How can spending time in nature enrich our children's lives?

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.