When I tell people I’m a pediatric occupational therapist and that I run nature programming, a look of confusion often crosses their face. “Huh?” they say. Or, “You’re a special needs camp?” Or, “I don’t get it. You’re going to do occupational therapy with our...
Balanced and Barefoot Blog
Outdoor play and the unrestricted freedom of movement-based programs are vital for children’s cognitive and physical development, and help ensure that kids grow into healthy, balanced and resilient adults.
ADD and the benefits of outdoor play
When I was eight, I would sit down at the counter after school, lay out all my homework, but I wouldn’t get anything done for 2 hours. I wouldn’t fidget or run around, but I’d get distracted, get a snack, start to do homework, and then daydream instead. My mom tried...
Beyond Skill Building: Nature & Self-Identity
The story about pancakes isn’t about the pancakes at all, really It is a Thursday evening in November, 2020 and I am staring at my weekly planner incredulously. How in the world was I going to prepare for multiple assignments and an exam next week, visit with my...
Is Snow A Loose Part?
When you hear snow in the forecast, what comes to mind? Do you think of ceaseless shoveling? A slow morning commute? Or do you think about the hours of fun you had as a child building, creating, and sledding in the endless sea of white? For me, I look back upon my...
How TimberNook Changed My Approach to Parenting
Steve and his 2 amazing daughters, Lara and Mackenzie as they work together to bring TimberNook to kids in 2019. I became a parent in the early 2000s, right at the peak of the Baby Einstein epidemic. The working theory at the time was that the combination of...
Why I’m Glad I Built Forts as a Kid
By Jillian McCalvey I built my first house at nine-years-old. Not alone of course. Building something as complex as a house takes nothing short of a community. So, I enlisted the help of my two closest friends: Grace and Olivia. We quickly got to work on our...
Occupational Therapy in its Truest Form – An Occupational Therapy Student’s Perspective
I broke both occupational therapy and TimberNook down to their fundamental cores and made an important realization: TimberNook is not only a form of occupational therapy, but it is occupational therapy in its truest, most meaningful form.
A Post-Pandamic Blessing — A Deeper Appreciation of Nature
The evening glow is settling in. As the trail dips down, I feel a cool pocket of air around me. The trees are bursting with new growth, and I see three deer bounding up a hill in the distance. There is hardly anyone else around even though I’m in a park in the...
Creating Child-friendly Environments During Tricky Times
In 2019, I would have said that in an increasingly overscheduled world, play is even more important. Now, just 4 months later and in the midst of a global pandemic, I repeat the same message, and for a similar reason-- play brings joy. The benefits of play are...
Why Adults Should (Frequently!) Refrain from Directing Children’s Play
By Elizabeth Wilkins & Angela Hanscom The woods are unusually crowded with adults. As a TimberNook provider, I am used to being one of only a few adults in the forest. However, today we have our parent/child group out exploring the space. The parents appear just...