Welcome back to Now I Get It with Dr. Andy. I'm sitting down once again with Angela McEwen, our resident expert in early childhood development, to dig into one of the most overlooked secrets of raising healthy, capable kids — proprioception. Angela has spent decades in childcare, including helping coordinate San Francisco's childcare response during the pandemic, and what she's discovered about the role of natural play environments is something every parent and educator needs to hear.

In this conversation, Angela shares the remarkable results from a nature-based outdoor redesign pilot program at her San Francisco preschool — and what happened blew even her away. For the first time in her career, children developed proprioceptive skills entirely on their own, without any formal instruction, simply by playing with logs, mud, and the natural world around them. We also get into why full-body sensory experiences — from jumping into pools to rolling in the dirt — matter more than flashcards or structured fine motor activities, and how giving kids a little controlled risk teaches them to trust themselves for a lifetime.

In this episode, you will learn:

(01:01) How animal movement games build proprioception in young children

(02:54) Why rushing kids into formal schooling before age seven backfires

(05:30) The nature-based playground redesign — and its surprising results

(09:49) The Olympian study: why trampolines and full-body impact matter

(14:57) Why peeling bark and picking berries beat fine motor activities

(19:59) Why a little controlled stress builds lifelong resilience

Let’s connect!

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