Podcast Conversation with Victoria Hackett at Outdoor Classrooms

What happens when outdoor learning and sensory play come together?

Jena sat down with Victoria Hackett of Outdoor Classrooms for a conversation about the intersection of outdoor learning and sensory experiences.

Victoria supports educators, early childhood professionals, and parents who want to create outdoor classrooms and backyard learning gardens, making this conversation a natural meeting point between thoughtful design and everyday outdoor learning.

Why All Kids Need Sensory-Rich Nature Play

Children experience outdoor environments with their whole bodies. Texture, movement, sound, balance, resistance, light, plants, water, soil, and changing natural materials all become part of how children explore and understand the world around them.

Sensory-rich nature play gives children opportunities to engage deeply with those experiences while supporting movement, curiosity, regulation, imagination, and learning.

Simple Sensory Features You Can Create Yourself

Jena and Victoria also talk about sensory features that do not require a major landscape project or elaborate playground equipment.

Small DIY additions can create meaningful opportunities for digging, carrying, pouring, touching, balancing, listening, and experimenting — giving children more ways to actively engage with an outdoor space.

The Magic of Childhood & the Power of Connection

At the center of the conversation is something bigger than any individual activity or garden feature: connection.

Outdoor spaces can give children time and freedom to notice small things, follow their own ideas, build relationships, and experience the kind of open-ended wonder that is easy to lose in overly structured environments.