The Play Well Podcast

In this episode, we speak to Julia Jane Gladwin.

JJ is a garden designer with 30 years of experience in horticulture. She founded Go Flourish, a charity whose aim is to reconnect children to nature. Go Flourish put well-designed gardens into schools. The project uses a Liaison Teacher and the gardens to give real world context to curriculum learning. Partnering with St Andrew’s University to measure outcomes, Go Flourish aim to provide a cost-effective mechanism for national roll-out and demonstrate that mental health and learning outcomes are improved.

In this month's episode, we speak to Dannielle Don, a Youth Development Worker at The MAXwell Centre in Dundee.

About Dannielle
My journey started in 2014 during a placement with Barnardo’s Growing Up Project, where I was introduced to The MAXwell Centre. That’s where I discovered my unexpected love for gardening, and it quickly blossomed into something more. I volunteered with the very first Garden Club and soon after joined the team in a professional role. Now, I work supporting local primary schools and nurseries, helping children plan, plant, and maintain their garden plots. Afternoons are a lively mix of After School Clubs, Youth Cooking Groups, and the Maxwell Youth Council (MYC), with a Garden Club during school holidays - everything we do is focused on building confidence, skills, and community in a fun, hands-on environment.I believe in the power of nature, food, and creativity to inspire young people, and I feel incredibly lucky to do what I love every day.

On this episode of the podcast, we speak to Niki Buchan about play in nature.

Niki has 40 years’ experience in Early Education, works internationally as a conference keynote speaker, nature pedagogue, trainer, and award-winning author. She is a strong advocate for children’s right to a quality childhood, including the right to regular play and access to nature. She is the author of ‘Children in Wild Nature’, ‘A Practical Approach to Nature-based Practice’, co-author of STEM Detectives and author of ‘But I Want to be Good’.  

Nurture Nature Conferences
How outdoor play in natural environments, guided by nurturing adults, can transform children’s wellbeing. Expect an inspiring and practical experience that will equip you with tools to improve children’s wellbeing, behaviour, and resilience through outdoor play. 
Perth - Saturday, 24 May 2025 
Aberdeen - Saturday, 31 May 2025 
Bathgate - Saturday, 28 June 2025 
https://salugen.uk/shop/  

On this episode of the podcast, we speak to Angelica Celinska about working in early years childcare.

Angelica is an early childhood advocate, lecturer and founder of The Voice of Early Childhood (TVOEC). Angelica is working on giving the early childhood sector a voice through TVOEC by encouraging shared reflection, dialogue, collaboration and healthy debate. Angelica’s areas of expertise are community building, networking, career progression and bridging the gap between academia and practice. She has worked in practice across various settings and in different roles, before moving into content creation aimed at enhancing training and development for both educators and parents across the globe. This has involved working in publishing, training, academia, events and resourcing learning environments.

http://www.thevoiceofearlychildhood.com/

On this episode of the podcast, we speak to Suzanne Scott and Rodney Mountain who have been creating nature trails across Scotland to encourage families to get out and explore. 

"I'm enthusiastic about promoting playful curiosity, wellbeing and outdoor exploration through art and community. I partnered with Rodney Mountain, the creator of ‘Brambles and Brumbles’ concept of intergenerational togetherness. He is a champion of bringing people together and he is passionate about the value of bringing art and design into healthcare. Together we created an inspiring, magical trail of inclusivity, togetherness, nature based wellbeing and outdoor adventuring."

The trail is housed at Dundee Botanic Garden, with one day pop up trails at Scone Palace, Dens Road Primary School, Creative Dundee and the Maxwell Centre (Community Centre and Garden).

In this episode, we hear from Dr. Dan Wuori about his work in early years education.

Dan Wuori is the Founder and President of Early Childhood Policy Solutions and Strategic Advisor on Early Childhood at the Saul Zaentz Charitable Foundation. Dr Wuori is a former kindergarten teacher and school district administrator. 

Working as the Deputy Director of South Carolina First Steps to School Readiness he developed significant, bipartisan support for early childhood education, including the creation of statewide program accountability standards, and the expansion of evidence-based home visiting programs.  

Dr. Wuori holds a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism, a Master of Arts in Teaching, and a Ph.D. in early childhood education, all from the University of South Carolina. 

He speaks to a social media audience of a quarter of a million to share the powerful learning and development that happens in the early years. And in turn, uses this learning to influence national policy.

In this podcast episode, we hear from Dr. Mike Wragg and his research on play in care homes.

Dr Mike Wragg is a Senior Lecturer on the Childhood Development & Playwork BA (Hons) course at Leeds Beckett University.  Mike is Chair of Trustees of Play Bradford, a local play development charity that he founded in 2004, and which incorporates the Big Swing adventure playground.  Mike's current research is focussed on the practice of playwork in care homes with people living with dementia, which he's presenting at the 2004 UK Dementia Congress.

In this episode of the podcast, we hear from Dr. Lorna Arnott and her research on lived experiences of children's play, specifically in technology and digital play before the age of 5.

Lorna Arnott is a Reader of Early Childhood Education and former Director of Early Years at the University of Strathclyde. Her work sits close to practice around three inter-related themes: children’s lifeworlds and experiences in early childhood settings and home cultures; pedagogic innovation in Early Childhood Education; and children’s digital play.  The first two themes are brought together in her conceptualization of how the dynamics of context shape children’s experiences (see selected publications: Pedagogic Cultures). Dr Arnott’s high standing in this field led to her inclusion in the Scottish Government Strategic Approach to Participation, serving on the Children’s Rights and Participation Team. Dr Arnott is an internationally recognized expert in children’s digital play, as evidenced in her role as editor of the 2017 SAGE book Digital Technologies and Learning in the Early Years and co-editor of three special issues on this topic in the British Journal of Educational Technology, Global Studies of Childhood and The European Early Childhood Educational Research Journal. She is founder and co-convener of the EECERA Digital Childhoods, STEM and Multimodality Special Interest Group.  She is Deputy Editor for the International Journal of Early Years Education and Assistant Editor for the Journal of Early Childhood Research.  Methodologically, Dr Arnott specializes in children’s voice and creative methods for children’s participation and has co-edited two books aimed at both research and practice audiences: Research Through Play: Participatory Methods in Early Childhood (SAGE, 2021) and Theory and Practice of Voice: A Guide for the Early Years (Routledge, 2022). Underpinning all of this work is an interest in children’s experiences of learning through play.

Karen is the leading expert in playwork qualifications in Scotland. She is the curriculum manager at Glasgow Clyde College for Playwork, Childhood Practice, Additional Support Needs, Social Services, and Early Learning and Childcare. She is a qualified primary teacher and she recently completed a Masters in Education where her research focused on play deprivation. 

Dr Sarah Goldsmith has been a playworker and playwork trainer for over twenty years, after finishing a degree in Playwork. Sarah has worked in out of school clubs, adventure playgrounds and as a play ranger. The experience Sarah gained as a playworker led her to a PhD that explored children's experiences of toys and gender from a playwork perspective. Currently, Sarah works part time at Thrive Outdoors, researching children's opportunities for outdoor play in Glasgow, as well as working part time as a Childhood Practice lecture at West College Scotland. Sarah is also Chair of the International Play Association (IPA) Scotland.