Welcome to Play Nature Podcast, a podcast dedicated to celebrating the beauty and benefits of outdoor, nature-based play—for all children (and us adults too!) Hosted by Rusty Keeler, a passionate play advocate, with over 30 years of experience designing natural playscapes, writing about nature and risky play, and traveling the world to champion the power of play, Rusty’s Play Nature Podcast is your guide for supporting outdoor play, protecting childhood, and letting kids be kids.

The Mindful Turtle Podcast provides small, actionable tips to help nature-based early childhood educators to transform their nature-based teaching one intentional step at a time. Hosted by Dr. Rachel A. Larimore of Samara Early Learning, the show is designed to help educators create classroom and school communities that thrive–calmly and steadily–to help young children learn with nature.

As a play-based educator, I strive, against a lifetime of training to the contrary, to resist the temptation to exert power over the children which is what we do when we insist on things like marching in lines or sitting in straight rows. It's what we do when we insist on zippered lips, dress codes, or asking permission to use the toilet. School is notoriously a place of rules and regulations, of teachers in the role of drill sergeant, or, if I'm being honest, prison guard.

Not everyone needs to have a green thumb to learn how to grow plants with young children. In this 1.5-hour webinar, participants will gain knowledge on the benefits of gardening with young children, gardening basics (including plant selection, plant needs, and materials needed), gardening design (types of early childhood education gardens and design considerations), and opportunities for gardening with children (including lesson plans and resources). Break out your tools, and let’s get messy!

How do young children actually develop literacy? Through child-led play! Play offers countless opportunities for children to build all the developmental skills needed for reading and writing. Furthermore, play doesn't need to be directly linked to literacy activities to foster these skills. All types of play contribute to the foundations that support reading and writing!

Bienenstock Natural Playgrounds presents Dirty Dishes - The Benefits of Learning with Mud Kitchens. Learn how to use your mud kitchen as a tool to support your student’s development.

The Natural Start Alliance is happy to continue its partnership with the Evanston Public Library to bring you the best in children's books about nature connection and environmental stewardship!

In every community, 1 in 3 children experience some form of life-threatening adversity like homelessness, abuse, violence or a natural disaster. Research shows that a positive relationship with just one caring adult in early childhood can change that child's life entirely.

Do you feel less confident or enthusiastic about incorporating math experiences into your early childhood program? If so, you're not alone! Many early educators feel more comfortable teaching language and literacy than math. This hesitation may stem from your own experiences as a young learner.

Creative play isn't just fun-it's a powerful catalyst for early development across all domains. In this dynamic and interactive webinar, acclaimed creativity experts Shannon Merenstein and Bar Rucci will guide you through the profound impact of process art and open-ended play on children's social and emotional growth.