Ep 231 - Planning Experiments and Japanese Nursery Architecture

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 #NaturePlay

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