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 timings
00:00 Welcome and pizza oven distractions
01:00 How Lewis and Justine connected
02:00 Justine introduces Curious and Kind Nature Play
05:00 Florida’s funding for home educators
06:30 Structures that support flexibility and autonomy
10:00 Opening the conversation on tidying
12:00 Justine’s approach to winding down and cleaning up
14:00 Community care and shared spaces
16:00 When tidying up becomes adult-directed
20:00 Individualism and shared responsibility
22:00 Executive function and play endings
25:00 Shifting roles as facilitators
27:00 Play residue and resource placement
30:00 Who defines tidy
33:00 Visual cues and neurodivergence
36:00 Long sessions and timing pressures
38:00 Tidying as moral pressure or community practice
40:00 Role of the facilitator and equity in expectations
43:00 The notice and do approach
48:00 When tidying inhibits play and creativity
50:00 Regret, repair, and adult reflection
53:00 Adult overwhelm and honest communication
59:00 Pine needles and closing thoughts
60:00 Where to find Justine and Curious and Kind