Ep 32 | Adam Bienenstock on School Forests, Soil Health, and the Future of Nature Play
Play Nature PodcastShow Notes
The best playgrounds are alive. Dirt is medicine. And schoolyards can, and should, grow a little forest where kids can climb, hide, breathe, wonder, and come back to themselves.
In this episode of the Play Nature Podcast, Rusty Keeler talks with Adam Bienenstock about nature play, living soil, school forests, and why children need more than a break from screens. They need roots. Bugs. Trees. Mud. The good stuff.
Adam and Rusty dig into the big, beautiful, messy connections between child development, gut microbiome, mental health, outdoor education, risky play, and regenerative landscapes. This conversation wanders from schoolyards to soil microbes to forests inside the fence. Adam shares why a single tree is nice, but a living forest system is better. More shade. More sensory play. More life. More chances for kids to build empathy, resilience, attention, and joy.
The time is now to rebuild children’s connection to land. The time is now to start giving kids a daily dose of nature, not just an occasional field trip. So plant the trees. Add the shrubs. Feed the soil. Let the weeds do a little work.
Dream big. Start small. Never stop.
Top Three Takeaways from Adam Bienenstock
Kids do not just need less screen time. They need more full-body, full-sensory nature time.
A school forest is more than trees. It is soil, shade, microbes, loose parts, play, and wonder all working together.
Start with a corner. Plant in communities. Add organic material. Build a tiny forest world kids can touch, smell, climb into, and love.
Links:
renature.org
@renaturefoundation Instagram | Facebook
LinkedIn @renature-fnd
@bienenstocknaturalplaygrounds Instagram
LinkedIn @bienenstock-playgrounds
Facebook @BienenstockPlaygrounds
Learn More: rustykeeler.com | @rusty_keeler_designs
Rusty’s FREE Outdoor Loose Parts Guide
More from Play Nature Podcast
Think about this…the best thing we can do for children is…less and then more. Less directing. Less correcting. Less rushing to the rescue. More mud. More mess. More wonder!
What if the answer to better learning, happier kids, and even easier classroom management is just outside the door?
What if play didn’t need a lesson plan? Or an outcome? Or a grown-up standing nearby explaining what’s supposed to happen next?
What happens when one kid climbs up the slide while another is coming down? Is going up the slide really dangerous? Or is it just one of those playground rules we’ve inherited without thinking too hard about it?
What happens when children meet a muddy hill, a dangling rope, and a whole lot of possibility? They climb. They slip. They tumble. They try again.