Winter. Ice cracking at the creek. Water freezing in buckets and balloons. Rusty is back outside, thinking out loud, when an aha arrives. One of those deep ones. The kind that doesn’t land all at once. The kind you keep unpacking for a lifetime. 

This episode of the Play Nature Podcast is all about that moment, a shift in how play is seen, felt, and trusted.

Rusty reflects on being a lifelong believer in play. Free play. Messy play. Nature play. Loose parts. Mud kitchens. Risky moments. The real stuff. Yes, research helps. Yes, play checks the boxes for STEM, literacy, social-emotional growth. But those labels only skim the surface. 

Rusty reminds us that our role isn’t to interrupt or translate every moment, but to create the conditions, protect the space, and advocate fiercely for play in the adult world. You are not alone. We are believers in play. And we are in this together.

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Welcome to Season 2 of the Play Nature Podcast!  A full circle around the sun. A new season of listening begins.

Winter has arrived (at least in Ithaca, NY). Cold. Snow. Gray skies. And…PLAY.

In this episode of the Play Nature Podcast, Rusty Keeler bundles up and steps into winter to give us the next installment of his Seasons of Play series, reminding us that this final season matters just as much as the others. 

From ice sculptures and colored snow to fairy huts, fires, and winter wandering, Rusty invites us to slow down and notice what winter offers. The angle of the sun. The crunch of snow. The quiet. The light we carry inside when the world feels gray. 

With simple stories and practical ideas, this episode reframes winter not as something to endure, but something to experience.

Season 2 is just getting started and Rusty would love to hear from you! Email [email protected] to share pictures of winter play and colorful snow, your favorite moment from Season 1, or a question you would like answered in an upcoming episode.

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Some conversations feel like sunshine. This one? Pure magic. Imagine laughter blowing through the trees, college students climbing branches, children splashing in streams, and stories woven into the wind. 

That’s the vibe of this episode of the Play Nature Podcast. Host Rusty Keeler is joined by the wonderful Gemma Nicholl Medina to explore the wild wonder of place-based learning and how nature, culture, and play connect like old friends. Big ideas. Small moments. Muddy hands. Happy hearts.

Gemma shares how her college students discover something ancient and familiar when they play outside, observe children deeply, and reconnect with trees, soil, stories, and place.

Gemma reminds us that nature play doesn't require a perfect forest, perfect tools, or perfect plans. All you need is curiosity, connection, and courage to say, “Let’s begin right here.” 

Top 3 Takeaways with Gemma: 

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Welcome to a world where play speaks louder than words. Where adults climb trees dressed as toucans, worms magically become two worms, and curiosity crackles like fairy lights in a cozy home-like space flooded with plants and laughter. 

In this episode of the Play Nature Podcast, host Rusty Keeler and guest Robin Christie take us by the hand, skipping barefoot through ideas about playfulness, risk, resilience, and the joyful role of goofy, loving adults in children’s lives.

Their conversation touches on early childhood teaching in New Zealand, playful adult culture, humor as a first connection, the power of failure, and the soulful art of building truly soft, warm, homey learning spaces. 

Top 3 Takeaways from Robin Christie:

Children need to see that adults are still learning too. That they are still curious, still surprised, still full of questions. That is how trust forms. That is how humans grow. That is how joy lives in learning… and in life

Links:

childspace.nz

@childspaceNZ on Facebook

@childspacenz on Instagram

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It’s time to trust kids more. Let them walk those four houses home, climb that tree, and spend an afternoon conquering a pile of dirt. Freedom, not fear, shapes childhood the childhood we hope to give our kids.

In this episode of Play Nature Podcast, host Rusty Keeler is chatting with Free-Range Kids author and Let Grow president Lenore Skenazy to explore how we, as parents, got so anxious about safety, and what happens when we let kids reclaim their independence.

Together, Rusty and Lenore laugh, reflect, and get fired up about what it means to be a “free-range kid” in today’s world. They are sharing why playtime has shrunk, how fear has grown, and the beauty of a child’s self-directed adventure. 

From bus stop debates to AirTag sneakers, this conversation takes on the cultural shift from trust to tracking, and how we can turn it around.

You’ll hear about the Let Grow Experience (a simple way for schools and parents to nurture independence), the joy of multi-age play, and why every child deserves the chance to say, “I did it myself.”

Top 3 Takeaways with Lenore Skenazy

Links:

letgrow.org/blog

Free-Range Kids: How Parents and Teachers Can Let Go and Let Grow by Lenore Skenazy

letgrow.org/free-chapter (FREE chapter for Educators from Free-Range Kids)

letgrow.org/resource/more-lenore-skenazy (connect with Lenore for speaking engagements)

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Have you ever watched a child scoop birdseed, roll in grass, or wrap Play-Doh around tiny toys and think, “What on earth are they doing?” 

In this episode of Play Nature Podcast, host Rusty Keeler is chatting and laughing with Heather Bernt-Santy, THE Early Childhood Nerd, to find out why those moments are more than just mess and motion. They really are the heart of learning. They talk about curiosity, connection, and the magic of letting kids be wonderfully, gloriously human.

Heather shares her journey from podcaster to author and dives into the world of schema play. Those fascinating patterns children repeat as they explore how the world works. From enclosing and enveloping to transporting and transforming, she shows how every scoop, splash, and spin builds brains, confidence, and joy. 

Adults just need to step back, trust, and watch the wonder unfold.

In this conversation, you’ll hear about risky play and right-to-play advocacy, how teachers can shift from “doing” to “wondering,” and why grown-ups should trade control for curiosity. 

Top 3 Takeaways from The Early Childhood Nerd: Heather Bernt-Santy

Links:

thatearlychildhoodnerd.com

Facebook @thatearlychildhoodnerd 

Instagram @thatearlychildhoodnerd

TikTok @that_early_childh

BlueSky @ece-nerd.bsky.social 

LinkedIn @@heatherbernt-santy

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The magic of an authentic childhood comes from the wonder of the experiences, not the walls they take place in. The best classrooms are fields, forests, and slides climbed from the “wrong” side.

In this joyful chat on Play Nature Podcast, host Rusty Keeler and Kisha Reid are talking all about the spirit of authentic play. Where children lead, adults listen, and the magic of discovery unfolds in every muddy footprint.

Kisha, founder of Discovery Natural Learning Center and Play, has spent 30 years helping children grow through connection, curiosity, and courage. From her home base on a 300-acre retreat center, she invites kids, and the adults watching them, to rediscover what childhood can be: full of risk, laughter, and endless “what ifs.” 

Together, she and Rusty explore how educators can nurture real play anywhere, whether on acres of open land or in a small patch of yard.

Listeners will hear how Kisha builds trust through observation and relationship, how she works with licensing to defend risky play, and how true learning happens when we stop hovering and start believing.

Top 3 Takeaways from Episode 18 with Kisha Reid:

Links:

discoverynaturallearning.com

@discoverynaturallearningcenter on Facebook

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Even if everything’s broken, that doesn’t mean the play is over! And that’s the beauty of it. It’s not destruction, it’s deep learning. When we let kids take things apart, we’re helping  them put the world together in their own way.

This episode of the Play Nature Podcast is the second half of Rusty’s conversation with Teacher Tom Hobson. Listeners will get immersed into the world of junkyard playgrounds, loose parts, and freedom-filled learning. 

Together Rusty and Tom explore how children learn by taking things apart, testing limits, and transforming “trash” into treasure. It’s a celebration of curiosity, connection, and creativity, the kind that grows from hands-on discovery and messy, marvelous play.

Tom shares stories from his playground, a place full of wood scraps, traffic cones, trophies, and treasures. This is where kids explore, build, break, and begin again. He reminds us that every stick was once a branch, every rock once part of a mountain, and every loose part is an invitation to create. 

Top 3 Takeaways from part 2 with Teacher Tom:

So, say yes to the broken, the wobbly, the weathered, and the wild. Gather your scraps and start your own version of a junkyard playground. Let the children move, stack, glue, and build their dreams. Because when we trust them with freedom, they find wonder in every why, and see beauty in the broken toys.

Links:

teachertomsworld.com

Teacher's Tom's FREE Resource for Play-Based Settings

Connect with Tom @theteachertom on Facebook | on Instagram | on X |  @thomsas-hobson on LinkedIn

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Remember the feeling of running outside barefoot, pockets full of Band-Aids, heart full of imagination? That’s where this episode begins. Rusty sits down with the legendary “Teacher Tom” - Tom Hobson to talk about the golden age of play, when kids roamed free, built their own worlds, and learned through scraped knees, laughter, and discovery. 

Together they ask: What happens when adults step back? What do kids gain when they’re trusted to lead? How do we bring back the magic of self-directed play?

In this first part of their joyful two-part conversation, Teacher Tom shares how he built a “junk playground”. It’s a wonderland of wood chips, sand hills, and hammers. It is where where children create, experiment, and cooperate. 

You’ll hear stories of turning asphalt into a woodland, adding workbenches and saws for preschoolers, and transforming a church yard into a living classroom full of freedom, risk, and delight. 

Top 3 Takeaways from part 1 with Teacher Tom:

Thanks for joining Rusty & Tom for this peek inside a co-op school where parents become play allies, not play police. This is part one of a two-episode journey into play, purpose, and the power of saying yes. Make sure to come back for part two!

Links:

teachertomsworld.com

Teacher's Tom's FREE Resource for Play-Based Settings

Connect with Tom @theteachertom on Facebook | on Instagram | on X |  @thomsas-hobson on LinkedIn

Learn More: rustykeeler.com | @rusty_keeler_designs 

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The leaves are turning. The ducks are splashing. The creek runs low. Fall is here! Do you feel it in the air? Can you see it in the trees? Can you smell it in the crisp breeze? 

This episode of the Play Nature Podcast invites you to pause, marvel, and jump right into the season with joy and curiosity. Host Rusty Keeler takes us creek-side to share top tips for fall nature play: sit spots that slow us down, planting trees and bulbs for seasonal surprise, straw bales for forts and circles, and leaf piles that spark instant delight. 

Rusty is also inviting you all to participate in by National Play Day coming up on September 20th. He has a quick interview with Pat Rumbaugh who shares how her Play Day is a great example of Dreaming Big, but Starting Small.

It’s a playful celebration of autumn’s abundance and a reminder to dream big, start small, and never stop.

Links:

letsplayamerica.org

ipausa.org

Learn More: rustykeeler.com | @rusty_keeler_designs 

Share this episode, rate and review the show, and email Rusty! [email protected]

Rusty’s FREE Outdoor Loose Parts Guide