Welcome to 2021 and a Happy New Year to our listeners!

Today is the start of a series of Nature Magic podcasts talking to inspirational people who are dedicated to nature education.

Today Mary is speaking to Michelle Lawton. Michelle founded Stretch the Imagination in 2002. Stretch is a program where children are free to explore and delve deeply into their experiences.


Michelle has a passion for connecting children to the natural world and she started the Natural Classroom in 2010 bringing children out of the classroom and into nature during their weekly school days.

Over the past 10 years, the Natural Classroom has developed into a respected preschool program grounded in nurturing children’s development through creativity, inquiry and connecting to the natural world.

Michelle is also invested in supporting professional development and encouraging the growth of educators who come to work at Stretch.

She continued her own education in 2014 by studying with Jon Young and the educators of the 8 Shields Institute and she recently finished studying with Dan Siegel at the Mindsight Institute in Los Angeles.

We were so lucky to speak to Michelle who has such a deep understanding of the hands on approach to engaging children with nature and also the logistics of setting up programs such as the Natural Classroom.


Thank you for listening to Nature Magic. Please subscribe to the podcast to help with our reach and give us a rating.

Each month in 2021 we are running a draw and the prize this month is a selection of beautiful Irish gifts from the Burren Nature Sanctuary gift shop including a stunning original Burren Flower Fairies print by local artist Susan Meaney.
To be in the draw simply review the podcast and send a screenshot to mary@burrennaturesanctuary.ie.

Recommended Books:

Our Wild Calling
By Richard Louv

Braiding Sweetgrass
By Robin Wall Kimmerer

Connect with Michelle Lawton at:
michelle@stretchtheimagination.com

Check out the website at:
www.stretchtheimagination.com