Ep 213: Is making kids tidy up a part of Forest School?

In this episode, Lewis and Wem are joined by Justine from Curious and Kind Nature Play in Florida. The conversation began when all three spoke at a webinar hosted by Peter Gray and quickly turned into a shared curiosity around the tensions of tidying up in play-based education.This is not a how-to guide. It is a rich exploration of roles, expectations, neurodivergence, community care, and the invisible moral weight we place on children when it comes to cleaning up. Whether you model tidying, mandate it, ignore it entirely, or wrestle with it daily, this episode invites you to reflect deeply on what your approach communicates about power, responsibility, and play.🟩 Chapter timings00:00 Welcome and pizza oven distractions01:00 How Lewis and Justine connected02:00 Justine introduces Curious and Kind Nature Play05:00 Florida’s funding for home educators06:30 Structures that support flexibility and autonomy10:00 Opening the conversation on tidying12:00 Justine’s approach to winding down and cleaning up14:00 Community care and shared spaces16:00 When tidying up becomes adult-directed20:00 Individualism and shared responsibility22:00 Executive function and play endings25:00 Shifting roles as facilitators27:00 Play residue and resource placement30:00 Who defines tidy33:00 Visual cues and neurodivergence36:00 Long sessions and timing pressures38:00 Tidying as moral pressure or community practice40:00 Role of the facilitator and equity in expectations43:00 The notice and do approach48:00 When tidying inhibits play and creativity50:00 Regret, repair, and adult reflection53:00 Adult overwhelm and honest communication59:00 Pine needles and closing thoughts60:00 Where to find Justine and Curious and Kind