Discovery Soundbites
Perspectives on parenting, kids, families, learning, education, play, and so much more. Three questions. Short interviews. BIG ideas! Expert voices on matters of importance to kids and families.
Discovery Soundbites
Outdoor play IS education
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Sarah Besse, Founder of Every Child Outdoors (ECO), answers three questions posed by Discovery Museum CEO Marie Beam.
Discovery Soundbites highlight expert voices on matters of importance to kids, families, and caregivers. Topics will range from parenting, emerging science research, child development, and accessibility to parent and child mental health, nature play, early learning, caregiver support, and more.
To learn more about Discovery Museum and our work, visit us in person or at discoveryacton.org. Come play with us!
Soundbites are made possible by Rockland Trust Bank— thank you!
Well, hello everyone. Welcome to Discovery Soundbites. My name is Marie Beam. I'm CEO of Discovery Museum in Acton, Massachusetts, where we invite children and their families to explore science and nature through play, indoors and out. I am delighted to be here today with Sarah Besse. Sarah is the founder of Every Child Outdoors. It's a new nonprofit that expands access to play and learning with nature so that more children can experience joyful learning outdoors. And that's right up our alley. So welcome, Sarah. Thank you for being with us. Thank you, Marie. As you know, we have just three questions that we ask every one of our guests. So I'm going to get right into it. From your perspective, Sarah, what is the biggest opportunity now to improve the lives of kids and families?
SPEAKER_01Two things. Number one, advocating for children's right to play. And number two, advocating for everybody's right to access beautiful natural areas in their communities. So here's something that you might not know. Adults who are incarcerated in prison are guaranteed one hour of outdoor time per day, since it results in better mental health and less conflict between inmates. However, there are many middle school students in the United States and even elementary schoolers who don't get one hour per day outdoors. And in middle school, some of these schools don't provide any outdoor time at all. So that needs to change. A lot of countries in Europe, including, for example, Hungary, require outdoor playtime for preschool and elementary school children. So in terms of government policy, I'd love to see at least two hours per day, ideally, of outdoor play built into every school day for young children as a non-negotiable for preschoolers as well as elementary. And you know, I really believe that outdoor play shouldn't be treated as a reward for finishing your worksheets. Outdoor play is education for young children, and it belongs at the center of every child's day.
SPEAKER_00You're absolutely speaking our language there, Sarah. Thank you for that. So, what can we do at home or in our communities?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I think the first step is to really kind of reflect and ask ourselves: what kind of people do we want the next generation of children to become? And for me, the answer is to be curious, kind, resilient, and connected with nature. I noticed that you had Peter Gray here on the podcast earlier, and his research is very clear that children who are given the space and time to engage in unstructured play develop stronger problem-solving skills, more resilience, and better physical and mental health. And yet, free play has declined in every generation since the 1950s, replaced by standardized testing and oftentimes scripted curriculums starting as early as preschool. But for young children, you know, they don't really learn through worksheets. They learn through mud and sticks and running around and negotiating play scenarios with their friends. So what we can do as citizens is to demand that policy reflects what child development research is actually telling us.
SPEAKER_00Fantastic. What is one bright spot that you're seeing?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so although COVID was extremely negative for the world, two things kind of got shaken up, in my view. Number one, it pushed families to spend more time outside. And then also the sudden collapse of the childcare industry forced society to finally reckon with how essential early childhood education really is. So as a result, the nature preschool movement really just took off during COVID. On a personal level, my program expanded 700% as a result of COVID. And that's just been so exciting to see more people, you know, just the whole nature preschool field blossoming. That's been really exciting. I think the next step is to try to make these nature preschools accessible to everyone, regardless of life circumstances.
SPEAKER_00That's a fabulous, fabulous goal. So I told you three questions. We had a sneaky fourth one. This is an easy answer for you. Yeah, Discovery Museum, like you, we value play in all of its forms. How do you like to play, Sarah?
SPEAKER_01Oh, well, I love to like get get exercise. I've been playing a lot more tennis recently. I just got back into tennis. I love to play music. I play the flute. Check out the Me Too Orchestra if you have a chance. So, music and sports is personally how I like to play.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's fantastic. That's wonderful. Thank you so much for joining us, Sarah Bessie, for being with us today. Thank you, everyone, for listening to Discovery Soundbites. And thank you to our generous sponsors for making this program possible. If you'd like to learn more about Discovery Museum and our work, you can find us at discoveryacton.org. Come play with us.