Hi, this is Rusty Keeler, and you’re listening to the Play Nature Podcast, where we talk about play, nature, playing in nature, and the nature of play. I’m glad you’re here. Let’s have a listen.

All right. This is it. The podcast. Oh my goodness. The moment I’ve been waiting for. Yeah. Play Nature Podcast. Yeah, I’ve been dreaming about this for a couple years now, but you know, everything has its season, everything has its time, and the time is now! Yay! So, here we are. I am in Ithaca, New York, and I’m recording this in January, and it is freezing cold, and I’m sitting by a creek, one of my favorite spots.

Don’t worry, I have snow pants on, I’m toasty warm, and what better place to be than in nature. To talk about the nature of play, and playing in nature, and nature, and play, all that stuff. Anyway, I am so excited to be here, and be with you, and I’m glad you’re listening. There’s so many things I want to dive into with nature play.

natural playscapes, childhood, and what our role as adults can be to support play, to support childhood in this day and age. If you know my work, you know that I’m a natural playscape designer, and I’ve worked for many years. With folks like you, designing backyards and early childhood play spaces and elementary schools, playgrounds and schoolyards, and all sorts of great stuff.

I’ve done some books on the subject, Natural Playscapes and Risky Play, and I do talks and workshops and keynotes all around the world. Yeah. But, this first podcast here, where as we get rolling, it’s kind of introduction of what I’m about, what this podcast can be about. And what it could be about for you as we go on a journey of ideas to think about play and supporting play and bringing more outdoor play to all children, because that’s what I believe, that all children have the right to play.

And outside is good. Yeah, outside play, outdoor play. And we can support that. You know, we can find ways to get outside. We can take children to nature. We can build more natural. Elements in our own backyards and play spaces.

Because children need to connect to what’s real. To the earth. To mess. To the real stuff.Not screen stuff.

That has its place, I guess. But what we’re talking about here in this podcast is connecting children to the real stuff. Real materials, natural materials, real experiences. Because if you’ve looked outside your doors, It feels like, and if you’ve been an adult, if you’ve been around for a while, since your childhood, it kind of feels like childhood has shifted.

I know even in Ithaca, New York, where it’s a very walker friendly, pedestrian friendly, bike friendly place, child friendly place, still you don’t see children outside roaming around as much as certainly when I was a kid. And so childhood has shifted more indoors, more scheduling, you know, more draw to the screen.

Also, lots of reasons, we’ll, we’ll get into that in future podcasts, but it definitely has shifted, but it doesn’t mean that children don’t need natural experiences. Oh, no, no, quite the opposite. In this day and age, children need natural play experiences, free play experiences more than ever. But what another difference is, is that we have to intervene to provide those experiences more.

than adults maybe ever have. But, we can do it. Yeah. So, if we think about what children need, what do they need? What do they need to have healthy development and growth and a life? Of course, I want all children to be loved and safe. Sheltered, with enough food, and friends, love around them and support, and outdoor play.

Free play. Free play experiences.

And, you know, this is about nature. So, I love the idea of children going outside to nature. Visiting natural places. Having access to natural places. And, that can be in the form of parks and vacant lots and fancy places, but it can also be What we bring to children’s existing places, their play spaces, their schoolyards, your backyard.

So having access to rich environments with nature, because nature provides endless opportunities. People say it’s hard to compete with screens. For children, it’s hard to compete with the screen. Infinite possibilities there. No one else also has infinite possibilities. And as infinite is nature. The natural world.

What the seasons are. What leaves look like. What butterflies live in your area, finding a fuzzy caterpillar, seeing how water moves, seeing what rain is like, all that kind of stuff. And that’s what I believe children need access to, connections to. I feel like they have a bond. If you bring children to nature, they feel the connection.

They feel kinship. They feel like They are part of the family of nature, which they are, and which we are too. And when children have rich, diverse, interesting play environments, outdoor play environments, they have the opportunity to make a mess, to create things, to destroy things. I want children’s environments to be filled with plants, gardens, trees, hills, sand, water, mud.

Mud kitchens, lots of loose parts for their creativity and construction, and the freedom to play, and adults that will support the play. So that’s what I believe, and if you’re listening to this, I have a feeling that you believe that too. Yeah. And so if you’re listening to this, you know, there could be a range of people.

With different backgrounds, you could be one of the experts out there, way beyond my level, who’s working every day with children, connecting children to nature, four schools at your school. Maybe you’re a designer and architect doing amazing things. That’s awesome. I look forward to learning from you. Or maybe you’re just beginning this journey as a teacher or a parent, thinking about your own children and how to create spaces for their best play and learning and growth.

Maybe you’re here to look for ideas. I got a million ideas for ya. Or maybe you’re somewhere in between. Expert or beginner, and I love it. You are in the right place. Because my intention, my dream, is to inspire you, inspire you into action, big and small, to make the world a better place through play and your outdoor spaces.

And so, yeah. Maybe you’re a parent thinking about your own backyard. Maybe you’re a play based early childhood educator thinking about the outdoor space that you and your children have access to. Maybe you’re at an elementary school and would love to green that schoolyard of yours. Maybe you’re a professor of play, child development, recreation.

Maybe you’re a teacher trainer who really believes in the power of outdoor play and connecting children to nature. And you want to spread the good word, too. Maybe you work for a non profit. Maybe you are a government official looking at how to, you know, improve children’s access to nature in your community.

You could be an architect, a play advocate, or an activist. Yeah, how about that? Play activist. That’s what we are. So, let’s activate. Yeah, let’s do it. Well, lots of good news in this podcast. One of the good news is So, Is that we are doing it. We are activating it. We are connecting children to nature. We are living what we believe in, standing up for what we believe in.

And one of the beautiful things with children and nature and outdoor spaces is that it doesn’t take huge things to make a huge difference.

Small steps. Small steps. Little changes to your outdoor yard, little additions, make big impact on children’s experiences. So that’s the good thing. And that’s what this podcast is going to be all about.

I’m going to be preaching the gospel of outdoor play. Yeah, amen, say it again. And I’m going to be talking about nature. I’m going to be talking about loose parts. I’m going to be talking about children’s freedom with adults, like you, who believe in play and know how to say yes.

There’s so many subjects to dive into, so I’m excited. This is just the kickoff, this is just the beginning, so there’s going to be a lot of things that we get to cover. Yes, playscape, themselves, designs, how you can add things or inspire other people to add things to the outdoor spaces. Gardens, projects, loose parts, risky play.

What our role as adults is to support play. The importance of play. And then we’ll go even deeper and we might ask, well, what is play? What is that infinite flow of creative energy that is play? Yeah. So, we’ll go back and forth between practical stuff, things that you can do, changes you can make in your yard, and we’ll get a little dreamy.

A little philosophical. Things to kind of open our minds and open our hearts to inspire us as we support play. But basically my goal is to get you thinking, get you inspired so that you can make changes in your outdoor space. Together we’ll think about things in new ways and also I want to help empower you to use your voice to stand up for what you believe in around play and the rights of children.

Yeah, and we’ll have some fun. Gotta have fun, right? Of course! So, what to ex From the Play Nature podcast. Rusty Keeler’s Play Nature podcast. It’ll be a mix of things. I’ll have guests. Oh yeah, I’ve traveled all over the world. I know some amazing people doing amazing things all over the place. And I’m excited to introduce them to you and introduce you to them.

Yeah. I’ve got a million stories from past projects doing natural playscape designs and builds. And maybe you’ll get some ideas for your own yard with some of the stories that I tell. I also have practical ideas. So when we think about like design stuff, you know, maybe some episodes might be like, let’s talk about building a mud kitchen and I’ll have some plans.

Some little simple plans and diagrams and blueprints that in the, in the show notes that you can take to heart and team up with some of your people and put together for your own yard. We’ll also think about risky play and do some soul searching. about what is your relation to risky play? What is your relation to risk?

What do you believe in? What do you say yes to? What do you say no to? And are there things that you could say yes to more? We’ll also think about who you need to talk to, who you need to okay it with, who you need to communicate with when you support risky play, or even bring mess of nature into a yard.

Other parents, licensor, regulators, health inspectors, fire marshals, all that stuff. Because for many people, educators especially, that’s a key part of the puzzle. Okay, you can believe in it. We know the children believe in mess and fun and loose parts. And you can believe in it, too, and support that. But how do you communicate the benefits and the importance of having that stuff in there?

Because It’s time that we stand up and we communicate what we believe in. We’ll go into details why later. You know, if, if childhood has been limited, a little bit limited here, a little bit limited there, a little bit said no because, you know, safety things here, or worried about getting hurt there. Okay, all that stuff’s good and tensioned, but, all those limitations add up.

And little by little, we get to the point where we’re at now, where there feels like there’s too many limitations. And that is hurting children, that is hurting childhood. So we need to stand up, we need to stand up. But, that’s part of what we’ll look at too in the Playing Nature podcast, kind of the current state of play and childhood in general.

You know, there’s a childhood mental health crisis going on in many parts of the world, and certainly where I am here in North America, where childhood depression, anxiety, even suicides are at their highest level in decades. And we know there’s lots of causes from that, that there’s pressure from schools, there’s children indoors not getting the freedom to play, parental fears, maybe unsafe neighborhoods.

Also those screens, we know, you know, there’s a lot of talk now. The book Anxious Generation came out this past year about, yeah, how screens have put a lot of pressure on children and youth and teens, social media and whatnot. And that’s all part of the puzzle. But, to me, one of the biggest parts is that kind of deficit of free play in children’s lives.

So, don’t worry. We’re not going to linger too much in the bad news. But it’s important to kind of know where we’re at. Because there are some concerns. There are concerning developments and trends. But there’s also good news. The good news is that we, we, you and me, and all of us, we can make a difference.

We can make change. Every fuzzy caterpillar, one mud kitchen at a time, one jumping in the leaves at a time, little changes to our yard, little things that we start to say yes to. That’s the beauty of it. We can make a difference. We can make a difference. We can change the trends. We can spark a new trend.

And it’s happening. One of the great things about all that, and kind of reversing these trends, is that, especially when we’re talking about play as an answer, play is the answer. And it’s a good thing. In some ways, it’s an easy thing. It’s an easy fix. And so, we can support this kind of play, because it’s the natural thing for children.

It’s what they’re wired to do. Play. It’s in us. It’s in them. It’s in our nature. But why are you listening to me? My focus for my whole career has been in natural place based design. Playground design. Yeah, I was an industrial designer and turned landscape designer, kind of, and really just playscapes my whole career.

Over 30 years, and I’ve worked on tons of projects over those years. I’ve learned so much. So many different kinds with so many amazing people. And check out this range. Seriously, I’ve worked on projects that were 5 million. A project that was 5 million. One that was 500, 000. Many that were 50, 000. Some that were 5, 000.

Some that were 500. And Some that were free. Zero dollar budgets. And all of them are fun, all of them are special. All of them take creativity and problem solving, and thinking about local resources and materials and all that stuff. So, I’ve had a full range of design experiences. Probably mostly with early childhood education.

Rego, play based, people interested in adding nature and sprucing things up. But also, I’ve worked with universities and non profits and Head Starts and community centers, zoos, parks, public schools, Chinese orphanages. I’ve done builds in Scotland and New Zealand, mostly for kids, but I have done one for goats.

Also, I’ve been interested in adventure playgrounds. Those kind of wild, kid built, loose parts. Risky play places for children. You might’ve seen them first in Europe after world war two, where kids are building with scrap lumber and there’s fires and animals and hammers and nails and all sorts of stuff.

I love that help be a part of kind of a us movement in that in the last decade or so. Helped start, uh, Hands On Nature Anarchy Zone in Ithaca, New York here at the Ithaca Children’s Garden. My book, Adventures in Risky Play, kind of dives into kind of the importance of risky play, and the beauty of risky play in children’s lives, and how we can support it.

I’m interested in child friendly cities and planning for play. Kind of reverse those trends of children being indoors. I’m interested in how we can look at not only our backyards or our schoolyards and our parks, but how a whole city could be child friendly. I’m also interested in public school recess or any kind of school recess.

Um, I’ve done reimagining recess projects where it’s, We do training, we’ve done training for the people outdoor, the adults, to rethink how, rules, and rethink how they spend time in recess with children, instead of just policing, switching to supporting play, allowing more play, with loose parts. And, you know, 30 years ago I started, I was peppy, excited, young, and now I’ve got some gray hair.

Yeah, I’m a little gray, but, and I’m not young, but I am still peppy and excited. About childhood, about play, supporting play, and in fact, I’m more interested and excited than ever before. I feel like we’re kicking off a new era, a new thing, and for me, this podcast is part of it. I want to, you know, reflect on all the different experiences I’ve had and places I’ve visited and people I’ve worked with and people I’ve been inspired by, and I want to in turn share with you.

And I’m on a journey. I feel like in my life. I am on a continual journey for the duration of play, outdoor play, nature play, risky play, supporting play, children’s right to play. I’m doing it. I’m doing it for the duration. I’m in. I’m all in. And, yeah, so I want to just talk more about it with you, and share ideas, and that’s what this whole thing is about, thinking about children’s natural way of being, this play is our own way of being, and how we can step back, dig deep in ourselves, and tap what we believe in.

for outdoor play and that we can make the world a better place by supporting children and creating Beautiful spaces and saying yes to play. Yeah, so let’s do it I’m glad you’re joining me. I’m glad you’re listening and Let’s keep it going. All right till next time.

All right. Thanks for listening Do you have a comment or a question email me? At playnaturepodcast at gmail. com. You know I like talking about this stuff. And maybe we could use your question on a future podcast episode. As always, I have some free goodies for you in the show notes. Including my outdoor loose parts guide.

Fun stuff in there. And so I wish you the best in your outdoor play adventures. And when it comes to adding nature to your yard or loose parts, or saying yes to risky play. My favorite motto is dream big, start small, and never stop. Oh yeah! Woo woo woo woo! Let’s do it! Alright, have fun out there!