Liability Myths Debunked: Why Adventure Play is SAFER Than You Think

Part Two of my S5E19 @schoolutionspodcast conversation with Rusty Keeler tackles the "how" of implementing adventurous play—storage solutions, liability myths, phantom policies, and the 13-year success story of Ithaca Children's Garden's Anarchy Zone.

🎯 What You'll Learn:
• Storage and organization strategies for loose parts play (yes, even for Type A educators!)
• How to address liability concerns with administrators and insurance companies
• The truth about licensing requirements vs. internalized fears
• Real implementation examples from the Anarchy Zone
• Why the "boring adult stuff" is actually sacred advocacy work
• How to prolong play instead of preventing it

🔑 Key Takeaways:
The biggest barrier to adventurous play isn't insurance or regulations—it's phantom policies we've internalized as unchangeable truth. Rusty reveals how to have productive conversations with decision-makers, address real concerns while letting go of unfounded fears, and create messy corners or anarchy zones that transform outdoor learning.

Some resources mentioned:
• Ithaca Children's Garden
• Adventure play networks (OPAL, Reimagining Recess Project)
• Guide to 100 Outdoor Loose Parts

Chapters:
0:00 - Welcome to Part 2
1:00 - The Phantom Policy Problem
3:00 - Why Loose Parts Transform Play
6:00 - The Cloak of Invisibility Approach
8:00 - Organization Strategies for Type A Educators
10:00 - The Messy Corner Solution
12:00 - Teacher Role: Observation & Validation
13:00 - Addressing Liability Concerns
15:00 - The Licensing Scapegoat
17:00 - Doing the Boring Stuff for Kids
18:00 - The Anarchy Zone Story
21:00 - Meeting with Insurance (Spoiler: They Said Yes!)
23:00 - Leading with Hearts, Using Our Voices
25:00 - Final Reflections: Sacred Advocacy Work
26:00 - Resources & Next Week's Preview
27:00 - Call to Action

Join our community of educators committed to cultivating student success, inspired teaching, and creating inclusive classrooms with a pro-kid mindset focused on the whole child. When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired, and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

💌 Take Action:
Pick up the phone or send that email to one decision-maker about implementing adventurous play. Then email me at schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com to share how it went!

🎧 New episodes every Monday & Friday with bite-sized Wednesday reel bonus content.
📧 Connect: schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com
🎵 Music: Benjamin Wahl

Don't forget to🔔SUBSCRIBE for more teaching tips, and 💬SHARE with fellow educators! 

#AdventurousPlay #LoosePartsPlay #OutdoorLearning #RiskyPlay #StudentEngagement #TeachingStrategies #EducationPodcast #TeacherSupport #SchoolLeadership #ProfessionalDevelopment #InclusiveEducation #WholeChild #EquityInEducation #InstructionalCoaching #ActiveLearning #NaturalPlaygrounds #AnarchyZone #IthacaChildrensGarden #RustyKeeler #PlayBasedLearning #EarlyChildhoodEducation #ElementaryEducation #EducationReform #EmpoweredEducators #StudentSuccess #ReimaginRecess #PlayMatters #ChildhoodUnplugged #OutdoorPlay #Schoolutions #SchoolutionsPodcast #SchoolutionsTeachingStrategies #ForeverGettingBetter

When coaches, teachers, administrators, and families work hand in hand, it fosters a school atmosphere where everyone is inspired and every student is fully engaged in their learning journey.

Transcript

Olivia: [00:00:00] Welcome back everyone. If you haven't listened to part one of my conversation with Rusty Keeler, pause right now and go back. It's the episode right before this one, season 5 episode 19 part one. Trust me, you'll want the full context. Okay, so in part one, we talked about why adventurous play matters and how childhood has changed.

We covered risks versus hazards, the power of loose parts, and this beautiful idea of adults wearing a cloak of invisibility to let play unfold. But I know what you may be thinking. That sounds amazing, Olivia, but how? How do I actually make this happen when I'm dealing with administrators, insurance companies, licensing requirements and caregivers who might lose their minds if they see kids building with old tires and boards?

That's exactly what we're tackling today. Here's the big truth Rusty's going to reveal. The biggest barrier to adventurous play isn't actually insurance [00:01:00] companies or safety regulations. It's phantom policies, rules we've internalized as unchangeable truth when really they're just our own projections and fears.

Rusty's gonna walk us through the real-world implementation of adventure play. We're talking storage solutions for the organization, lovers among us. Yes, you can have loose parts and maintain order. We're confronting the liability myth head on, and spoiler alert, insurers are often way more chill about this than we imagine.

And we're diving into the Anarchy Zone at Ithaca Children's Garden, a 13-year success story that proves this can work in the United States. You'll learn why the boring adult stuff, those conversations with administrators and board members - it's actually sacred work that protects childhood. You'll discover how to name real concerns, address them directly, and stop using “Licensing won't allow it” as a scapegoat for [00:02:00] I'm uncomfortable with it. And for educators especially, you'll learn why watching children at outdoor play might be the richest professional learning that you never knew you needed. If you've ever wanted to advocate for something that you deeply believe in, but felt buried under red tape and institutional resistance, this episode is your relief. Let's make this happen together.

This is Schoolutions  Teaching Strategies, the podcast that extends education beyond the classroom. A show that isn't just theory, but practical try-it-tomorrow approaches for educators and caregivers to ensure every student finds their spark and receives the support they need to thrive. 

Alright listeners, this is part two of my conversation with Rusty Keeler. If you have not already listened to part one, pause this. Go back. Listen, it's the episode right below this. [00:03:00] Alright, Rusty. Um, we have been talking about play and, um, loose parts and the importance of kids being out in nature with as few rules as possible. So I wanted to kick off part two with you sharing. You have written and gathered a guide to 100 outdoor loose parts. Why are loose parts so important when it comes to natural environments in play? 

Rusty: Yeah. Um, you know, so I, I design natural play spaces. And I love the idea of playgrounds being instead of monkey bars and just equipment to be rolling hills and sand and water and mud, sculpture, musical instruments, trees, gardens, greenhouses, chickens. Um, and so a lot of people are going for that kind of thing, but the vast majority of people don't have that kind of thing or access to those. Um, and, and people are bringing that in. So I always try to inspire people to, you know, how can we add nature to your, to your [00:04:00] yard, whatever it is. 

But the one thing that can change every yard, and that does not have to cost a lot of money at all, is the loose parts. If you wanna boost outdoor play, if you wanna boost creativity, if you want to, you know, give children the opportunity to work together in new ways and have control over their environment to change their environment day to day. It's loose stuff. 

And I think about like, uh, classrooms, like if you had a, a beautiful classroom environment and there's, you know, it's painted a nice warm color and, um, there's bookshelves and there's uh, nice furniture and sinks and tables and chairs and all this kind of stuff. There's no books, there's no art materials, there's no plastic dinosaurs, there's no, you know, art, you know, drawing materials, anything that would be so ridiculous, right? Yeah. It'd be, it'd be crazy. And so, so often children's in outdoor environments are like that. You might spend all this money on [00:05:00] equipment and call it good. And it could be good, but to make it great, it's the loose stuff. And so, and and the beauty of that is that loose parts don't have to cost a lot of money. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

Rusty: Uh, they can be cardboard boxes, they can be, uh, leftover sports equipment even that you've gathered from a sports team that, you know, get a box of old tennis balls from the tennis team.

Olivia: Yeah. 

Rusty: Or soccer balls from the soccer team and boards and tools and rakes and shovels and all that kind of stuff. And then once you start adding that and, and, and no matter what kind of playground you have, if, if it is all, all metal equipment and rubber surfacing, you could have a messy corner. You could have one area that is loose parts and you could have loose parts that add to that playground.

If you have a natural play space with trees and hills, beautiful. Loose parts will take that to the next level and. People who know loose [00:06:00] parts, you know, you know the magic you, you know, once you put it out there, it's like you put it out there and then you stand back and then you get to see like the beauty of play of like really the flow of imagination and creativity and that it is a flow that one thing changes to another, into another, into another.

And it's based on what, what we put out there and how we can step back and, and just allow it to happen or step in as we need to. Um, with the play work model, um, they, you know, they want to only intervene to prolong the play, you know? To have the lightest touch possible of, of adult intervention?

So if something's really dangerous, okay. They'll, they'll come in and, and do something. Stop it. Um, or if there's like social issues or dynamics, okay they'll come in and kind of help, help some of that kind of stuff. But they talk about having like a cloak of invisibility. It's beautiful. Like you put out, yeah, put out the loose parts, put out the cardboard and [00:07:00] boards, and the traffic cones and hula hoops, and then you just step back and then it might be like you're invisible and then you see, oh, okay, they're, they're almost done with all the blocks in the sand area and the frying pans. What would help that? And you might like add a few more loose parts, you might add a few things and then you step back. So it's like, okay, what can we put out there? And then how do we support it? How do we say yes? 

Olivia: Okay, so I have two questions, two things that are running through my mind right now: organization, and then I also, because I am very type A and I like clean, neat spaces.

Rusty: Yep. 

Olivia: This does not sound clean, this does not sound neat. But it also, I think I need to get out of my own way and mind space. So how do you organize for this to be successful? And is it even necessary that this space gets cleaned up or things get put away as recess is wrapping up? 

Rusty: Yeah. Um, we are all on a spectrum of [00:08:00] our relationship to mess, right?

Olivia: Yes. 

Rusty: It's all okay. Wherever you're at is okay. Uh, and I would say so with loose parts, it's the same thing. Uh, where there are some programs that are like, we have loose parts out there and we never clean up. That's not even, we just, it's always out there. 

Olivia: Okay. 

Rusty: And they would say, even philosophically we do it, we, we purposefully don't clean up because we always want the materials available anytime, all the time for children to look around and get and, you know, and use. So they're like, that's our philosophy. Um, and that might even be your philosophy, but maybe you have a center where you're a school that you're sharing the site or it's a public site and you, you do, you have to clean up, you know, or if you're on a church ground or a synagogue or something that you're like, okay, we gotta, we gotta neaten it up and that's okay too.

Like, you can still do loose parts, uh, if you have to feel like you clean up or if you like to clean up or if you like to have a, a, you know, that kind of neat space. [00:09:00] That could be like how you manage, how you have storage, how you have either big storage, um, where everything goes in or you have satellite storage areas, sand play, loose stuff near the sand or garden tools near the garden area in this little storage and that kind of thing. Um, you could also - so not only like the, the, the, the cleanup, but you could also just have maybe a messy corner. 

Olivia: Yeah, I like that. 

Rusty: So you could have a nice tidy yard and maybe that's also like, okay, when you have neighbors that you have to, you know, want to look nice for or on the front or the back. 

Olivia: Right.

Rusty: But you could have a messy corner or an Anarchy corner. 

Olivia: I love it. 

Rusty: And, and then you could have it screened off. You could plant shrubs around it. So it, it felt like – okay back, there's the meth, you know? And, and that will be the hotspot For children, you know, like that will be the go-to place. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

Rusty: Uh, but yes, you could screen it off. You could get bamboo screening around a chainlink fence. You could, you know, you could just kind of tuck it. You know, often people do that, like they'll tuck it in [00:10:00] places and then that's the place. And often children will ask for that. Like it's kind of like block building in the classroom. Um, like sometimes it's like, can we leave this up? They built this great thing. 

Olivia: Yes, please.

Rusty: Can please leave it up and not take it down. Yeah. So that idea of like, can you have some of that, that that goes from day to day. Continue, or if you're in elementary school, it's interesting to have stuff out there and when, when one group comes in, comes in, you know, after recess, the next group comes out, and then what do they do with it?

Olivia: You're walking in my mind. Yeah. 

Rusty: yeah. 

Olivia: No, that's, that's exactly what I was just going to ask because when I was teaching kindergarten, we never took our block structures down. I made sure that when I designed the classroom, that structure was always living, breathing for months at a time. 

Rusty: Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Olivia: And it was fascinating to see how different groups of children, there was freedom, and we had to set the norm that even if you've built the castle that you want to move into when you're 30. That castle may get knocked down. 

Rusty: Mm-hmm. 

Olivia: And other people may add onto it and enhance it [00:11:00] or change it. And let's see what happens. Let's be curious. Um, so I'm now reflecting on that as you share, and I'm thinking why that'd be so cool to see outside and watch how different grades or different, um, peers change and morph the structures over time. So. I also think, uh, I'm wondering about the teacher role. This could be a whole separate conversation, but, I’m, thinking about the role of grownups, I, if I were outside as a teacher, I would want a tiny notepad of where I'm watching the interactions with children and just watching successes that I would then be able to name for kids when I see them.

Uh, like, I really appreciated how you did this, or lean into curiosity and ask more questions about their choices at recess. So often our kids in the classroom say, I don't know what to write about, or they may be quieter. and as a teacher I would wanna just capture those moments of [00:12:00] watching kids and, um, just noticing all of their strengths and assets. So, um. 

Rusty: Those things are important. The, the, the activities that they do out there. You know, if the adult could be like, eh, they're just messing around with sticks and mud, blah, blah. But for them that was huge. And imagination and its story and, and it is like collaboration or it could be delicate collaboration with people and, but it really is, is vitally important. And so, yeah, to acknowledge it and to, you know, celebrate it or ask questions about it in the back in the classrooms. Yeah. It's validating it. 

Olivia: Sure is. It sure is. And it's validating to show that the grownups believe in this just as much we know the kids will be thrilled to have this opportunity, but the grownups need to show up and believe in it too.

Rusty: Mm-hmm. 

Olivia: Um, and I love the idea of this being a movement. And with that said, then I do, I can picture admin, I can picture the school district lawyers saying, wait a second. You've already spoken in part one to the [00:13:00] difference between risks and hazards, so let's talk liability. 

Rusty: Yeah. Yeah, so that's, that is definitely a key part of the conversation from the adult perspective. 

Olivia: Mm-hmm. 

Rusty: Uh, and yeah, so I mean, there's fear of kids getting hurt, but then there's also fear of like, okay, what are parents gonna say if a kid gets hurt? 

Olivia: Right? 

Rusty: What's insurance companies gonna gonna say about it? Uh, you know, what, what's the district gonna say? The board, the, you know, and then people, you know, the aides that are out there at lunch feel like, oh, if somebody gets hurt, I could lose my job. You know, job and stuff. So there's all these things that are more than just. Play is good for children and look at the creativity and, and the celebration of it. So there's, those are the kind of the obstacles, those are a lot of the obstacles or challenges to saying yes. 

And so it's interesting because, you know, it's a lot of, it's like, wait, it's like getting back to like common sense. Right. How do, because there's just so much going on in our [00:14:00] minds and, and that all the adults are so busy, so. I've, I talked to Licensers part of my journey in the book of Adventures in Risky Play. I know that licensing is a big part of it, and because so many people say, oh, you know, if I show pictures, they're like, oh, that's really great, but my licenser would never, and so, you know, some interesting things. 

One was that at the, at the higher level, the highest level state, licensers, they believe in risk. They believe in the importance of it for children. They know that children need to access it and they need to, because ultimately by children accessing risk and then being able to access, uh, uh, assess it for themselves. That's how they learn to make good choices in their life and know what they wanna do and what they don't wanna do.

If it's, if it's the adults say, no, no, no, you'll get hurt, you'll poke your eye out, all that jazz, they're not gonna get to do that. And we see that with children who, who are more protected or don't get those opportunities. When they finally are free range after, when they graduate high school or go on beyond, they, they have trouble. 

Olivia: They're lost with that're lost. Yeah. 

Rusty: Yes. They're [00:15:00] lost. So they need that, so, so that's almost like, I feel like sometimes it's like the world is upside down. 

Olivia: Mm-hmm. 

Rusty: Like really to have children be safer and have less accidents and less insurance claims, they need to have those opportunities to decide for themselves and learn with their bodies and their in space and all that stuff. But, um, you know, how do we, how do we get there? And so, you know, it's talking about this stuff, but also with licensing. Another thing that they told me was that sometimes, and this is interesting, that they feel like they are the scapegoats. Like, oh, licensing wouldn't let me have logs in our, you know, I know they wouldn't let logs, but licensing would be like, what do you mean logs look great?

So that's, that's people's own personal, uh, comfort level with, with risk. I feel with early childhood world, it's conversations with licensing. It's, if [00:16:00] you believe in this and if it's, you know, we're thinking about advocacy. It's like, why are we doing this? Why is this beneficial for the children to have logs, to have frying pan loose frying pans in the mud kitchen?

Olivia: Yeah. 

Rusty: Um, and, and, and really having to use our voices. I know, you know, with early childhood people or you know, even teachers that might feel like they're alone in supporting and believing in play, um, you know, they didn't get into the business to be talking to administration and licensing insurance. And same with early childhood, you know, professionals that wanna just be with kids and celebrate the play. And yet, you know, sometimes I say like, we adults have to do the boring stuff. Talking to licensers so the kids can do the good stuff. Right. 

Olivia: I appreciate that. Yeah, 

Rusty: Yeah, yeah. And, and that, that can be a great thing when we, we realize it. Like, wait, okay, I am, I'm doing this because I know how important that is for children and I'm protecting it. And that's like whether it's holding back the world of academics coming down, or technology or what, [00:17:00] how do we, how do we keep that sacred space of childhood and play and freedom? And so it's how do we work around the outside in, in those things? 

Olivia: Yeah. 

Rusty: Um, and I can, we did that with the Anarchy Zone and I don't know if we're gonna talk about that too, but 

Olivia: Yeah, we are. Well, let's go there. Let's go there. Yeah. And so, I mean, and, and I cannot recommend your website more, um, that your podcast is magnificent, but you also, you've done so much of the heavy lifting for us with your books. And so that's why listeners, you have to make sure, um, to jump in and read the work that you've done, Rusty.

But let's talk the idea of overcoming resistance and the design of the Anarchy Zone. It's in the Ithaca Children's Garden, and you know. If we're thinking about all of the resistors, all of the resistance, this was a community effort. It is the most magnificent [00:18:00] place for our children to grow up having access to. It's one of the beautiful pieces of Ithaca that we have seen evolve, uh, from our youngest son being born here and or our oldest son being born here in 2007. To the zone, to the entire area, just evolving. So talk anarchy zone and really, um, how it helps our kids develop confidence, competence, all the things.

Rusty: Sure. Um, so this, the Anarchy Zone is a, an adventure play inspired outdoor environment, uh, on the grounds of the Ithaca Children's Garden here in Ithaca, which is like a three or four acre natural space. And there's sculpture and, and musical instruments and of kitchen and formal gardens and chickens and all sorts of stuff. But there's also this wild and wooly messy adventure playground anarchy area where kids are free to, you know, dig in the dirt and build things with boards and logs [00:19:00] and um, balance on things. And there's international Mud Day happens there and there's trees to climb and rope and kids are building zip lines and, you know, all that kind of incredible free stuff.

And, so, you know, early on, you know, I was, I love these adventure playgrounds. I've done, you know, study tours, you know, in different countries, UK and stuff, in Berlin and um, Denmark and everything. And you just see all this, you know, kids doing these incredible things that these adventure, wild and wooly loose parts and raw adventure playgrounds.

And, you know, people would say, oh, you can do that in Europe, but we, we can never do it here because. Insurance and licensing, da da. And for me, I'm like, wait a second. No, we really need, maybe we're the ones who really need this kind of thing. Like, well, you're desperate. Yeah, we're desperate for it. So I'm always like, I, I'm kind of like, I like just kinda like plowing ahead because I believe in this.

So my journey was, I was like trying to find partners and we came to the, you know, the, Ithaca of Children's Garden. And it was [00:20:00] like, I was like, Hey, how about some loose parts? Or look at these brochures from Berlin of adventure play. We teamed up the director, Erin Marteal was like, yes, she was, she wanted to take things to the next level.

So we formed a group with, I had contacts in, uh, with, uh, US Fish and Wildlife in, of New York State, uh, power duo, husband and wife team who she was a play person at corn at Cornell. And so we, we started it and it was just a, a kind of a, at that point, just like a vacant lot corner of the children's garden that was unused.

But it was like, what if it was loose parts? What if, you know, kids could build here? What if we have programs, what they're play workers? What if there's, you know, so that's, that's what happened. Um, but, and, and now it is, here it is like 13, 14 years later and it's going strong. And every time you visit it, it's incredible and different.

It's incredible because of who was there and what they're building. And, you know, that's just, it's just so fun. So it's, it has become its own institution and, and, and ongoing because the Children's Garden, you [00:21:00] know, completely has embraced it and taken it, taken it over. Um, yeah. Keeping it going. But in the beginning there were these… Okay..We had to talk to the board. 

Olivia: Yeah. 

Rusty: Okay. About having loose parts and kids building things. We had to talk to, it's on city, city land, so we had to talk to the lawyers and the insurance company and stuff. And of course we went in like white knuckled, uh, talking about this wild idea, how can we get light insurance for it and dah, dah, dah. It turned out the insurance kinda was like, What? That's no big deal. We insure the, you know, the city was like, we insure the public pool. We insure all these parks by Gorges in the lake. And they're like, 

Olivia: It's true. 

Rusty: Kids climbing trees and digging in the dirt. Yeah, no problem. 

Olivia: Awesome. 

Rusty: We're like, oh, okay, bye.

Olivia: Yeah, 

Rusty: Yeah, yeah. 

Olivia: We got it. 

Rusty: Yeah, so I, and I think that, so having those conversations about what it really is, I mean so much with all the risk and all this [00:22:00] is like we. In our minds, we have fears about things happening or, you know, and, and that that's so strong. And we wanna protect our kids. We wanna protect our young, that's how, you know, we survive.

Um, but it's kind of like, okay, wait. What is, what is really necessary? You know, and, and how do we, how do we address the real concerns? And then how do we let go of concerns that are not then, not necessarily based in, in reality, that just might be our fears. You know, I, I feel like. It's good to protect our young, but we don't wanna get bogged down in, in, especially with fears that might be false.

Olivia: Yeah. 

Rusty: You know, like if childhood has changed because we've been so nervous about kids being, you know, abducted. But you look at the real statistics and then it's like, that is not no. What's going on. 

Olivia: No. 

Rusty: And it's safer than, you know, decades and decades ago and, and all this stuff. But, but it's like, wait, have we, but we've changed it because of this. So I'm like, okay, we need to work together here and like lead with our, our hearts, but also be strong of [00:23:00] like, okay, use our voices. Be like, no, okay. And address things that are real concerns, real safety concerns and real issues and real insurance and all that stuff. But to, to try to lead with our hearts and like say, and make a stand, a strong stand and say, wait, this is necessary.

We need to do something to support children's play, to support children's freedom, to be able to have children grow in, in, in, in the natural way, in, in the way that nature, you know, like created us to try things out and make things and be creative and have social experiences and, and fall and get up and, you know, and, and learn how to be.

Olivia: Yeah.

Rusty: As we are being, as children are being. 

Olivia: Beautifully said, Rusty. Beautifully said. And so, you know, I just, I can't thank you enough for this advocacy. I'm, it is advocacy work. It's advocacy on behalf of our children and helping them see that the world is not a scary place. The world is a place for adventure.[00:24:00] Um, something you said that is just gonna bounce around in my mind for a long time is the idea of adults positioning themself in the role of how can I prolong play instead of quell the idea of hazards and risk taking? I, I just think that's a beautiful reframing. Um, and so I'm gonna ask myself, how can I join communities to ensure play is prolonged for our children?

And I will tuck all of your details into the show notes. Your website again, is fabulous. And you know, I, the other thing I'll ask for you to circle back with via email is communities that we can become aligned with so we can advocate for this work as well. Because I know so many people that I'm connected with truly believe in the importance of play. Um, so thank you Rusty, so much for taking the time to chat. 

Rusty: Absolutely. Thank you. 

Olivia: Yeah, [00:25:00] take care. Okay - I have to tell you, when Rusty described going into that meeting with the board and insurance company, white-knuckled, ready to defend adventure play, and then the insurers basically said, we insure gorges with waterfalls and public pools. You think we're worried about kids climbing trees? It made me stop and think, how many times have we told ourselves that we can't do something because they won't let us?

And how often is they actually just us, our own fear, wearing an official sounding costume? Here's what I'm taking away from this conversation. The boring adult work, the meetings, the conversations with administrators, the emails to licensing boards, that's not separate from caring for children. That is the work of protecting children.

It's advocacy and it's sacred. And we don't have [00:26:00] to do it alone. Rusty talked about mobilizing communities, forming think tanks, coming together with other believers. There are networks already out there, organizations like OPAL and the uk, the Re-Imagining Recess Project, the Ithaca Children's Garden. These aren't theoretical models. They're real places doing this work right now, and they want to help you do it too. I will talk links to all those resources and groups in the show notes. Now next week, I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Michelle Chanda Singh. She joins me to talk about representation in storytelling and curriculum because here's the thing, we've spent two episodes talking about physical freedom and outdoor play, but there's another kind of freedom children need the freedom to see themselves in the stories they read. When that happens, learning shifts from compliance to genuine connection, it's gonna be beautiful, [00:27:00] and I cannot wait for you to hear it. Until then, go make some beautiful, messy, adventurous play happen. Take care.

Schoolutions Teaching Strategies is created, produced, and edited by me, Olivia Wahl. Thank you to my older son, Benjamin, who created the music playing in the background. You can follow and listen to Schoolutions wherever you get your podcasts or subscribe to never miss an episode and watch on YouTube. Thank you to my guest, Rusty Keeler, for bringing it back to the forefront - why our children being outside in nature, playing with loose parts and letting their imaginations run wild is more important than ever in 2026 and always. 

So here is your call to action. Don't just let this be a conversation that you listen to. Pick up the phone, send the email. Have the boring conversation with one person in a position of decision making power. You might be [00:28:00] shocked at how that locked door just opens right up. Then send me an email at schoolutionspodcast@gmail.com and let me know how it went. And for my fellow type-A organization, loving friends who got a little panicky hearing about those loose parts everywhere? Remember, you can have a messy corner.

You can have satellite storage. You can clean up at the end of the day if you need to. This doesn't have to be all or nothing. Start where you are. Don't forget to tune in every Monday and Friday for part one and part two of my shorter guest conversations with the best research-backed coaching and teaching strategies that you can apply right away to better the lives of the children in your care.And look for your 60nd bite-sized piece of learning on Wednesdays from our conversation to share with a colleague. Take care and thank you for forever getting better with me. See you next [00:29:00] week.