All Episodes
Episodes
Ep 24 | Let the Universe Teach: A Schema Play Aha Moment
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...
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Ep 23 | Seasons of Play with Rusty: Tips for WINTER Outdoor Fun
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...
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Ep 22 | Place-Based Learning: Environment, Culture, and Food with Gemma Nicholl Medina
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...
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Ep 21 | Building Deep Connections with Children: Robin Christie on Play, Failure, Curiosity, and Wonder
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...
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Ep 20 | Free-Range Kids and the Magic of a Dirt Pile with Lenore Skenazy
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...
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Ep 19 | Schema Play Explained: Why Scooping, Dumping, and Mess-Making Matter with Heather Bernt-Santy
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...
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Ep 18 | Climb the Slide: Kisha Reid on How Risk, Play, and Wonder Shape Authentic Childhoods
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...
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Ep 17 | Everything is Broken (and That’s Okay!) with Teacher Tom Hobson
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...
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Ep 16 | Building a Junkyard Playground with Teacher Tom Hobson
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...
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Ep 15 | Seasons of Play with Rusty: Tips for FALL Outdoor Fun
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...
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Ep 14 | Why Children Need Nature Play More Than Ever with Angela Hanscom, OT, TimberNook Founder
We’re here to let you in on a little secret. Strong, confident kids don’t come from a classroom. They are created outdoors! Play is the work of childhood, the language of imagination, and the foundation for lifelong...
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Ep 13 | What’s Really Hurting Our Kids: Peter Gray on Why Phones Aren’t the Problem
Play isn’t just the giggles and games—it’s a protective shield for growing hearts and minds. When kids lose play, they lose more than fun.
In this episode of the Play Nature Podcast, Rusty Keeler goes deeper into why...
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