The Brain Develops Through Movement and Touch

Podcast: The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast
Host: Jenny Erich (That Sounds Fun Network)
Guest: Katherine Craft, TimberNook Provider & Founder of Live4
Release Date: December 26, 2025
Episode: 1KHO 660

Overview of the Episode

This episode explores the vital role of unrestricted, outdoor, sensory-rich play in childhood development. Host Jenny Erich speaks with Katherine Craft, a pediatric physical therapist, TimberNook provider, and founder of the nonprofit Live4, about the science, philosophy, and practical realities of providing outdoor play opportunities for all children—including those with diverse needs and abilities. Together, they discuss why movement and touch are critical for brain development, how TimberNook operates, the challenges and joys of blending inclusivity with authentic child-led play, and how parents and communities can better support kids in reclaiming "real world" childhoods.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Katherine Craft’s Journey: Physical Therapy & Inclusive Play

• Early Inspiration: Katherine began her career as a pediatric physical therapist and started Live4 out of frustration with barriers (like insurance denials) that prevented children from receiving necessary movement support.

  • "I am a person that is really driven by injustice. Like, if something doesn’t feel right in me, I’m driven to action." (06:35)

• Expanding Access: Live4 began with home-based therapy, then expanded to adaptive outdoor adventures, emphasizing agency and confidence for children with mobility challenges.

  • "They still want to move and play. They still want to get outside. And the typical therapy setting just isn’t set up for that integration into the world that they want to live in." (06:31)

• Combining Missions: TimberNook fit perfectly under Live4’s mission—blending typical and differently-abled children in authentic outdoor environments. Katherine describes the launch and rapid growth of their TimberNook site, emphasizing magic and transformation when children are given freedom in nature. (09:00–10:59)

Making Outdoor Play Inclusive: Philosophy & Practicalities

• Assessment & Preparation: Each participant's needs are assessed ahead of time. For those using wheelchairs, physical space and equipment are adapted to facilitate full participation.

  • "What height is their wheelchair? What is their traction like? … We realized the traction really became the limiting factor … we need to break that down." (11:44)
  • Partnerships, e.g. with Accessibility Wisconsin, enable use of all-terrain power wheelchairs—benefiting both children with and without disabilities.

• Independence, Not Over-Help: Katherine emphasizes staff are trained to encourage independence and agency:

  • "Empowering them the same way you would any other kid … I wonder what you’ve tried. I’m curious if you’ve asked any friends yet." (13:50)
  • This approach often leads to rapid personal growth and pride among children, especially those who have learned to over-rely on adult help.

Notable Quote:

"It is a little bit hard to not go help them … but at the end, they’re so much prouder than they would ever be if you went and helped them."
— Katherine Craft (16:48)

The TimberNook Way: Authentic Play & Time

• Essentials of the TimberNook Philosophy:

  • Two Core Rules: Kindness and maintaining line-of-sight with an adult, but not close adult supervision. (18:10)
  • Freedom with Boundaries: Children are encouraged to solve their own problems, structure their own time and activities, and work through boredom.

• Time & Space Are Critical:

  • Extended, unbroken stretches of time are necessary for deep play. Most traditional environments (classrooms, playgrounds) cut this short.
  • "The first 15 to 20 minutes is almost always chaotic … it takes 45 minutes to an hour for kids to really even figure out what they want to do." (25:37)
  • No scheduled reminders of “what time it is”—it’s always “TimberNook time" to foster timeless immersion. (18:08–20:19)

• Societal Pressure Toward Productivity:

  • Both children and adults are conditioned to focus on productivity, transitions, and time-keeping. Authentic play environments help everyone recalibrate.

Notable Quote:

"It’s timber Nook time. So just… we don’t tell them what time it is … so they start having their own agency over how their day is going to go."
— Katherine Craft (18:08)

Sensory-rich & Risky Play: The Science

• Movement and Touch:

  • "The brain develops through touch and movement. So without touch and that tactile sensation and without movement, we really are going to lack some of those… brainstem development [aspects]." (36:18)

• Messy, Full-Body Play:

  • Sensory development requires direct tactile experiences—mess, mud, crawling, and full engagement.
  • Limiting children to “clean” or structured sensory experiences can impede development of regulation, empathy, and even fine motor skills.

• Parallels to Adult Experience:

  • Giving time and space for play is freeing for adults, too. Being outdoors, letting go of productivity, and slowing down has had a transformative impact on both guests and host.

Notable Quote:

"If we don’t move, we’re going to really lose it. It’s the same use it or lose it mentality."
— Katherine Craft (52:13)

• Risk: Risky play is not the same as unsafe play; learning boundaries and abilities builds real-world resilience.

Play as the Foundation for Learning and Social-Emotional Growth

• Play is Not a Luxury:

  • Referencing Dr. Peter Gray, Jenny and Katherine emphasize that play is not recess from learning—it IS learning.
  • Play develops social skills, resilience, empathy, the ability to make friends, and problem-solving.

• Transfer of Skills:

  • Skills and confidence gained in TimberNook play translate to neighborhoods and home environments. “Once you start seeing more and more kids outside, you’re not going to feel stressed or worried about it anymore because kids do kind of have each other’s backs." (44:42)

Notable Quote:

"Free play is the means by which children learn to make friends, overcome their fears, solve their own problems, and generally take control."
— Peter Gray, quoted by Jenny at (54:40)

Cultural Hurdles & Spreading Change

• Barriers for Parents:

  • Most understand the benefits of play, but busyness, fear of judgment, and safety concerns are major hurdles.
  • "Parents are bought in. They’re learning … but it’s really that hurdle of getting it back to being a norm, a societal norm." (45:13)

• Rebuilding Community:

  • The solution lies in parent connection and shared responsibility—cooperative efforts to build safe, trusting, neighborhood play opportunities.

• Encouraging More TimberNook Providers:

  • Jenny and Katherine advocate for more widespread adoption, including recruiting teachers to experience play themselves.
  • Play is also transformative for adults—movement, risk, and pleasure remain vital throughout the lifespan.

Notable & Memorable Quotes

• On the Value of 'Wasting Time':
  "An adult who has not read Balanced and Barefoot, you know, myself X amount of years ago, would have been like, that is really a waste of time. Or [he’s] rolling a pumpkin down the sidewalk, he wants to smash it..."
  — Jenny Erich (34:44)

• On Adults Rediscovering Play:
  "After I played capture the flag the next day, my legs were so sore ... my whole body felt it the next day and it was just a huge reminder, man, if we don’t move, we’re really going to lose it."
  — Katherine Craft (52:13)

• On Courage and Risk in Childhood:
  "Most of the time, when I think about outdoor play when I was a kid, it did involve something risky, and it was amazing."
  — Katherine Craft (62:00)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Katherine’s Background and Live4’s mission: 06:04 – 07:56
• Integrating TimberNook with inclusive programming: 08:05 – 10:59
• How TimberNook physically adapts for accessibility: 11:33 – 15:03
• Role of independence and agency: 13:50 – 16:48
• The importance of time, space, boredom, and agency: 17:46 – 21:51
• Challenges of time constraints in modern childhood: 21:51 – 27:51
• Effect on adults, slowing down, and time autonomy: 28:31 – 34:03
• The science of sensory play, touch, and movement: 36:17 – 39:10
• Peter Gray’s research and the dwindling of play: 40:21 – 45:13
• Barriers to neighborhood play; supporting parents: 44:42 – 46:56
• Encouraging more providers, teacher experience: 48:23 – 50:06
• How play builds skills for life and work: 54:40 – 58:38
• Details on current TimberNook location and access: 58:38 – 61:03
• Katherine’s favorite childhood outdoor memory: 61:53 – 63:21

Conclusion & Action Steps

• Core Message:
  Authentic, extended, outdoor, sensory-rich play is essential for every child’s development—cognitively, physically, emotionally, and socially. It is not a luxury or a break from learning; it is foundational to a life well-lived.

• For Parents/Educators:

  • Seek (or start!) outdoor play programs like TimberNook in your community.
  • Give children time—long, uninterrupted stretches—to get deeply into play.
  • Trust in children’s abilities to solve problems, assess risk, and learn through doing.
  • Recognize that, for everyone—children or adults—reconnecting with unstructured, real-world play brings unexpected, transformative benefits.

Resources & Links Mentioned

• Live4 & TimberNook—South Central Wisconsin Info: live4.org and TimberNook provider listings
• Recommended Books:
  • Balanced and Barefoot by Angela Hanscom
  • Free to Learn by Peter Gray
  • Smart Moves by Carla Hannaford
  • It’s Okay Not to Share by Heather Shumaker
  • There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather by Linda McGurk
• TimberNook Program Info & Provider Opportunities: timbernook.com
• LetGrow Movement: letgrow.org

“If we can create that within our own neighborhoods, I think the world would change.”
— Katherine Craft (46:56)

(Note: All references to time are MM:SS. Ads and non-content sections have been excluded.)