Join us for wide-ranging chats with outdoor and environmental educators about best practices, changing trends, and new insights about the outdoor learning and enviro. ed. fields. Long-time educators Ian Shanahan and Jade Berrill from the Non-profit Outdoor Learning School & Store facilitate the cross-pollination of ideas. Join the discussion!
Publisher
Outdoor Learning School & Store/CBEEN, and Stoked on Science
In which contexts is nature-based therapy most effective? What does it have to do with attachment theory, stress reduction theory, and attention restoration theory? How can nature help both children and adults (therapists included) stay regulated? Nevin also discusses outdoor risky play, when social-emotional learning is developmentally appropriate, and the limits of some contemporary approaches to assessing and treating mental health challenges. Also, what’s the deal with negative ionization and waterfalls?
Guest: Nevin Harper
Adapted from the Kids These Days website:
Nevin Harper identifies first and foremost as a practitioner of nature-based therapy, wherein he conducts outdoor counselling sessions around his home of Vancouver Island, Canada. As a research professor at the University of Victoria’s School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education, Nevin focuses on active engagement of people-in-environments, specifically outdoor, experiential, and nature-based activities. Nevin is also a sought-after speaker, trainer, and consultant around the world.
References:
Nature-based Therapy
Embracing Risky Play at School
Kids These Days
MINT Lab at UBC
Bowlby and Ainsworth’s attachment theory
Universal interventions on mental health: https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/camh.12572
Imaginative Ecological Education
CASEL framework
Psychiatry for Kids (children’s book)
Plastic Surgery for Kids (children’s book)
Data on GAD & PHQ9 surveys and medication use are detailed in James Davies’ book Sedated.
Insights about kids and rough-and-tumble play: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2003-04408-022
Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter: https://ellenbeatehansensandseter.com/
Therapeutic outcomes over the past 50 years: https://www.madinamerica.com/2018/06/psychotherapists-reflect-lack-improvement-psychotherapy/
28 Feb 2026
Garden-based education
Have you thought about starting a garden to use in your teaching? What if you’re in an urban area? Perhaps you’re working on a shoe-string budget. How can you get started and, most importantly, keep a garden going once the initial excitement fades? These are some of the questions and challenges that Noel Cibulka and the team at KidsGardening tackle on a daily basis. Noel joined us to talk all things school gardening, including specific tips on how to integrate math into garden-based education.
Guest: Noel Cibulka
Adapted from the Kids Gardening website:
Noel Cibulka started with KidsGardening in the summer of 2022. As Educational Content Manager she helps develop KG’s annual garden-based educational content strategy, co-developing original educational materials, overseeing the editorial calendar and supporting the content marketing plan. She also supports the KidsGardening Community with resource vetting and engagement.
Growing up in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, Noel developed a deep appreciation for the natural world while swimming, hiking, gardening, and foraging for fruit with family and friends. She holds a BA in Creative Writing from University of Southern California, where she developed a passion for informal education, teaching poetry workshops at 32nd Street School/USC Magnet.
Mentioned in episode:
KidsGardening
Math in the Garden (book)
Math in the Garden e-Course
Related resources:
The Everyday School Garden
Sowing the Seeds of Wonder
Jardiner à l’école
30 Jan 2026
Winter tips and insights
Jade is our resident chionophile (look it up), so she popped over to the other side of the mic for this episode about outdoor learning in places where winter is cold and snowy. There’s talk of winter mystery bags, using snowflakes as lessons prompts, connections to literacy, and the importance of movement. We also get into the nitty gritty of clothing and ways of ensuring that everyone has access to the right gear when temperatures drop below freezing. Also, how do chickadees’ brains change in the winter?
Mentioned in episode:
Dressing for the Weather diagram from Christina Pickles
A Walking Curriculum
Related resources:
The Big Book of Nature Activities
Sitting with Nature: An Educator’s Guide to Sit Spots
Dirty Teaching: A Beginner’s Guide to Learning Outdoors
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
5 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 32 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
32
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
81
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