Episode 78: Play First and Learning Will Follow – Jena Ponti Jauchius

LD Expert Podcast with Jill Stowell
Play First and Learning Will Follow
Jena Ponti-Jauchius

 

Jill Stowell: Play isn't just about fun. It's about learning, regulation, and building the foundation for academic and life success. I'm thrilled today to have internationally recognized sensory landscape artist Jena Jauchius with us today to talk about one of the most overlooked yet critical elements of child development: play. Welcome to the LD Expert podcast, your place for answers and solutions for dyslexia and learning differences.

I'm your host, Jill Stowell, founder and executive director of Stowell Learning Centers and the author of Take the Stone Out of the Shoe: A Must-Have Guide to Understanding, Supporting, and Correcting Dyslexia, Learning, and Attention Challenges. 

Today, we're diving into an essential but often overlooked part of child development: play. Play is far more than just fun—though fun is a great thing. It's actually a child's job. It's a critical part of building attention, learning, and emotional regulation. 

Joining me today is Jena Jauchius. Jena is an internationally recognized landscape architect, nature play expert, and the founder of "N is for Nature Play." She teaches parents, early childhood educators, and others how to create sensory-based, natural play and learning spaces for all kids, especially those with neurodiversity.

Welcome, Jena.

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Yeah, Jill, thank you so much for having me on today.

Jill Stowell: Well, I think what you do is fascinating. So to start, can you just share what a sensory landscape architect does and how you got into this work?

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Yeah. And I appreciate you adding the term sensory to landscape architect because it's actually more accurate to the work that I do. I've been a landscape architect for 25 years now, and if you don't know what a landscape architect does—just like architects design buildings, we design outdoor spaces for where we work, where we play, and where we live. My focus for 25 years, my entire career, has been on designing children's nature-based and sensory-based play, learning, and therapeutic environments.

I've helped people design nature play areas in public playgrounds. I've helped schools and different school settings create outdoor classrooms and I did their schoolyards, sensory gardens for children of all abilities. I've even created a sensory garden in my own backyard for my own kids, so it’s been really fun, the work that I do. I love the work that I do, and I take a unique approach to it. The work that I do is all about supporting a child's nervous system health. Because kids are totally sensory—that’s their job. We can talk more about that in a bit.

It's all sensory-based. And I consider children's eight sensory systems in each and every project that I work on with folks. And again we can talk about those eight sensory systems here as we continue on with the talk.

Jill Stowell: You said that you helped design playgrounds, or even in someone's own yard. Give me an idea, what does that look like?

Jena Ponti Jauchius: So actually, it looks different for every project that I've done. I would say the most of my work has been designing, redesigning early childhood play yards to make them more nature-filled, make them more sensory-based, to really engage a child holistically through a sensory experience.

And so what you might find, whether you're in a backyard, nature play space, or a sensory garden, or an outdoor classroom, you might find things like water play, sand play, mud kitchens, pathways, exploration, edible gardens, digging areas—just flexible spaces where people can bring out easels or tables for artwork and meals outside. And really, it's creating outdoor rooms, outdoor playrooms for kids.

And there's always a different goal or purpose. For example, one of my projects here locally, I live in Spokane, Washington, is I designed a custom playscape for a therapeutic – a large therapeutic facility that the children that they treat are ages 0 to 3, all with special needs. And so we created a really fun, really beneficial and supportive outdoor playscape where the therapists can take the kids outside for their physical therapy, speech therapy, etc., and make it really play-filled for the kid and the professional alike. So, yeah. Lots of fun. 

Jill Stowell: Yeah. So, I can see how there's just lots of sensory experience there. And I want to talk a little bit specifically about movement for a minute and how movement helps support brain development, and attention, and learning. Can you dive into that a little bit?

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Yeah, from a sensory perspective, we have two movement-based sensory systems. One is the vestibular system. It's located in our inner ear, and it has to do with our understanding of our body orientation. So, are we upside down? Are we right-side up? Activities like swinging and spinning and running and walking and rolling and climbing are all vestibular activities.

They give the brain lots of information about where the body is relative to gravity, where we are in space. And so, the other one is proprioception, which is our body awareness system. Just generally speaking, it tells us where our bodies are at relative to the things around us. It actually has to do with a lot more, but that’ll just give you a quick idea of what that’s about.

But when children can move, it builds their body, but it also builds their brain. When kids can move and interact with their environments in lots of different ways, it builds a more complex brain, right? It helps the different regions of the brain connect. It helps the hemispheres connect. It creates new neural pathways, which are the communication pathways within the brain.

And so it's really, really critical that kids, from the time they're born, move as much as possible. Outside, in my opinion, is the most ideal place to move your body because then we're interacting with nature and getting all the benefits that nature has. So, moving – movement in any way is so incredibly important to children and their ability to build their brains, understand themselves, and understand themselves within their environments.

And so it's one of the best things that we can do for our kids is get them active outside.

Jill Stowell: Absolutely. And you know, at Stowell Learning Center, we talk a lot about Core Learning Skills, which are really the foundational abilities that support attention and learning and self-regulation. And just, you know, as I think about what you're saying there—I mean, the movement, we start doing movement activities with kids, and sometimes kids who have very little language, that language comes in. And you think, well, how could that be? If you’re not working on language, you’re working on body skills. How does language associate with that? Well, that’s what you were saying—all those connections that impact all different areas of the brain and learning. You know, those connections start with movement.

And so when you think about the skills that allow us to sit in a chair, to move our eyes across a page, to hold a pencil and not have it fall out of our hand, or to navigate a classroom without bumping into things—all of those things have their foundation in movement. And if they aren’t fully developed, then sitting still and focusing becomes a real challenge. And it’s not because kids aren’t trying. It’s because their brains and their bodies are still working to build the foundational connections that they need.

So, when you think about creating the space, how does that kind of—how do you tie that development into your work?

Jena Ponti Jauchius: You know, my belief is that if we can create a supportive environment that gives kids lots of choice and control in how they play and in the sensory experiences that they get through that play and through that – what that environment offers them, the rest is natural. Right? And so my goal is always—and it depends on the kids that are playing in that space. It really depends on their needs, their sensory sensitivities, and really being able to tailor the sensory qualities within that space to best support their needs. And there are lots of ways to do that.

But my goal is typically to provide lots of variety and sensory stimulation so that kids can pick and choose what feels best to their bodies that day and what play activities feel best to them. Because kids don’t always want to do the same thing. And so if there are opportunities to have a cozy space where they’re playing by themselves and maybe looking through a picture book or doing something in a cozy space like a little nook or a fort, or if they also have access to a more social space where there’s lots of play activity going on with other – maybe their peers or adults, they have that choice to get the stimulation that they need and to create the connections that they want to in that moment.

And it varies day to day, child by child. And so the more variety you can offer, the more choice and control that child will have in feeding their body, in their nervous system, in the way that it needs.

Jill Stowell: And. And. Really, I. I love the when you talk about, the choice and and just, you know, sitting in a very cozy space has a completely different feel than kind of running with wild abandon, you know, but at some times, you know, a child– all people at, at some points, we just need the security, the embrace of a cozy space.

And sometimes we just want to get out there and explore and be big and, and, and, and that self-awareness is so critical as you think about, you know, developing social skills and, and learning how to function in an environment with other people and, just learning what we need that's going to allow us to function well.

And so much of that happens in, in this unstructured way.

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Right. Right. Absolutely.

Another component to what you're just talking about is, you know, when kids, you know, they have a, they might have some moments where they do need to, you know, retreat back into a cozy space and regulate. But then they also can, you know, go back out when they feel like and run and play and, and be boisterous.

And they can do that because it feels safe. Right? The nervous system does not, it's not detecting any threats and threats for kids are, can be very subtle. What the environment perceives as a trigger. But these sorts of environments that we can create for kids really can communicate a sense of safety so that they can grow and expand their comfort zones in a way that works best for them and their process.

Jill Stowell: You know, sometimes I think it's really hard for parents to allow their kids the freedom in an outdoor space to maybe trip or fall or, you know, climb. But play allows kids to take risks and, and as soon as you take a risk or you try something new, then you have to make an adjustment.

And, and so you start to get that natural cause and effect, you know, so it's an incredibly powerful teacher. But sometimes as parents we just want to hover and be involved because we don't want our kids to struggle or get frustrated. So what is your… what are your thoughts around that?

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Oh, I think the more… so I'm a parent myself. I have twin daughters, who are just turning ten.

And I have gone through that myself. The tendency to, when they fall just to swoop in and and, care for them, you know, just make it all better. There's a balance, right? If we don't allow our kids some discomfort when they fall and scrape their knee, if we give them a few moments before we… and to calm ourselves down, that tendency to want to swoop in. If we give them a moment, they might just pop back up and continue on with what they're doing. And that builds resiliency. 

And so really like to be a parent and to allow some of that to happen and allow the child to process the initial emotions and their reaction first, before we come in with our own emotions and reactions, that is so, it's so helpful for our kids to be resilient and to build a really strong foundation for being able to, care for themselves and to, yeah, just to care for themselves and to, manage their emotions and self-regulation.

Jill Stowell: Yeah. Right. Right. That's what I was thinking about. That's interesting that, you know, kids mirror so much of what we see in their primary adults.

And so when you said before we swoop in with our emotions, you know, let them– because everything is learning. So let them experience that a little bit and, and regulate to that determine, is this really bad? Am I going to be okay? Do I want to keep going? Because that is all a part of emotional regulation.

We talk a lot about regulation, but that regulation comes from somewhere and it comes from the development of awareness and then sort of testing ourselves and learning what we can do, what we can handle, can we move on. So yeah. Wow, I love that.

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Yeah. And interestingly, Jill, that awareness, the self-regulation and emotional control has to do with our eighth sensory system that I talk about, interoception, which has to do with the internal sensations that we experience, like pain and hunger and thirst and whatnot. But it also has to do with when we have thoughts or experiences. It brings up sensations in our body that bring up our emotions.

And so the interoception system - the interoceptive system is a really important piece of understanding how do I feel. And so that that's, it's so interesting that everything we're talking about ties back in with the sensory systems.

Jill Stowell: So you mentioned that you… or, I mentioned, actually, that you work a lot with children with neurodiversities and thinking about this really with all children, I think. But do you find that it becomes helpful sometimes as kids do experience some things where they're, you know, either they maybe fall and scrape in or they try to do something and they can't quite do it yet.

They've kind of approximated, but they can't quite complete it or, or whatever it might be that might cause a little bit of frustration or emotion around it. Do you find that it's helpful for the adult to then help them label that?

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Perhaps, I don't know if that's... Sometimes when we label, we cause things to stick. And sometimes when we label, we're using our brains. When the kids are so much... kids are totally sensory. And so sometimes when we use our brains to label things, we don't allow the full picture to happen. I'm trying to put the words together as I go, so I would say,

It might be helpful, yes, depending on the age and the developmental level of the child to label things and to understand them from a logical point of view. But we also need to honor that children are very sensory, and sometimes we don't need to label. We just need to let that sensation move through their body and let things out.

And so there's a balance there. There's always a balance. So again, maybe before we rush in—just like with your scenario with the child falling down—before we rush in to label things, maybe let's sit in the sensory aspect of it. Because that's what a child understands. That's what they are—fully sensory—until they're at least at age seven and beyond. So…

Jill Stowell: And that's such a great reminder for parents and grandparents. I'm a grandparent now. And so it's such a great reminder that we actually operate in a different space. We operate in very much a head space, a lot of us. And to allow kids to experience and let it move on... you know, sometimes we may find we end up making a bigger deal than it actually is.

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Yes. 

Jill Stowell: And it doesn't just get to move through.

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Yeah. And some kids absolutely really respond to the communication. But some kids, some kids may not. And so, yeah, that's understanding your child and how they operate best. But to really honor their sensory experiences. 

Jill Stowell: So I want to go back to something you started to talk about—the environment.

I've heard you say that we have to look at the environment to understand how a child is perceiving the space. What we tend to see is a child's reaction or behavior or meltdown, or, but we often don't consider that their behavior might actually be a reflection of how they're perceiving the space or the environment that they're in. Can you expand on that idea a little bit?

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Yeah. We do often forget about the importance of our environments in our lives because, through our senses– so our nervous system and our sensory systems, are the mechanism through which we understand our environments and how we understand ourselves and how to navigate our environments. It's through our sensory systems and our brain’s response to our environments.

And so... and we're always immersed in an environment. And so that space is really important to the interaction and the response of our nervous system. And so, yeah, when—if your child is anxious or tends towards meltdowns or is struggling in some way—it might be something within their environment that their nervous system is reacting to, and they can't put words to it.

And so it's really helpful when parents and teachers can pay more attention to their environments – the child’s environments, understanding that child's sensory needs and sensitivities, and making sure that that environment supports those needs. That way, a child's nervous system is able to be balanced and regulated and thriving. And they can do all the things that they're meant to do as unique individuals.

But when an environment has some triggers or doesn't offer the right kinds of sensory stimulation, their child's nervous system is now in survival mode—dysregulated. And they cannot... it's more of a struggle to do the things that they're meant to do. Right? And so when an environment can support a child from a sensory perspective, they can do all of those things with ease and joy and laughter.

Jill Stowell: So what would be some of the common environmental triggers that might make self-regulation or learning harder for kids?

Jena Ponti Jauchius: I would say indoor environments offer more triggers than outdoor environments, purely for the fact that outdoors has nature. And nature is perfect sensory stimulation. It restores us and our nervous system. So for indoors, it could be... I mean, think about the typical classroom, right? There's not a lot of fresh air, artificial lighting, windows that don't open.

Perhaps there's gases given off in the carpeting, lots of decorations on all four walls. Kids don't—they have—their eyes have no place to rest. There's a loudspeaker that comes on at a moment's notice—maybe surprises them. They're having to sit with their butts in a seat and their feet on the floor. And for most kids, that is not supportive to their nervous system and their different ways of learning. 

And so I would say, you know, just look at a typical classroom setting, and you'd find a very great number of triggers, of environmental triggers in an indoor setting. 

Outdoors, you could say sirens, loud noises, social settings where—if a child is kind of in an imbalanced state—sometimes social settings or large groups of people can really trigger them.

And so that's where if you have a little nook or something, a little place for a child to regulate themselves, access to nature, edible gardens, pathways to explore, that sort of thing, it’s so regulating. You know, plants and trees and shade and sunshine, and that sort of thing. Our nervous systems are designed to communicate with nature. They're not designed to communicate with our artificial indoor environments.

Jill Stowell: Well, those are really great insights. And I'm trying to think, you know, if we. If we become aware of the triggers, then we can start to make some small changes that have a big impact. So, thinking I was just thinking back into the classroom and, and, you know, I mean, that's the environment that the teacher has to work with and thinking, wow, if she's if the teacher seeing a lot of agitation, maybe it just turn off the lights for a few minutes and everybody gets to chill a little bit, or, you know, if it, I think, just recognizing we got to get up and have a movement minute every, you know, much more often than we do, much more often and recess, we just got to get those little bodies moving.

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Yeah. Another great thing is, like, flexible seating. So if you have the ability to put some pillows on the floor or different seats, stools, cubes, rockers, you know, different, different ways for kids to sit and move their bodies, but also sit. Maybe they want to lay on their tummies to learn. Maybe that pressure on their tummies is the simulation that they need to, you know, have their brain focus on that task at hand. So, you know, the flexibility and seating. But also, yeah, like you mentioned, the flexibility in, throughout the day, to get the stimulation that they need is going to go so far and not just that day, but throughout their whole life course. 

Jill Stowell: Right, right. So let's talk about apps a little bit. Parents often ask me, what's the best educational app for my child? And I mean, the digital world has a lot to offer, but the best tool for learning isn't necessarily digital. And, so, what are your thoughts?

Jena Ponti Jauchius: I have very strong feelings on this topic, and I appreciate you asking this. Kids that are born now, they are basically born with a screen in their hand, and that is doing them a disservice. A huge disservice. 

I would say 0 to 3 absolutely no screens. Beyond that limited, very, very limited screen time. Because screens are from a sensory perspective, screens are junk food. And from a sensory perspective, nature is holistic nutrition. 

So, I can give you some interesting statistics on screen time. So these numbers are, average for kids 0 to 18. So the whole childhood range. And so when you hear the numbers that I'm about to give you, they're, you know, less than average for the younger kids and greater than average for the older kids.

And so, if we compare the time that a child spends on a screen versus the time spent in outdoor, unstructured play, here are the numbers. So for screen time, the average is a child spends six hours a day on a screen. And so if you calculate that out of a week, that's 40, 42 hours, that's a full-time job, right time job.

And if you calculate that out over a year, it's 2000. And we have it right here 2184 hours a year. That's three months, 24 hours a day, three months of solid time. That's like sleeping. That's like the time we spent sleeping on a– So this is on a screen, engaging and sensory junk food. This does nothing. Nothing to help brain development at all.

And in fact, it causes, it has negative impacts on brain development now. So let's compare that to outdoor unstructured play. So per day the average child spends 4 to 7 minutes a day compared to six hours. Right. And so on. The high end seven minutes. That's over the course of a week. That's less than an hour, 49 minutes.

Right. And then calculate it out over a year. That's 42 hours over a year. And so that's a number of already said like 42 hours a week on a screen versus 42 hours a year on, in outdoor unstructured play. And that's the activity they should be doing. And so this has huge implications for our children in brain development, in social connection.

And so I would say if talking to parents who are worried about their kids being behind, from a tech point of view, do not worry about that. That will come. Tech will always be in their life. What they need during childhood is outdoor, unstructured play time in nature, time in connection and so they can have apps all the livelong day when they're older.

But right now what they need is outdoor, unstructured play.

Jill Stowell: And really, there's... I've been in business for a very long time working with children with learning challenges. 

And, it has been really in, in recent years. It's probably been in the last 10 to 15 years, but I feel like it just exploded, you know, with the pandemic. But the amount of anxiety, you know, we used to know that, wow, if you have a learning disability, if you have dyslexia and you're going to school every day smart, but you're struggling and there's all these expectations, absolutely. You're going to experience some anxiety around that. And we knew that as we could really help, you know, correct those underlying issues and allow the child to really thrive in school, that anxiety was going to go away.

It was connected to something very specific. And now there's just a generalized anxiety. And I really believe… well, the content certainly of what's on screens but but also the demand on the eyes and, and pulling in that focus like that, it's really elevating the arousal level of the nervous system up into that fight or flight level.

And, and they just need to get outside and move. That's where they, you know, when we talk about it being regulating, yeah, absolutely. It is… it settles the nervous system and it teaches the nervous system what it feels like to be calm and settled and grounded. So yeah.

Jena Ponti Jauchius: And one of the things that came to mind as you were talking, Jill, was that, you know, the anxiety, this is becoming children's baseline, their baseline nervous system state. Whereas as you mentioned in, you know previous years and generations, we have a totally different baseline. And being able to, when we get overstimulated or agitated, we're able to bring ourselves back into a feeling of peace and calm and regulation.

And that's just… the kids nowadays are not able to because they're inundated, constantly inundated. And so we need to change that baseline. And it starts with the parents. It this is a parental thing and it, we aren't, as parents, we're not doing ourselves any favors when we regulate ourself through scrolling on our phone. Again, sensory junk food, we benefit just as much because our nervous systems are often in a state of survival mode, too, through our, you know, daily lives.

And so when we can set down the phone and take a meal outside with our kids, set down the phone and go out and play outside, lay in the grass, look at the clouds, do some gardening, whatever. As a family, you're able to regulate as a family and that there's a connection piece as well. And same thing at schools.

Being able to have the flexibility during the day to do the activities and some outside time more than is now, regulates the entire classroom, teacher included.

Jill Stowell: Right, right. It's. It's really incredible how something so simple as just getting outside… that alone is helpful for all of us to just settle. But when you think about kids running and climbing and exploring, I mean, it has such a profound impact on their development. 

My husband and I got to babysit our three year old granddaughter recently, and, her mom, her parents have been incredible about letting her explore physically and getting outside.

And so we took her to a little park, and she was climbing up this little climbing wall. And it was amazing to see. It was like I could see her brain learning, turning on, you know, as she sort of measured the distance and the force and the weight and, and all of these things that down the road, you have to have that basis to learn some things about math, you know.

But it's happening at three in climbing a wall, you know, I mean it's, it's… and the other thing was watching her become confident, like testing the waters, checking it out. Then she becomes confident in what she can do. So there's just, you know, really that's what our kids need right now is to get outside and it even impacts sleep, which of course, then improves focus and emotional regulation and availability for learning.

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Absolutely absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I always say, you know, play is you know, so often anymore it's seen as, like an enrichment or a reward. If you do this, then you can go outside and play. But it's actually like in my mind, and from what I've experienced and seen through my work, it is just as essential to, to us as humans, as air, food, water, shelter. Play is right up in there as a human necessity.

Jill Stowell: Yeah, yeah. And not necessarily structured play, but just. 

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Oh, yes. Correct. Yeah. 

Jill Stowell: The ability to explore. We have been talking about that a lot, even with all of the different things that we teach kids in our learning center, we want to have the mindset of discovery and exploration, because that is really how the brain learns something, as opposed to just being told, this is how it is.

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Right. Yeah. And I think a lot of kids, I've seen this in elementary schools. They have a tendency to wait to be told what to do next. They don't necessarily have the, inspiration or initiative to engage in the proactive problem solving because it's been ingrained in them that they wait to be told what to do next, and that does not grow independent, resilient, capable adults.

And so, totally agree. Outdoor, child-led, spontaneous, exploratory, experiential play with zero preconceived outcome or goals. That is the most pure sort of play and it's the most beneficial. And it's what kids do by nature.

Jill Stowell: And I just want to say that one more time, because I think it's so important for all of us to hear that:no preconceived outcome or goals.

Yeah, yeah. It's great.

So what about families who don't have access to large outdoor spaces?

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Yeah. So, yeah, there's a lot of families that live in apartments or condos and maybe they have a balcony, maybe they don't have any outdoor space. And so, you know, what can you do to create a sensory-based little play nook in the space that you do have? 

So, if you do have a balcony or not, the first thing I always recommend for parents to consider is creating a little cozy space.

And we talked about those a little bit already, but those are like little forts or teepees or dens that kids can go. They're very child-sized and intimate, where a child can go for self-regulation. And so, I mean, a pillow fort, a blanket fort can be built for a day. You know, my kids have built blanket forts that took up our entire living room during the winter.

And so I would say for regulation and playability, the cozy spaces are so important. And if you do have a balcony, you can take a little bit of that balcony to create a cozy space outside. And add some, you know, maybe a potted cherry tomato and some herbs out there to really spice up the sensory qualities of that. Or depending on what your child loves, maybe they love, maybe they're highly visual.

And so you can add some wind spinners, or maybe they love sound and you can add some chimes. So there's lots of ways, but I would say start with that very simple little cozy space and then just add to it and accessorize it as your child wants. And you're going to create a really beautiful, safe-feeling, happy place for them to go and do lots of different activities.

Jill Stowell: This has been a really insightful conversation. What have I missed here that you feel like we need to know?

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Oh, I would say this, a couple things, a couple short things. One, I just want to underscore the importance of a supportive environment to a child's nervous system because it can help simplify so many things. 

If you have a supportive environment, then some of the struggles that your child may be dealing with may naturally fall away and may become nonexistent because as parents and teachers, we're trying to do all the things, trying different methods, learning different ways to support our children, and we forget about the environment.

And so I would say to look at that first and to make sure that's addressed first because that may simplify your life moving forward, and it's going to have the greatest impact on your child moving forward. The second piece is that it is easier to do than it sounds.

We might think about brain development, sensory systems, and nervous systems and get overwhelmed with the terminology. But it's so much more simple and fun than it sounds. And so just kind of play with your child's environment, add things, take away things, and see how they respond. And it can be much more easy than you might think.

Jill Stowell: That's good to know that it doesn't have to be expensive. It doesn't have to be big and complicated. It can be simple.

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Yeah, yeah.

Jill Stowell: I am just so grateful that you were here today. I think this is something that every parent needs to hear.

But even for us as grown-up kids, you know, even though so much of our learning has already happened, but our brains are still learning and making new connections all the time. And we still need to self-regulate. We still want to enjoy our lives. And so just all of this actually applies to humans, to all of us.

And I think, you know, for me, the big takeaway is that play and movement aren't just extra activities. They're essential for building a brain that's really ready to learn. And then what you just talked about, the other takeaway is just how important it is to just assess your environment, the environment that your kids are in, and set them up for success in that space.

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Absolutely.

Jill Stowell: Before we go, Jena, where can people learn more about your work?

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Yeah. So if you just Google "N is for Nature Play" and visit nisfornatureplay.com, you can find me on a variety of platforms. Just search for "N is for Nature Play." You can find out more about my work. I give lots of information about how you can understand your child's sensory systems and be able to start evaluating their environments.

And so I like to give people lots of information to go on. But of course, there's an invitation to, if you're interested in really taking a closer look at your child's environment, I'd love to help. So, yeah, you can find me in lots of places online.

Jill Stowell: Well, I think that you are an incredible resource, both for information and also as a consultant.

Jill Stowell: So thank you so much for joining me today.

Jena Ponti Jauchius: Thank you, Jill, for having me.

Jill Stowell: At Stowell Learning Centers, we help children and adults eliminate struggles associated with dyslexia and learning differences. This is not always an easy journey, and we want to make it easier for you. So, connect with us on social media, on our website, stowellcenter.com, for information and free resources.

It's kind of crazy to think, but summer is right around the corner, so if you are ready to start planning and you want to help your child make some real changes before the next school year, first of all, of course, get them outside and do some outdoor play. And also, check out our accelerated intensive programs at stowellcenter.com/summer.

If you found this helpful, be sure to subscribe and share this episode with a friend. Let's get our kids moving, playing, and thriving.