{"podcast":{"title":"The Forest School Podcast","slug":"the-forest-school-podcast-1141815","podcast_index_feed_id":1141815,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/3faf584/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://www.theforestschoolpodcast.com","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/staging/podcast_uploaded_nologo/567785/567785-1759568785576-d60f1cc966b6a.jpg","author":"Lewis Ames and Wem Southerden","episode_count":252,"summary":"Wem Southerden & Lewis Ames have run Forest School and training centre Children of the Forest since 2017. The Forest School Podcast was born when they wondered if their daily wafflechats and reflections about pedagogy, play and nature connection might be of interest to others. The podcast aims to inform and support educators, parents, outdoor and play practitioners and anyone interested in nature and the outdoors. Through book reviews – interviews with experts, practitioners and authors – sharing our experience as educators and business owners – deep dives on fascinating topics –","last_synced_at":"2026-07-25T18:20:39.739581+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-forest-school-podcast-1141815"},"episode":{"title":"Ep 231 - Planning Experiments and Japanese Nursery Architecture","slug":"ep-231-planning-experiments-and-japanese-nursery-architecture","published_at":"2025-10-18T13:44:53+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-forest-school-podcast-1141815/ep-231-planning-experiments-and-japanese-nursery-architecture","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-forest-school-podcast-1141815","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/theforestschoolpodcast/episodes/Ep-231---Planning-Experiments-and-Japanese-Nursery-Architecture-e39msn3","audio_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/3faf584/podcast/play/109850787/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-9-18%2F409495515-44100-2-d644977b14f9a.mp3","summary":"In this reflective, good-humoured episode of The Forest School Podcast, Lewis and Gemma wander from hornets and sweet chestnuts to big ideas in space design and session planning. They unpack a fresh “great board experiment” that swaps linear timetables for an Eight Shields-inspired planning wheel, then dive into a beautiful Japanese coffee-table book, The World Designed for Children, to ask how architecture can invite play. Along the way: apples, dehydrators, built-in play features, minimalism versus loose parts, logos and community identity, and a brand-new concept Lewis coins on air — Ludo Botany — matching kinds of play with specific plants and woodland management over time. It is a lively mix of practice, philosophy, and proper woodland gossip. 🌳 ⏱ Chapter Timings 00:00 – Wind, wildlife, and sweet chestnuts: back in the woods 03:10 – Glut season: apples, dehydration, and preserving abundance 06:16 – The great board experiment: why ditch the linear plan 08:20 – Planning with Eight Shields energies instead of activities 11:21 – From checklists to a “spoked wheel”: transparency and crossing things out 20:42 – The World Designed for Children: minimalist nurseries and built-in play 24:54 – Ponds, sandpits, stairs you can climb: architecture as invitation 29:16 – Loose parts, display culture, and what “the space is the resource” means 34:36 – Brand, logos, patches, shared rituals: identity without uniforms 45:06 – Introducing Ludo Botany and “plant baby plant”: designing for play yields 🌲 Keywords Forest School planning, Eight Shields, session design, Japanese early years architecture, built-in play, loose parts, brand and community, reflective practice, woodland management, Ludo Botany 🔖 Hashtags #ForestSchool #OutdoorEducation #ReflectivePractice #LooseParts #NaturePla…","meta_description":"In this reflective, good-humoured episode of The Forest School Podcast, Lewis and Gemma wander from hornets and sweet chestnuts to big ideas in space desi…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3056,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-forest-school-podcast-1141815/episodes/ep-231-planning-experiments-and-japanese-nursery-architecture/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-forest-school-podcast-1141815/ep-231-planning-experiments-and-japanese-nursery-architecture.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}