and Freedom

Ep 34 | Adventure Walkers: Why Kids Need Creeks, Logs, Frogs, and Freedom

What happens when a chemist wanders out of the lab and into the woods with children? Adventure, of course.  In this episode of Play Nature Podcast Rusty talks with Jim McCullough, founder of Adventure Walkers about forest kindergarten, playwork, risky play, and the wild magic that happens when adults stop steering so much and start saying yes. Jim shares his story of how working in a preschool turned into taking walks with kids. Soon Jim was on a journey to start a forest kindergarten pilot in the woods behind a preschool, and later building Adventure Walkers, a roaming, creek-splashing, log-balancing, frog-finding laboratory for childhood. Jim and Rusty talk about risk, trust, reflection, and why “safe enough” may be better than trying to make childhood perfectly safe. Listeners will come away with a big invitation: start small, try a pilot, follow the children, and let the woods do some of the teaching. Top Three Takeaways from Jim McCullough: * Risk is not the enemy. Children need space to try, pause, climb, wonder, and decide what feels possible. * The adult role is quieter than we think. Watch. Wait. Reflect. Step in when needed, but don’t poke holes in the play flow. * Start with a pilot. You don’t need a perfect plan or a fancy outdoor classroom. Take a small group outside. Find a creek. See what happens. Links:  adventurewalkersrva.com [http://www.adventurewalkersrva.com] Instagram @adventurewalkersrva [https://www.instagram.com/adventurewalkersrva] Facebook @AdventureWalkersrva [https://www.facebook.com/AdventureWalkersrva/]   Learn More: rustykeeler.com [https://rustykeeler.com/] | @rusty_keeler_designs [https://www.instagram.com/rusty_keeler_designs]  Rusty’s FREE Outdoor Loose Parts Guide [https://rustykeeler.com/loosepartslistfd/]

Ep 33 | Mud, Microbes, and the Magic of Nature with Alex Barrable

Nature is not just pretty. It is medicine. It is our teacher. It is mud, microbes, moss, noise-softening, nervous-system-settling magic. In this episode of Play Nature Podcast, Rusty Keeler talks with researcher Alex Barrable about the deep and delightful ways humans connect with the natural world. Alex shares how becoming a parent brought her back to nature, how children help adults slow down to “Earth speed,” and why our bodies and brains are still wired for green, wild, living places. Alex and Rusty also explore our invisible microbial friends, the microbiome. Alex explains the benefits of what nature offers us, just by bein nature Children need time. Space. Soil. Loose parts. Wonder. They need to smell it, touch it, climb it, taste it, and know they belong to it. Because when children feel connected to the Earth, they are more likely to care for it too. Top Three Takeaways from Alex Barrable: * Nature helps bodies calm down, brains wake up, and kids settle into that magical “rest, digest, and learn” place. * Dirty play is not just mess. Soil, microbes, plants, and biodiverse spaces may support children’s health, immune systems, and wellbeing. * Green schoolyards are not a bonus. They are a big, leafy, non-negotiable step toward healthier kids, healthier communities, and a healthier planet. Links: dirtyplay.org [https://www.dirtyplay.org/] Learn More: rustykeeler.com [https://rustykeeler.com/] | @rusty_keeler_designs [https://www.instagram.com/rusty_keeler_designs]  Rusty’s FREE Outdoor Loose Parts Guide [https://rustykeeler.com/loosepartslistfd/]

Ep 32 | Adam Bienenstock on School Forests, Soil Health, and the Future of Nature Play

The best playgrounds are alive. Dirt is medicine. And schoolyards can, and should, grow a little forest where kids can climb, hide, breathe, wonder, and come back to themselves.   In this episode of the Play Nature Podcast, Rusty Keeler talks with Adam Bienenstock about nature play, living soil, school forests, and why children need more than a break from screens. They need roots. Bugs. Trees. Mud. The good stuff. Adam and Rusty dig into the big, beautiful, messy connections between child development, gut microbiome, mental health, outdoor education, risky play, and regenerative landscapes. This conversation wanders from schoolyards to soil microbes to forests inside the fence. Adam shares why a single tree is nice, but a living forest system is better. More shade. More sensory play. More life. More chances for kids to build empathy, resilience, attention, and joy. The time is now to rebuild children’s connection to land. The time is now to start giving kids a daily dose of nature, not just an occasional field trip. So plant the trees. Add the shrubs. Feed the soil. Let the weeds do a little work.  Dream big. Start small. Never stop. Top Three Takeaways from Adam Bienenstock * Kids do not just need less screen time. They need more full-body, full-sensory nature time. * A school forest is more than trees. It is soil, shade, microbes, loose parts, play, and wonder all working together. * Start with a corner. Plant in communities. Add organic material. Build a tiny forest world kids can touch, smell, climb into, and love. Links: renature.org [http://www.renature.org] @renaturefoundation Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/renaturefoundation] | Facebook [http://facebook.com/renaturefoundation] LinkedIn @renature-fnd [http://linkedin.com/company/renature-fnd] @bienenstocknaturalplaygrounds Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/bienenstocknaturalplaygrounds/] LinkedIn @bienenstock-playgrounds [http://linkedin.com/company/bienenstock-playgrounds] Facebook @BienenstockPlaygrounds [http://facebook.com/BienenstockPlaygrounds]   Learn More: rustykeeler.com [https://rustykeeler.com/] | @rusty_keeler_designs [https://www.instagram.com/rusty_keeler_designs]    Rusty’s FREE Outdoor Loose Parts Guide [https://rustykeeler.com/loosepartslistfd/]

Ep 31 | My New Play Manifesto! Slowing Down in a Speeding Up World

In this episode of Play Nature Podcast, host Rusty Keeler takes us creekside on a warm spring day to think big. Big like gorges. Small like bugs. Slow like trees. This episode is a call to remember  the mission. The mission to give children what they need most: time, freedom, nature, community, and real life under their feet. Rusty reflects on the strange, speedy blip of modern childhood. More screens. More stress. Less recess. Less mud. But instead of getting stuck in doom and gloom, he asks a better question: What if we are already building something new? Something rooted in play, place, seasons, risk, mess, imagination, and the deep human skills children grow through free play. Rusty’s NEW Play Manifesto is the mission to slow down and go deeper. He explores how nature play, place-based learning, community, and child-led exploration can help shape the future, even in a world racing toward more technology and AI.  This is your  hopeful reminder to stand strong in what we know in our bones: play matters, nature matters, and children find themselves when they have the space to play. Top three takeaways from Rusty’s time by the creek: * Slow down to “earth speed.”  * Free play helps children grow the deeply human skills they need: creativity, communication, collaboration, compassion, curiosity, and self-knowledge. * The future of childhood is not fixed. We can help build it through nature, community, advocacy, and a big playful yes to real life.   Learn More: rustykeeler.com [https://rustykeeler.com/] | @rusty_keeler_designs [https://www.instagram.com/rusty_keeler_designs]  Rusty’s FREE Outdoor Loose Parts Guide [https://rustykeeler.com/loosepartslistfd/]

Ep 30 | Claude Stephens’ Nature Play Revolution

Step outside. Feel the mud. Hear the birds. In this episode of the Play Nature Podcast, Rusty Keeler sits down with Playcologist Claude Stephens to explore a simple but powerful idea: children are meant to play in nature. Not on perfectly polished playgrounds. Not inside neat boundaries. But in messy, wild, living places. The kind with sticks. And puddles. And possibility. Claude and Rusty imagine playgrounds that feel like ecosystems. Spaces where kids build, explore, get a little lost, and have a lot of freedom. Children truly don’t need more equipment. They need as much freedom as we can give them. Claude’s message is a hopeful path forward. Start small. One log. One stump. One muddy hole. Build connections between people. Between places. Between kids and the land beneath their feet. In small shifts, something beautiful grows: joy, confidence, and a deep love for the natural world. Top Takeaways from Claude Stephens: * Children are natural players. Give them space, not structure, and they will create magic * Nature play doesn’t require big budgets. Small, simple changes can transform any space * Real impact happens slowly in tiny shifts. Add a log or patch of dirt and it can change everything over time Links: childrenatplaynetwork.com [http://www.childrenatplaynetwork.com] IG @childrenatplaynetwork [https://www.instagram.com/childrenatplaynetwork/] Learn More: rustykeeler.com [https://rustykeeler.com/] | @rusty_keeler_designs [https://www.instagram.com/rusty_keeler_designs]  Rusty’s FREE Outdoor Loose Parts Guide [https://rustykeeler.com/loosepartslistfd/]