Some of my best and earliest memories came before the nightly dinner bell would call all the neighborhood kids home. You could find us knee-deep in the muddy creek, as we worked together to build dams and bridges and whirlpools of imagination.

That sweet spot taught me many life lessons: water always reclaims, yellow jackets lived here first, the strongest dams are built with the most hands and nature always prevails.

Time in nature showed us how to care for one another, and that each person had something to contribute. Without screens or helicopter parents directing our ways, time gave way to uninterrupted discovery. 

I fell in love with nature as a child.

In college, freedom in nature came in the form of a backpack and extended hikes, eventually taking me to New Zealand for a year of ecology study. It seemed as though every Kiwi I met cared passionately about the environment and were connected to their place! I began to wonder how I might bring that sense of self and connection to my own culture back home.

After a time working in outdoor education, I spent 17 years pushing boundaries in private and public schools in the US and abroad. I served as a teacher, a literacy coach, and an administrator.

Though I loved the challenge, the children, and the distant lands, I knew it was time to return to what I first learned in that childhood creek.

• I believe nature nurtures learning.
• I believe in honoring children’s self-directed play instincts. 
• I believe nature guides us in creating a kinder, more sustainable world.

In a nature-based setting, education can be reimagined in ways that keep the sparks of learning alive for children. It can be a place where every child feels loved and honored and has the opportunity to get a little muddy.
​
Welcome to Curious and Kind Nature Play!