Happy Outdoor Families

Audrey Withycombe is a wife, mother of two, and former teacher. Audrey is passionate about seeking adventures from mountain biking to exploring hot springs. She and her family have made it a whole lifestyle as they currently live full time at a summer camp in Minnesota. When Audrey isn’t out adventuring with her family, she is blogging and podcasting about being an outdoorsy family. I was so happy to be able to sit down and talk with Audrey about life at camp, and the joy of being outdoors!

You can find Audrey's blog and podcast at outdoorsyfamilies.com and follow her over on instagram @outdoorsy.families

Welcome to Happy Outdoor Families, the podcast that encourages and equips families to spend more time exploring and playing together outside. Today I'm excited to talk all about recess advocacy, and Summer Belloni is the perfect person for this conversation! As a credentialed teacher, she has experience teaching in both public and private schools. On the parenting side, when her own children entered school, Summer served on a district level student health advisory council where she began to really understand the importance of recess. She began to advocate locally for district policy, and went on to start Texans for Recess, an organization that advocates for recess policy on the state level. Continuing her passion for school and learning, summer is currently finishing coursework and assessments for her preliminary administrative credential and a master’s degree in education focusing on administrative leadership. Her current research focuses on teacher perception of recess, and Summer also serves on the board of the International Play Association, USA as their recess chair. Most importantly, she is raising two children who love to play outside as much as possible. I am excited for you to hear more of Summer’s story and her wisdom on recess advocacy.

Some resources mentioned in the show and places for further learning:

The LIINK project: https://liinkproject.tcu.edu/

IPA USA: https://ipausa.org/

Texans for Recess group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1879894452038819

Welcome to Happy Outdoor Families, the podcast that encourages and equips families to spend more time exploring and playing together outside. I am your host, Emily Isenbarger, and I hope that as you listen in each week you will feel inspired and excited about reconnecting your kids, and yourselves, with the outdoors - whatever that looks like for you. Join with me as we dive into the beauty, the benefits, and the challenges of taking life outside. Thanks for listening!

This week we are talking about another "hidden" sense, our proprioceptive sense. Our proprioceptive sense allows us to know where our limbs and other body parts are, and to judge the force and speed of our movements. Listen in to hear more about how this sense is developed and how we can make sure kids aren't missing out on the sensory input that they need to keep it strong. 

In the episode, I reference Angela Hanscom's book, Balanced and Barefoot, which you can find here: 

https://bookshop.org/books/balanced-and-barefoot-how-unrestricted-outdoor-play-makes-for-strong-confident-and-capable-children/9781626253735

Here are a few follow up articles as well:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780080450469019070

Welcome to Happy Outdoor Families, the podcast that encourages and equips families to spend more time exploring and playing together outside. I am your host, Emily Isenbarger, and I hope that as you listen in each week you will feel inspired and excited about reconnecting your kids, and yourselves, with the outdoors - whatever that looks like for you. Join with me as we dive into the beauty, the benefits, and the challenges of taking life outside. Thanks for listening!

This week we are talking about one of the "hidden sense" that we all possess - our vestibular sense. This is the sense that allows us to sense where our bodies are in space and contributes to our ability to balance and move through our world with ease. Listen in to find out more about why this sense is so vital and what is has to do with getting outside!

Some of the articles and books that I mention in the show are linked below:

Welcome to Happy Outdoor Families, the podcast that encourages and equips families to spend more time exploring and playing together outside. I am your host, Emily Isenbarger, and I hope that as you listen in each week you will feel inspired and excited about reconnecting your kids, and yourselves, with the outdoors - whatever that looks like for you. Join with me as we dive into the beauty, the benefits, and the challenges of taking life outside. Thanks for listening!

This week I am sharing some of my FAVORITE fall-themed picture books. Whether your children are young or old, these are beautiful books that are so fun to cuddle up with on a cool fall day. I hope you find a new favorite! All of the books that I talk about in this episode are listed below:

1. Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn - Kenard Pak

2. Hiking Day - Ann Rockwell, illustrated by Lizzy Rockwell

3. Ox-Cart Man - Donald Hall, illustrated by Barbara Cooney

4. Pumpkin Jack - Will Hubbell

5. The Pumpkin Book - Gail Gibbons

6. By the Light of the Harvest Moon - Harriet Ziefert, illustrated by Mark Jones

7. Hello, Harvest Moon - Ralph Fletcher, illustrated by Kate Kesler

8. Scarecrow - Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Lauren Stringer

9. Johnny Appleseed - Poem by Reeve Lindbergh, illustrated by Kathy Jakobsen

10. Hungry Bunny - Claudia Rueda

11. Leaf Man - Lois Ehlert

12. Fall Walk - Virginia Brimhall Snow

13. In November - Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Jill Kastner

14. Winter is Coming - Tony Johnston, illustrated by Jim LaMarche

Welcome to Happy Outdoor Families, the podcast that encourages and equips families to spend more time exploring and playing together outside. I am your host, Emily Isenbarger, and I hope that as you listen in each week you will feel inspired and excited about reconnecting your kids, and yourselves, with the outdoors - whatever that looks like for you. Join with me as we dive into the beauty, the benefits, and the challenges of taking life outside. Thanks for listening!

I am so excited to be back with you and today we are talking about prioritizing the outdoors in our homeschool routine. I absolutely love free, unstructured time outside. But there are also a number of activities that we plan and carry out more intentionally and find a lot of value in those things too. Today i’m sharing three ways that we incorporate the outdoors into our homeschool and preschool learning - through weekly nature groups, Tinkergarten classes, and through simply taking our lessons into the backyard or park. These also happen to be my favorite parts of homeschooling and i hope that these ideas can bring some joy to your home as well.

My Tinkergarten page: https://www.tinkergarten.com/leaders/emily.isenbarger?&tga=2b2a57b86ac0

My FAVORITE bins for homeschool supplies: https://www.michaels.com/14.5qt-latchmate-plus-mint-storage-box-with-tray-by-simply-tidy/10467879.html?r=g&cm_mmc=PLASearch-_-google-_-MICH_Shopping_US_N_Papercraft_N_Smart_BOPIS_N-_-&Kenshoo_ida=&kpid=go_cmp-9972406487_adg-102401876362_ad-433378147614_pla-1408204284127_dev-c_ext-_prd-10467879&gclid=Cj0KCQjwm9yJBhDTARIsABKIcGa-H13J_Z4TlmWkWwpmCkiBzqjq2VyaLCd0fAstG1B6ZX7mf_5o9OQaAhYuEALw_wcB

Rachel Tidd is the author of the Wild Math® and Wild Reading™ Curriculums and a leading proponent of integrating the outdoors and the natural materials in math education. She became interested in teaching and learning outside after watching her two children thrive in an outdoor forest preschool. Prior to founding Wild Learning, Rachel obtained extensive teaching experience as an elementary and special education teacher and as a homeschool parent. She holds a Master’s degree in Elementary and Special Education from Bank Street College of Education and a B.S. in Environmental Science from SUNY- College of Environmental Science and Forestry. She enjoys walks in nature, good books, handwork such as knitting and sewing, traveling, and strong coffee. Today, Rachel and I talk all about teaching and learning outside, how simple it can be AND how beneficial.

I am so excited to share this interview with you! And just a quick head’s up - this Wednesday’s play invitation will be the 40th installment of this podcast and will mark the end of Season 1 of the podcast. I will be back with you the first week of September when I am very excited to share our outdoor homeschool plans for the year, because this year we’ve got one foot in public school, like you heard me share about last week, and one in homeschool. In the meantime, I would love it so much if you would celebrate 40 episodes with me this week and share YOUR favorite episode of Happy Outdoor Families so far - share it with a friend, or on social media, or in a review!

Now, go find Rachel on social media and check out her amazing curriculum resources!

IG: @discoverwildlearning

This week I’m thinking a lot about the major changes that are happening to our family’s schedule as my oldest daughter starts at our local public school. Listen in as I share about how we are managing outdoor time on a public school schedule, as well as ideas for how to support and encourage your local school in spending more time - both play and learning time - outside. 

Some resources that I mention in the episode:

Study on outdoor time: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-44097-3

KidsGardening.org

Wild Math/Wild Reading https://discoverwildlearning.com/

Jenny Leibham is a nature play advocate, nature preschool teacher, coach, speaker, and creator. She works with educators to amplify their vision and expand their ideas of what their teaching practice can be.

Known to provoke curiosity and create space to listen deeply, Jenny has worked with the University of Washington, Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, Natural Start Alliance, and the Children and Nature Network.

Today we are going to be talking about how educators and parents can define what feels good to them outside, create a vision of outdoor learning, and then implement that with their class or their kids. I'm so excited to share this episode with you!

You can find Jenny on Instagram and YouTube, @natureplaylifestyle, and on her website, https://www.natureplaylifestyle.com/

Erika McLemore is a mom and teacher that loves to get outside and play! She holds a BS from the US Naval Academy and is a former naval officer. She currently leads Tinkergarten classes in Cedar Park, Texas, where she lives with her husband and three young children, and also works as the Community Manager for Tinkergarten, which is how I first became acquainted with Erika. Erika is a citizen of the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and is passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion and helping families across the country learn and connect with the indigenous history of our land. I am so excited to have Erika here today to share some of her knowledge with us!

Some helpful links and resources:

Find out about your region's indigenous populations: native-land.ca

Warrior Kids Podcast: https://warriorkidspodcast.com/

Books Erika shared:

We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga by Traci Sorell - https://amzn.to/37fvJXf

We Are Still here!: Native American Truths Everyone Should Know by Traci Sorell - https://amzn.to/2UMBusG

Rob and Sarah Gardner are parents and outdoor enthusiasts who have a passion for our national parks. After many family trips exploring the parks, they wanted to find a way to support these national treasures. Through their baby gear company Joovy, they have partnered with the national park foundation to bring awareness to families about the importance of these spaces, and more specifically about the endangered animals that call the parks home. I’m excited today to talk more about our national parks and how we can help our children grow up to be environmental stewards, to cultivate a connection between them and the land, and the animals that live there.

Find a national park to visit: FindYourPark.com

I have been looking forward to sharing this conversation! Lindsey Lapointe is an outdoor adventurer, a writer, a middle school teacher, and a mom. She currently lives with her family in New England where she enjoys hiking and documenting her adventures on her blog, the freelance adventurer, and on social media. She is a regular contributor to the Seacoast Moms Blog and recently wrote a book, Seacoast Hikes and Nature Walks, to share her knowledge of some of the amazing trails in the Seacoast region. Lindsey loves to take her family out in the wild on adventures but also does such a great job getting out on solo adventures. I hope you enjoy hearing some of her outdoor story!

This week, to wrap up our month on play, I am talking to a couple of the women behind some of my favorite content on the web related to spending time outside. Jen and Kelly (we missed you, Irene!) are two of the moms behind the popular and super fun instagram account, Puddle Parenting. Puddle Parenting is all about embracing the joyful mess of growing children outdoors.  They are three moms who are on a mission to get outside with their kids because they know there are so many benefits for their families and for the future of our planet.  Leaning on each other for tips, tricks, and support, they started the @puddleparenting Instagram account to invite others into their conversations.  They believe all adventures are big adventures when you're little and that there is a place for puddle parenting in every family!

Hello happy outdoor families! Welcome to happy outdoor playtime. This segment of the podcast is designed for kids from babies up through the elementary years, and their grown ups, to listen to together. Each week I will bring you a simple play invitation to follow along with that I hope will be a jumpstart into some really fun play outside! Ideally, you will listen to this podcast outside, in your special nature space where you can play.

The supplies you will need for today's playtime are a large water container - big enough to explore and splash in, and to test out buoyancy of different objects. At our house, we will use a large, shallow storage tote, like one that would be used for under-bed storage. As long as it is big enough to let a few objects sink or float, that’s great.

If you want a resource to learn more about why objects sink or float, here is a great kid-friendly video:

Welcome to another play-focused episode! Today we are tackling behavioral schema in children's play - I will define what a "schema" is, and how these patterns of behavior are evidence of the beneficial effect of play on children's brains. In the episode, I go over 8 different behavioral schemas. I will list them below with a brief description:

Enveloping: fully covering objects up. Example: wrapping up a toy or one's self in a blanket. 

Enclosing: creating boundaries around things. Example: building a fence and putting all of your toy animals inside.

Transporting: moving objects from one place to another. Example: filling up a bucket with acorns and taking them from one spot in the park to another.

Connecting: joining things together, and also taking things apart. Example: building with LEGOs, knocking down a tower or deconstructing a flower.

Trajectory: experimenting with the movement of an object or one's self. Example: walking across a log, rolling a ball down a ramp.

Rotation: either rotating one's own body, or other objects. Example: spinning in circles, playing with a pinwheel.

Positioning: lining things up or arranging them in particular ways. Example: lining up all of the toy cars over and over again.

Transformation: exploring with how things can be changed from one state to another. Example: mixing potions, playing dress up.

This is a great article that discusses behavioral schema in play: https://www.onehundredtoys.com/blogs/news/understanding-schema-play-in-toddlers#positioning

Graham Fraser has been an outdoor preschool leader for over 10 years in scotland and canada and currently runs Woods and Waves, a popular outdoor preschool program in Vancouver. When Graham had to close the doors of his preschool during the Covid-19 pandemic, he found creative ways to continue engaging with his families remotely, and provide them with tools to have meaningful play outside. This led he and three of his friends to start brainstorming ways to reach even more families. This is how the Twigs app was born. Twigs is an app for parents and caregivers  to use as their go-to resource for activities, ideas and guidance to support outdoor, imaginative play. I am excited to have Graham here with us today to share some of his experience with outdoor play, and more about this wonderful resource that he has helped create.

Find the Twigs Outdoors app here: https://www.twigsoutdoors.org/

Summer is starting, and for the month of June, we are going to be focusing on play! Unfortunately, time for free play has been diminishing over the last several decades for a number of reasons. I am here to make the argument that free, unstructured play is worth our time and the effort to make space for it! I am excited to share some fascinating information with you about play, as well as invite some guests on the show who are doing amazing work in bringing back outdoor play for kids. It's going to be a great month!

Today I am breaking down what “play” means, why it is important, and some tips for how to make free play go more smoothly this summer. I hope this episode helps as you are planning your summer and thinking about what you want these long, sunny days to look like for your family. Enjoy!

Some further reading on play:

In this episode, Dr. Thomas Mather is here to teach us what we need to know about ticks. This interview is packed full of information that will help you to be more prepared should you encounter ticks while you are spending time outside. From learning about what ticks live in your area, to prevention, to how to remove a tick and what NOT to do, Dr. Mather covers it all. It may not be fun to think about encountering ticks outside, but this information is so important and I hope that it is helpful for you!

Some of the resources mentioned in today's show:

TickEncounter.org - find tick field guides, tick identification tools, and other great resources for your area

Permethrin spray - https://amzn.to/3c6uNqH

This week I am sharing an interview with Hailey Terry, an avid hiker, backpacker, and mama to a busy one year old boy. We talk about the transition to motherhood, the importance of still getting out and doing the things you love with your babies, and some practical advice for getting out and hiking. I really enjoy following along with Hailey on her blog and on Instagram, and she was so much fun to talk to! I know you are going to love this interview and maybe you’ll feel encouraged to get out on a hike this week.

Find Hailey's blog here: https://haileyoutside.com/

Find Hailey on Instagram: instagram.com/haileyoutside

I talk a lot on this podcast about getting outside with your kids. But today I want to switch gears a little bit, because outdoor time isn’t only beneficial when we take our kids along. Getting outside with other adults is such a great way to spend our time and feel closer to one another. So, inspired by the information shared by Dr. Izenstark on last week’s show about how nature activities can strengthen relationships, I decided to do an episode all about outdoor dates. If you don’t have a spouse or significant other that you can plan an outdoor date with, all of these fun ideas would be just as fabulous to do with a friend! And what a fun way to strengthen any adult relationship in your life.

In this episode I talk about some of the reasons you might want to take your dates outside, and I share a number of ideas for outdoor activities you could try with you significant other - some at-home ideas, some simple and low-budget away from home, and some ideas for when you have a little more time and a little money to spend on a bigger day-long adventure. I hope you find something that you're excited to try!

Links from the show:

Kubb (Swedish lawn game): https://amzn.to/3p4NH6y

The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: https://amzn.to/3c54xNy

Eight Dates: https://amzn.to/3p9tPzh

Other notable mentions:

In this episode, I mention four apps: 

The Gottman Card Decks app, for conversation prompts with your spouse

The Merlin Bird ID app, for identifying birds by sight

The BirdNet app, for identifying birds by their call

The Geocaching app, for trying out geocaching in your area!

Two research articles regarding trying new and exciting activities together:

https://berkeleysciencereview.com/2012/01/couples-who-play-together-stay-together/

https://digest.bps.org.uk/2019/02/14/try-something-new-together-research-shows-engaging-in-self-expanding-activities-rekindles-the-sexual-desire-of-long-term-couples/

Listen in this week to an interview with Dr. Dina Izenstark. Dr. Izenstark is an assistant professor in the child and adolescent development department at san jose state university. Her research explores the impact of time spent in nature on children and families, and how family-based nature activities can promote strong family relationships. I loved hearing more about Dina‘s research findings and what she hopes will come of her studies! 

If you would like to learn more about Dr. Izenstark and some of her publications, Check out her bio page here: https://www.sjsu.edu/education/faculty/dina-izenstark.php

Welcome to episode 10! Today's episode outlines some of the reasons why mud play is so great for all of us. Listen in to hear about some of the benefits of getting muddy and ideas for how to play. 

A few interesting articles for further reading:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/antidepressant-microbes-soil.htm

https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/dirt/2019/04/03/science-mud-healing-power

https://www.healthline.com/health/childrens-health/mud-play

Intro/Outro:

One of my favorite things to do at the beginning of a new season is to pull out our favorite seasonal books, and fill up my library cards with old favorites and new discoveries! In this episode, I take you through 15 of our FAVORITE picture books for spring 2021. I guarantee you will find some new favorites in this list! All of the titles are listed below with amazon links for you:

Seasonal change books:

1. Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring by Kenard Pak - https://amzn.to/34xg442

2. When Spring Comes by Kevin Henkes, illustrated by Laura Dronzek - https://amzn.to/3ii4GBl

3. Abracadabra, It's Spring! by Anne Sibley O'Brien, illustrated by Susan Gal - https://amzn.to/3uK5cdX

4. A New Beginning: Celebrating the Spring Equinox by Wendy Pfeffer, illustrated by Linda Bleck - https://amzn.to/3ii4PET

5. In the Rain by Elizabeth Spurr, illustrated by Manelle Oliphant - https://amzn.to/3uw6sAZ

Garden-themed books:

1. Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson - https://amzn.to/3uE5Bye

2. Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal - https://amzn.to/2SEyz3O

3. Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert - https://amzn.to/3vxwB3M

4. Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn, illustrated by Rosalind Beardshaw - https://amzn.to/34wGoeB

5. Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens - https://amzn.to/3c5kyD2

Animal-themed books:

1. A Perfect Day by Lane Smith - https://amzn.to/3vAz5yk

2. Mama Built a Little Nest by Jennifer Ward, illustrated by Steve Jenkins - https://amzn.to/34u5eMh

3. Worm Weather by Jean Taft, illustrated by Matt Hunt - https://amzn.to/34u5nPP

4. Tad by Benji Davies - https://amzn.to/3c1qoW4

5. Home for a Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Garth Williams - https://amzn.to/3fA85tn

Intro/outro:

Em Shipman, Executive Director of KidsGardening, is on the show today to talk about some of the many ways that kids can learn, discover, and grow through gardening. Listen in to learn about some of the ways that we can all benefit from growing something this year, and tips on how to get started either at home, or with a garden program at your school or community organization. 

Be sure to check out kidsgardening.org for more helpful resources and find KidsGardening on social media using the handle @kidsgardening 

In the episode I mention a couple of activities that I am using with my kids, here are links to those activities:

Listen in to find out what I'm keeping in my car this spring to help make sure I can say YES to spontaneous play and adventure more often, and avoid having to cut our outdoor time short when the unexpected happens.

In this episode, I go over the contents of our "In Case of Adventure" bins. Some of the specific products that I mention are linked below:

Potette portable potty: https://amzn.to/3uDczUh

Disposable liners: https://amzn.to/3p4EhYU

PlanetWise BIG wet bag/bin liner: https://amzn.to/3ic55ou

Great first aid kit: https://amzn.to/34wUOvb

Basic tarp: https://amzn.to/3vxw9T8

Favorite bug spray: https://amzn.to/3iaIwkp

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Intro/outro music: