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 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
Play is how children make sense of the world. Schema play shows that children aren’t being “aimless, ”they’re testing patterns, discovering physics, and learning about themselves through joyful repetition.
Our job isn’t to control play. It’s to wonder about it. Trust the process, not the product.
Children have a right to play—freely and fully.
Links:
thatearlychildhoodnerd.com
Facebook @thatearlychildhoodnerd
Instagram @thatearlychildhoodnerd
TikTok @that_early_childh
BlueSky @ece-nerd.bsky.social
LinkedIn @@heatherbernt-santy
Learn More: rustykeeler.com | @rusty_keeler_designs
Rusty’s FREE Outdoor Loose Parts Guide
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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 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:
Authentic play starts with trust. True learning happens when adults step back, observe, and let children lead their own discoveries—even when it looks messy or risky.
It’s not about the space—it’s about the mindset. Any environment, from a church basement to a forest clearing, can nurture authentic childhoods when educators believe in play and possibility.
Advocacy begins with intention. When teachers understand the “why” behind play and communicate it clearly, even licensing inspectors can become allies in supporting joyful, nature-based learning.
Links:
discoverynaturallearning.com
@discoverynaturallearningcenter on Facebook
Learn More: rustykeeler.com | @rusty_keeler_designs
Rusty’s FREE Outdoor Loose Parts Guide
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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 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:
Broken things are great teachers!
Junkyard playground inspire freedom and imagination
Loose parts=loose minds (in the best way!)
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
Learn More: rustykeeler.com | @rusty_keeler_designs
Rusty’s FREE Outdoor Loose Parts Guide
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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 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:
Freedom is the foundation of play
Create environments that invite exploration
Play builds more than skills, it build people.
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
Rusty’s FREE Outdoor Loose Parts Guide
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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 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
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.
From willow huts and mud kitchens to sunflower houses and kale forests, Rusty will delve into the magic of natural materials, loose parts, messy play, and even the value of risky play in children’s lives. You’ll discover practical ways to nurture play in your own backyard, neighborhood, school, or community.
Join Rusty Keeler to uncover the wonders of outdoor play and learn what tools you already have to create joyful, natural play experiences for all seasons, all weather, and all children.
Let’s make the world a better place by saying “Yes!” to play.
Learn More: rustykeeler.com | @rusty_keeler_designs
Australia