How can spending time in nature enrich our children's lives?
Nature is essential to healthy development - body, mind and spirit.
Children thrive with sunshine, fresh air and space to roam, because their bodies were made to move and explore. Outdoors is where they learn about circadian rhythm, seasonal changes and the life cycles of flowering plants, butterflies and frogs. Nature offers the best playground, and this is where children fall in love with Nature. It is a world full of miracles and wonder that sparks curiosity, imagination, inquiry and patient observation. Falling in love with Nature and with Earth changes everything, because we will protect what we love.
Story Walking Radio Hour is about our love for Nature.
Inspired by encounters with Nature, the Story Walking podcast series encourages listeners to get outside and engage with the natural world. It introduces teachers, parents, caregivers and students to outdoor educators, environmental scientists and other nature-loving people from all walks of life working to preserve our planet and conserve our natural resources. Each episode begins with storytelling to set the stage for the guests who share their stories about how they fell in love with Nature and how their experiences led them to their passionate interests, fun jobs and purposeful lives.
SWRH podcast archives offer a treasure trove of stories and ideas.
Choose from an archive of over 70 podcasts, download, and listen while walking or driving to your intended destination, be it a city park, forest, lake, river, beach, salt marsh, farm or botanical garden. Each podcast page shares a show description, guest bios, links to relevant educational resources and a one-hour audio file, comprised of three segments. Scroll down to access some of our favorites.
Outdoor Learning for Kids
Gail Ahlers, The Empowerment Factory
Kelly McNiff, Farm and Forest Education Center, Pat's Pastured
Lauren Parmalee, Audubon Society of Rhode Island
Gail's signature programs blend art, reading literacy, social emotional learning and environmental education. In this podcast, Gail talks about Art in the Park, Nature Drawing, healthy communities and family engagement.
Lauren Parmalee, Audubon Society of Rhode Island
Kelly McNiff, Farm and Forest Education Center, Pat's Pastured
Lauren Parmalee, Audubon Society of Rhode Island
Lauren oversaw the development of online programs to bring nature play and learning into homes and virtual school classrooms. These programs encourage teachers, children and families to go outside, explore nature and find both wonder and solace.
Kelly McNiff, Farm and Forest Education Center, Pat's Pastured
Kelly McNiff, Farm and Forest Education Center, Pat's Pastured
Kelly McNiff, Farm and Forest Education Center, Pat's Pastured
Kelly is a certified elementary teacher with over 15 years of classroom experience. She is passionate about place-based learning in farm and forest environments and teaching students about teaching how real food is produced.
Em Shipman, Kids Gardening
Diana Brennan, Northern Rhode Island Forest School
Diana Brennan, Northern Rhode Island Forest School
Em leads her organization in bringing the benefits of gardening to kids, by supporting educators and caregivers in the garden development process with grant funding, education resources, creative inspiration and community building.
Diana Brennan, Northern Rhode Island Forest School
Diana Brennan, Northern Rhode Island Forest School
Diana Brennan, Northern Rhode Island Forest School
Diana has a B.S. in environmental science, 20 years field experience and training as a Level 3 Forest School Practitioner. She grew up playing in the woods and sees a need for children and grownups to step away from screens to spend time learning in nature.
Melissa Guillet, 15-Minute Field Trips
Diana Brennan, Northern Rhode Island Forest School
Melissa Guillet, 15-Minute Field Trips
With over 20 years in art education, Melissa teaches environmental advocacy through the arts, using outdoor observation and creative projects to engage her students, while integrating history, science, math, cultural studies, and environmental literacy.
Mary Gannon, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, Division of Fish & Wildlilfe
Jeanine Silversmith, Executive Director, Rhode Island Environmental Education Association (RIEEA)
Jeanine Silversmith, Executive Director, Rhode Island Environmental Education Association (RIEEA)
Mary engages the general public in the world of wildlife science. This means hosting educational events, producing online videos, developing curriculum material and training teachers. She seeks to increase public understanding of specific issues, which can lead to more informed choices.
Jeanine Silversmith, Executive Director, Rhode Island Environmental Education Association (RIEEA)
Jeanine Silversmith, Executive Director, Rhode Island Environmental Education Association (RIEEA)
Jeanine Silversmith, Executive Director, Rhode Island Environmental Education Association (RIEEA)
Silversmith's collaborative leadership style has been instrumental in bringing together teachers, schools, member organizations and community representatives to support high quality environmental education, ensuring that all Rhode Island l students become environmentally and climate literate.
Maureen Dewire, Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NBNERR)
Jeanine Silversmith, Executive Director, Rhode Island Environmental Education Association (RIEEA)
Maureen Dewire, Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NBNERR)
Dewire guides students and teachers in coastal learning and stewardship. Here she delves into the reserve's programs, curriculum, local research, data resources, impacts of salt marsh change and land conservation. NBNERR is one of 30 National Estuarine Research Reserves in the U.S.
Janneke Peterson, Symbiotic Schoolyard
Joann "Jo" Ayuso, Movement Education Outdoors
Joann "Jo" Ayuso, Movement Education Outdoors
As a middle school science teacher, Janneke sought to involve her students in place-based, real-world projects, but there was a problem. Unable to find a high-quality ecosystem unit that provided all the materials and met the high expectations of NGSS, she created one.
Joann "Jo" Ayuso, Movement Education Outdoors
Joann "Jo" Ayuso, Movement Education Outdoors
Joann "Jo" Ayuso, Movement Education Outdoors
Jo has been working as a self-care educator for 21 years and holds an MS in Exercise Science and Physiology. Working in health care, fitness and education has shaped her communication as well as her desire to work in community with Black and Brown farmers and youth.
Shannon Rozea, Thrive Outside
Joann "Jo" Ayuso, Movement Education Outdoors
Shannon Rozea, Thrive Outside
As a landscape architect dedicated to passing on a legacy of love and respect for our earth, Shannon helps schools provide students with greater access to nature. She assists in the creation of outdoor learning spaces, experiential hands-on activities and nature play.
Food Forest Gardening
Podcast with Green Teacher
Wendy Nadherny Fachon speaks with Green Teacher podcast host, Ian Shanahan, about Food Forest Gardening. What is a food forest? How can teachers present an ecosystems approach to gardening for impactful learning? How might teachers integrate corporative learning opportunities enrich the process? Wendy has her own food forest garden, and she sees great potential for food forest gardening in environmental education. She also shares her insights about nature drawing as a powerful pedagogical tool and tells a story about a serendipitous discovery of Red Mulberry trees.
Story Walking
Podcast with Talaterra
Wendy Nadherny Fachon speaks with Talaterra host, Tanya Marien, about how she developed her afterschool and summer learning Story Walking programs and about her Story Walking Radio Hour. She also talks about partnership building, which has been critical to her success. She also shares her visions for the future of Story Walking.
About the Internet Radio Platform
Dreamvisions 7 Radio Network
The Story Walking Radio Hour is an Environmental Education program airing on syndicated Dreamvisions 7 Radio Network (D7RN), every Monday at 9am and 9pm ET.
It is listed under the "Sustainable Living" tab of the network website. D7RN seeks more environmentally-focused hosts to help raise consciousness. Learn more at https://dreamvisions7radio.com/about-us/
If you would like to be a Guest or Sponsor with the Story Walking Radio Hour, call or text Wendy at 401 529-6830.
For a complete listing of over 70 Story Walking Radio Hour podcasts, click here.
More About Wendy
active nature and spiritual learning for kids of all ages
Collaborating with schools, teachers, environmental educators, and local businesses, Wendy has created and facilitated programs for urban, woodland and salt marsh ecological science. When the pandemic disrupted in-person learning, she led the development of the virtual Nature Drawing habitat learning series for The Empowerment Factory and helped facilitate the teacher training.
Wendy writes articles about kids health, outdoor learning and sustainable living for Natural Awakenings magazine and the Dreamvisions7Radio Network's Sustainable Living News column and has published work in Green Teacher magazine. As an environmental arts educator, she helps create and teach Nature Drawing curriculum for The Empowerment Factory, based in Pawtucket, RI. She is also a permaculture gardener and an Abundance Ambassador for Food Forest Abundance.
books for teens and adults
During the teen years, kids spend more time away from home, joining after-school clubs and sports teams, trying out different interests, seeking greater meaning for their lives and looking for ways to contribute their time and skills in order to make the world a better place. In 2017, Wendy lost her son, Neil, 20. At 20 years of age, he had so many plans, which were cut short by brain cancer. Through her grieving process, Wendy began sorting through the memorabilia he had accumulated in the boxes, drawers and book shelves of his bedroom - artwork, notepads, notebooks, journals, personal letters and magic notes. The Difference Maker eBook emerged from this process. This collection of stories is inspired by Neil and written for the teenage soul.
Wendy also published her own story of love and loss with nine other authors in Volume Two of Shining a Light on Grief. She incorporates a couple wonderful story walking experiences in her story. Then she helped her husband publish his memoir of Neil, DIPG: Eternal Hope Versus Terminal Corruption.