What A Simple Walk Teaches A Growing Mind

A windy school oval is a surprisingly good studio. We grab the mics, start walking, and catch up with Arie as he shows us around the grounds and talks through what’s new at school this year. The chat starts with the kind of details kids remember best: a favourite teacher who’s had a baby, a name you don’t forget, and how birthdays feel when you’re on the edge of a new age and a new number.

From there we get practical and playful, planning out a Connection to Country day with activities that actually work for kids: bowling, fishing, podcasting, library games, plus morning tea and lunch plans that keep everyone fuelled. We talk about the little social moments that matter, like being the reliable helper, taking turns, and showing up well with other kids. If you’re searching for parenting podcast conversations that sound like real life in Australia, this is exactly that.

Then we turn the walk into a game, throwing a baseball across the oval, dealing with the wind, measuring distance, and learning what focus looks like when your shoulder starts to feel it. Along the way we touch on wellbeing for kids and adults, including why walking outside helps clear your head, how movement supports regulation, and how simple breathing tools like box breathing can help when things feel big.

If you enjoyed this relaxed, outdoorsy style of conversation, subscribe for more, share it with a mate who needs a reset walk, and leave us a review so more people can find the show. What’s your go-to activity that helps you feel calm and focused?

Transcript

Welcome And Walking At School

SPEAKER_00 0:16

Okay, welcome to edition of Beyond the Plan. I've got my mate Ari. This is your idea. What have we done?

SPEAKER_02 0:22

Um we are going for a walk.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

A walk? And whereabouts are we? Because people can't see where we are. We have to tell them what we're doing.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

Um we are at Unshore?

New Teacher And New Baby News

SPEAKER_00 0:40

We're unsure state college where you go to school. And we haven't done these ones since probably six months, so now you've gone up to a new year level. Yeah. Now you're in year 12? No four. Oh, year four? New teacher? Yep. Oh. Let's tell everyone who we talked to the podcaster for about your last teacher in year three. Has she had a baby yet?

SPEAKER_02 1:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Boy or girl?

SPEAKER_02 1:03

Boy.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

And you know his name?

SPEAKER_02 1:06

Eli Williams.

SPEAKER_00 1:08

Eli Williams, that's cool. So brand new baby.

unknown 1:11

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Right now, where are you gonna take me today?

SPEAKER_02 1:14

Probably a walk around the oval.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

Let's go. Let's stay away from the classroom, let's go there. So we're gonna go past the sports hall. We've done this a walking one probably once or twice before, a long time ago. Alright, so Eli's born.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

On the 31th of December.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

31st of December, so right in the year. Last day of the year. Well you can't forget that birthday, can you?

SPEAKER_01 1:37

No.

SPEAKER_00 1:37

So that means he would be he turns whatever age he does on the 31st and the very next day is a brand new year.

SPEAKER_01 1:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

So he has to celebrate two times, one for his birthday and one for the next year.

SPEAKER_01 1:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

That's cool. Imagine that. Now when's your birthday?

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Um the the 12th. Um the 2nd of August?

SPEAKER_00 2:02

2nd of August. That's not too far away now because today's the 8th of June. So that's less than two months. Oh. That's like eight or nine weeks away. Now when's your birthday? Does that mean you have to make me a cake?

SPEAKER_02 2:16

No.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Oh, do you get a cake made for you? Yep. Do you have a favourite birthday cake you like to get?

SPEAKER_02 2:24

Um Oreo.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Oh, I've never had an Oreo birthday cake. Can you get an Oreo birthday cake? Yes. Where do you get them from?

SPEAKER_02 2:35

But I know that they're they're around.

SPEAKER_00 2:41

They're around.

SPEAKER_02 2:42

Here.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

You might have to Google to find where to get them from. Tell mum and dad what do you think? Yeah. Well, do you know last week was my eldest daughter's birthday? And she got one of those, what are they called? From Baskin Robbins. Ones with all different colours in it.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

Well my brother who's turning 14. And he's in year eight.

SPEAKER_00 3:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Um his is in like 26 or 27 or 28 days.

SPEAKER_00 3:17

So his is in July?

SPEAKER_01 3:19

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 3:19

So he's July, you're August?

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 3:22

That's pretty close together. Well, month wise, not years wise, because he's a bit older than you, isn't he?

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:28

So you're 10 this year?

SPEAKER_02 3:31

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

And he's 14, so he's about four years apart.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

I got a gift card. I mean and I got a card from my mum that that says on the card, birthday card.

SPEAKER_00 3:45

Hmm.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

It's your final ye last year when I had my ninth birthday. She says it's your final year of being one digit.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Oh, well. You could do something sneaking here. What you could do?

SPEAKER_01 4:06

What?

SPEAKER_00 4:07

You could say, Mum or dad, I need two cakes. One for the what number one and one for the number zero. We better post this podcast with Mum and Dad go, hey,

Planning Connection To Country Day

SPEAKER_00 4:19

you've now told my son he gets two cakes. You get the one and the zero. Ten. Then you run out of you get around our fingers next time, you turn eleven. So you turn ten, Oscar turns fourteen. Yep. And is it just you coming to connection to country on the weekend or is Oscar coming too?

SPEAKER_02 4:40

Only me. Alright, and so it's way too expensive for her.

SPEAKER_00 4:46

Yeah, okay. So connection to country? Yep. Did Mum talk you about some of the activities we're gonna do this time?

SPEAKER_02 4:53

Because we already talked about it, remember?

SPEAKER_00 4:56

Yeah, but do you remember what they are?

SPEAKER_02 4:58

Bowling.

SPEAKER_00 4:59

Yeah, something different.

SPEAKER_02 5:04

Um fishing? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Podcasting?

SPEAKER_02 5:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Library games?

SPEAKER_02 5:10

Yeah, and

Cricket Pitches And Snake Warnings

SPEAKER_02 5:17

you can't go swimming.

SPEAKER_00 5:19

No, we've been bowling, it was a bit cold swimming now. We've got June, it's cool. Imagine Mount Meady up there cold now. It'd be freezing. It was freezing last time it was hot.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Um hang on, I'm just gonna stop for a second. What are those holes in the in the oval over there?

SPEAKER_02 5:35

You mean those oh those are for cricket.

SPEAKER_00 5:40

Can we have a look at those? They've got little it's big patches in here. One, two, three, four, bless you. One, two, three, four, five. I can see. Five big patches.

SPEAKER_02 5:50

Look what I got.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

Oh, where'd you find that?

SPEAKER_02 5:53

On the ground.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Um, nice throw. Sort of towards those patches. Um, I don't use cricket pitch. This is where the goals would go for soccer normally, this one.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:09

I don't maybe they're returfing and putting some nice turf here.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

Don't go there because there there is a snake nest there.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

We're down the end of the school grounds.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

No, that one that one sand pit.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Is there really?

SPEAKER_02 6:27

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

That's no good. That's a bit scary. What kind of snake, you know?

SPEAKER_02 6:32

Maybe a python.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

What kind of bird's that?

SPEAKER_02 6:37

Mmm.

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Let's go and say hello.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:41

Um, there's one more activity we didn't talk about. Oh, we'll go down to the aisle and do something. Keep the cider ball made for a little while.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

And then morning tea and lunch? Yep. And we're gonna do lunch the same, like have morning tea. Oh, yum.

SPEAKER_02 6:54

Or if we want, we can have soup. Soup?

unknown 6:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

That's a bit different. You like soup?

SPEAKER_02 6:59

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

What kind of soup do you like?

SPEAKER_02 7:01

Maybe meatball.

SPEAKER_00 7:02

Meatball soup? That sounds actually really good. Um, I don't know how we're gonna travel in the car with that though. Um, well, we'll get fruit and poppers and water for moine tea. Yep. And lunch with burgers, but the thing is when we do barbecue, I always need a hand from somebody. Give me a hand. Someone special in the group. Always seems to be the same person who gives me a hand. Do you know who that could be?

SPEAKER_02 7:28

Me.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

Ah, yes, you're a legend. You actually agree with that. And then we have to think about which um tension bottom we go to.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

Can you show me how far you come from?

SPEAKER_00 7:37

Alright, but don't laugh.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Which way are we going? That way?

SPEAKER_01 7:41

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Okay, here you ready.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

Holy! That's pretty far.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

It just went up in the air high, didn't it? I love throwing a baseball. Yep. Alright, well connection country this Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

And then we've got to work out. I thought we could finish with bowling. Or reckon we finish with something different. Like I thought bowling would be good, like sport, podcasts, food, fishing, and then bowling.

Baseball Throws And Teamwork Challenge

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Or we do bowling and do fishing last.

SPEAKER_02 8:14

Fishing last.

SPEAKER_00 8:15

Fishing last? We've got to go to the bridge again to see if we can catch those um libees. Remember, we tried doing the libees last one?

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:22

Is sure Rod's still got the libee jigs on him?

SPEAKER_02 8:24

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

Nice. We'll have to take them as well. Alright, see if we can throw it through the goals. Oh, he's gonna aim up here. Kobe close if you want it. I want you to come up here and think about how far you need to be. Oh, he's gonna run up, he's running. Throwing it. Oh, came out the back of the hand. Try again. As straight as, that's exactly how you need to go. Very accurate. Oh, he threw his shoulder off. Oh no. Imagine when you're my age, what's gonna happen there? Here we go, ready. Nice! Run run! Literally went over! Good shot. That's good. Now walk around the oval, it's actually good for your mind, you know that. Puts all positives endorphins in your brain, makes you feel good. So yeah, suckers. Yeah, so some people walk, some people jog. You like rolling bottles.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

Sucker.

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Oh, is that where the net goes at the back of it? Or is it the hooks are there for the net?

SPEAKER_02 9:17

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 9:18

Is it? No, because it I think that's where the net things on, so if the ball goes into the net, you don't have to keep running through and get it. Hey, how many times do you reckon the board go over this fence into the people's yards here?

SPEAKER_02 9:37

Like ten.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Looks like it'll be a lot, hey. So have another throw here?

SPEAKER_02 9:42

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Alright, so this way towards the other goal?

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 9:45

Alright, bit to run up like you did.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Holy.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Not quite halfway. I think my shoulder nearly fell off, too. Well, I'd walk like this all day now, shoulder dangling down. Is that funny, is it? Yeah. Would it be funny if I picked you up today and said, hey Ari, how you going? And I was like, why are you hanging down like you're gonna pick something up? Well I can't have to pick my shoulder up. Fell off. Some people dislocate their shoulders and it comes off. Like pulls off the socket joint here.

SPEAKER_02 10:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:20

It doesn't actually fall on the ground. A lot of people who do bull riding and contact supports like footy, it happens too. We should have put little earphone things on. It's actually wickedier than I thought here, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 10:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

Alright, we'll work together here. We're gonna do some teamwork. Really important in everything. Yeah, and see how many times it's gonna take us, how many throws it's gonna take us to go from one soccer goal to the other. So we've done one so far, we'll take turns about. This is your turn now, share. That's a good one. Oh that's good. That's your furthest one. That's two.

SPEAKER_02 10:53

Now I'm time for you.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

Alright. Here we go. Pick it up. It's a wind, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 11:06

Oh!

SPEAKER_00 11:07

Did it go through? Three goes, that's pretty good. That's against the wind. I can say less going that way.

SPEAKER_01 11:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

I might be able to wake up in the morning with a sore shoulder tomorrow. Are we going to Ari? Are you staying with mum or dad at the moment?

SPEAKER_02 11:25

Um going to dad's this week.

SPEAKER_00 11:30

So basically I'm going to text Dad tomorrow morning and say, Ari's in big trouble with me. My shoulder nearly fell off and it's sore because he threw a baseball. And then you'll laugh. Is that right? Yep. Oh, I'm glad you're coming to connection country. You're always good with the other boys. You socialise well. It's really important for you. It's really important for the other boys. So you connect with each other. Careful not to hear that. Are you going to run underneath there? If you throw it from here, you might hit that thing. Well, here we go. We run up. Oh, that's good. That's furthest. That's like okay, I'm gonna count this. One, two, three, four. We're stepping out meters here. Five, six, seven, eight, forty-five. What's up? Eight.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

Um nine.

SPEAKER_00 12:13

Oh nine.

unknown 12:13

Ten.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Eleven. Fifty-five.

SPEAKER_02 12:16

Oh, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three.

SPEAKER_00 12:25

You just threw twenty-three meters from the soccer goal out into the other towards the other soccer goal.

SPEAKER_02 12:31

Oh. No time for you.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

That's huge. How'd you throw that part? That's like the further as well. Dull you did last time. Good focus. Good focus. Alright. Do we got a big one?

SPEAKER_02 12:42

Always focus on the ball.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Focus on the ball. Everything's good for focus. Friendship?

SPEAKER_02 12:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

School work. Yep. By like focusing on backing the legs in the morning so I can eat them. Alright, see how far we go the wind behind us. See me at close enough for you to throw out three for the last throw. Why don't you get my shoulders pretty sore already? Here we go.

SPEAKER_02 13:05

Now that's more further. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 13:08

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, seven, eight, nine. Count me. Eleven. Twelve. Thirty. Twenty fifteen.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

Six.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

Seventy, eight, nine, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two. That's how old I am. Twenty-two.

SPEAKER_02 13:25

Wait, what?

SPEAKER_00 13:26

No. No. No. Twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty. What's Ari going to be doing when he's thirty?

SPEAKER_02 13:34

Probably lay down. Three one.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Two three, three four, thirty five, three six. Fifty one, fifty two, fifty three, fifty-four, fifty-five, fifty-six. Sixty-one, sixty-two, sixty-three, sixty-four.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

Sixty-five.

SPEAKER_00 14:08

Sixty-five. Now here's the question. It's your throw next. Do you reckon you'll make it?

SPEAKER_01 14:14

Wait, what? How long has it been?

SPEAKER_00 14:18

I don't know, this one doesn't say how long this podcast's been. It only says it when you actually load it up. But it says that we are speaking well into this wireless pro from Road. No, this is not a sponsored podcast. It's getting windier here. Okay. Here's a pressure for you. Big run up. I want to see how close you get. Here we go.

Regulating Outside With Breath And Steps

SPEAKER_00 14:38

Yes, go, go, go, go, go. I think we should run and get it and try it again. Yeah. I'll meet you the spot we threw it from and then we'll try again because you're only about like two or three metres from getting it through the hoop. One, two, or through the socket goals.

SPEAKER_02 14:52

Four, five, six.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

So I always want to get that.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

Yeah, a bit of walking around here in nature. 12, 30, 40.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

Good way to regulate is getting outside for parents, adults with a disability or not. Body produces endorphins, clears the brain. Oxygen to the brain means you feel good. We've done box breathing before, haven't we? Talked about the importance of breathing, which is really good. Okay. This is where you threw it from last time.

SPEAKER_02 15:21

Yeah, and then we landed through.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Well, what you didn't. What letter's that got on? Cheat.

SPEAKER_02 15:27

Yep, ready?

SPEAKER_00 15:28

Well, here we go. Aim it up. Focus. Oh, it's a big throw! It looks good! Easy! Easy through! Alright, let's count, ready? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, okay, stop, ten. Now how far did the last one go? Twenty something, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_02 15:49

No, sixty-one.

SPEAKER_00 15:51

Yeah, but what did yours do?

SPEAKER_02 15:53

Um twenty-five.

SPEAKER_00 15:56

Well, it's ten already. Why don't this is bigger? Eleven, twelve, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seven, eight, eight, nine, twenty.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

What?

SPEAKER_00 16:05

Oh, doggy poo-poo. Well lucky. Where'd the ball in last time? Right beside it. That's twenty! Look how far it is still. Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty, twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-five, twenty six, twenty-seven, ten, two nine, thirty. Thirty-one meters.

Goodbye On The Way Back

SPEAKER_00 16:24

You're a machine! Thirty-one!

SPEAKER_02 16:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:27

We do it again?

SPEAKER_02 16:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:29

Alright.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

I try now.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

No. Alright, we're gonna walk in the bottom. I've always down there. You should take me down there as well. Okay, well, say goodbye. Bye. Thanks, mate, for taking me out here.