Actions of Play

Heather Jackson of The Sunflower School

Welcome to Actions of Play, a podcast for early childhood educators who believe in the power of play. Hosted by Heather Jackson, a Reggio Emilia–inspired educator with 40+ years of experience, this podcast shares stories, insights, and practical strategies to deepen your practice. From play schemas and observation to child-led learning, explore how to support curiosity, creativity, and connection in early childhood education.

  1. 6 hrs ago

    Image of the Child

    In this episode of Actions of Play, Heather Jackson explores the image of the child through a Reggio Emilia lens and what that belief looks like in everyday practice. Heather shares why children are not empty vessels waiting for adults to fill them with knowledge, but creative meaning-makers who learn through relationships, inquiry, play and many different forms of expression. Through stories from her own practice at The Sunflower School, Heather looks at what can happen when educators resist the urge to step in with the answer and instead observe, listen, offer materials and give children space to work through their own ideas. She also explores the idea of the “rich child,” the role of the educator as researcher and how the image we hold of children influences the environments we create, the questions we ask, the risks we allow and the possibilities we make available. This episode is an invitation to reflect on the image of the child you carry into your own practice and how that image shows up in the choices you make every day. RESOURCES Book: 100 Languages of Children Loris Malaguzzi — Your Image of the Child: Where Teaching BeginsAn exploration of how the image we hold of children influences the way we teach, interact and create learning environments. LINK Carla Rinaldi — The Teacher as a ResearcherA deeper look at the educator’s role as observer, listener and researcher within the Reggio Emilia Approach.- LINK Ontario Reggio AssociationResources, articles and professional learning related to the Reggio Emilia Approach.https://ontarioreggioassociation.ca/resources/ Reggio Children: Learn more about the Reggio Emilia Approach directly from Reggio Emilia, including the image of the child, the hundred languages, documentation and research.https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/ SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you found this episode valuable, we invite you to subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps us reach more educators who are committed to deepening their practice and creating meaningful learning experiences for children. CONNECT WITH HEATHER Heather Instagram: @thesunflower_studio School Instagram: @thesunflowerschool LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-jackson-17b0b455/  Take a Virtual Tour: Click Here Book: Actions of Play

  2. Sep 19

    Bridging the Gap Between Educators and Families with The Educator’s Table

    In this episode of Actions of Play, Heather is joined by Vicki and Emily from The Educator’s Table for a conversation about the relationship between early childhood educators and families. They explore why that relationship can sometimes feel disconnected, what families may not see about the work happening in early learning programs, and why educators also need to understand the realities families are navigating outside of child care. The conversation also touches on play, professional learning, educator burnout, and the importance of creating stronger connections around the children we all care about. LINKS Educator’s Table Podcast: https://educators-table.com/#podcast  Educator’s Website: https://educators-table.com/  Educator’s Table Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.educators.table/  SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you found this episode valuable, we invite you to subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps us reach more educators who are committed to deepening their practice and creating meaningful learning experiences for children. CONNECT WITH HEATHER Heather Instagram: @thesunflower_studio School Instagram: @thesunflowerschool LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-jackson-17b0b455/  Take a Virtual Tour: Click Here Book: Actions of Play

  3. Sep 12

    The Teacher as Researcher

    In this episode of Actions of Play, Heather Jackson explores the role of the teacher as researcher in Reggio-inspired practice. She looks at how observation, documentation, relationships, and reflection can help educators move beyond simply planning what comes next and instead pay closer attention to the theories, questions, and ideas already emerging through children’s play. Heather also explores documentation as more than something we display on the wall and how it becomes a tool for revisiting learning, collaborating with colleagues, engaging families, and deciding how we might extend children’s thinking without taking over their play. This week’s Action of Play invites you to choose one moment of play and approach it with the curiosity of a researcher: What might the children be trying to understand? RESOURCES From Teaching to Thinking by Ann Pelo and Margie Carter Finding our way by Fiona Zinn and Anne Van Dam  Actions of Play SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you found this episode valuable, we invite you to subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps us reach more educators who are committed to deepening their practice and creating meaningful learning experiences for children. CONNECT WITH HEATHER Heather Instagram: @thesunflower_studio School Instagram: @thesunflowerschool LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-jackson-17b0b455/  Take a Virtual Tour: Click Here Book: Actions of Play

  4. Sep 5

    Protecting Play in Kindergarten with DECE Christine Murray

    In this episode of Actions of Play, Heather is joined by Christine Murray, a DECE with the Simcoe County District School Board and Vice President of her local DECE association, for a conversation about play-based learning in Ontario kindergarten classrooms. Christine shares how her own thinking about play has evolved over her 25-year career, why slowing down has changed the way she observes and supports children, and how educators can uncover rich learning without rushing to control or direct every experience. They also explore the role of the ECE within the kindergarten team, responding to children’s interests, helping families understand the value of play, and why relationships need to come before academics, especially at the beginning of the school year. A thoughtful conversation about seeing children as competent and capable and creating the conditions where meaningful learning can happen through play. LINKS Christina Murray- Simcoe County- https://www.simcoedeces.com/mobile/person.php?id=13  Peter Gray's Book: Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life https://link.amazon/B0j5xIRa3   New Ontario Kindergarten Curriculum (2026/2027): https://www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca/en/curriculum/kindergarten   SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you found this episode valuable, we invite you to subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps us reach more educators who are committed to deepening their practice and creating meaningful learning experiences for children. CONNECT WITH HEATHER Heather Instagram: @thesunflower_studio School Instagram: @thesunflowerschool LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-jackson-17b0b455/  Take a Virtual Tour: Click Here Book: Actions of Play

  5. Aug 29

    Understanding Play Schemas

    Why does a child keep dumping toys out of a basket? Carrying objects from one side of the playground to the other? Throwing things across the room? Wrapping, spinning, lining up or taking things apart again and again? What can look messy, repetitive, or even challenging may actually be telling us something important about how a child is learning. In this solo episode of Actions of Play, Heather Jackson explores play schemas and how understanding these repeated patterns can completely shift the way we observe and respond to children's play. Heather invites educators to move beyond asking, “Why does this child keep doing that?” and instead become curious about what the child may be investigating. Because when we change the way we see the play, we can change the way we respond to it. When we reframe our thinking to an investigative mindset, we can reframe the child's play.  This episode will have you looking at some of those everyday classroom moments with a very different lens. RESOURCES Books  Actions of Play by Heather Jackson and Lisa Agogliati Threads of Thinking by Kathy Nutbrown Children’s lively minds by Deb Curtis and Nadia Jaboneta SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you found this episode valuable, we invite you to subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps us reach more educators who are committed to deepening their practice and creating meaningful learning experiences for children. CONNECT WITH HEATHER Heather Instagram: @thesunflower_studio School Instagram: @thesunflowerschool LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-jackson-17b0b455/  Take a Virtual Tour: Click Here Book: Actions of Play

  6. Aug 22

    Planning with Research Questions in a Reggio-Inspired School

    In this solo episode of Actions of Play, Heather Jackson explores how research questions can transform the way educators observe, document and plan alongside children. Rather than deciding in advance where learning should go, Heather invites educators to slow down, pay attention to the ideas already emerging through play, and consider how thoughtful questions can help us uncover what children may be trying to understand. She shares how this shift can move planning beyond weekly themes and predetermined outcomes toward curriculum that is responsive, intentional and genuinely co-constructed with children. If you've ever wondered how to take what you're observing in children's play and turn it into meaningful, longer-term planning, this episode offers a place to begin. 🎧 Listen to Planning with Research Questions in a Reggio-inspired School. RESOURCES The book of beautiful questions by Warren Berger Children’s books about questions Why by Nikolai Popov What colour is a kiss by Rocio Bonilla May I bring a friend by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers Why by Laura Vaccaro Seeger The three questions by Jon J Muth Any questions by Marie Louise Gay What can you do with a shoe? By Beatrice Scenk de Regniers/pictures by Maurice Sendak What do you do with an idea? By Kobi Yamada Are you my Mother? PD Eastman SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you found this episode valuable, we invite you to subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps us reach more educators who are committed to deepening their practice and creating meaningful learning experiences for children. CONNECT WITH HEATHER Instagram: @thesunflower_studio LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-jackson-17b0b455/  Take a Virtual Tour: Click Here

  7. Aug 15

    How We Reggio with Jeff Turner, Cassandra Keller and Megan James of Tree Top Academy

    In this episode of Actions of Play, Heather Jackson is joined by Jeff Turner, Cassandra Keller and Megan James of Tree Top Academy and How We Reggio in Jupiter, Florida. Together, they explore what it looks like to move beyond trying to replicate Reggio Emilia and instead build a practice that reflects your own children, educators, community and context. They share the evolution of Tree Top Academy, their journey to Reggio Emilia, the creation of How We Reggio, and why professional learning, experimentation and permission to get it wrong have been so important along the way. The conversation explores slowing down enough to truly notice children's thinking, using Visible Thinking Routines to deepen investigations, and the idea of “research in everyday life.” Jeff also shares one word from their experience in Italy that beautifully captures the work: savour. How might we savour children's questions, ideas and everyday moments rather than rushing toward the next activity? This conversation is an invitation to notice more, listen longer, go deeper and find your own way of bringing Reggio-inspired principles to life. LINKS How We Reggio — their main website and hub for the Reggio-inspired community, learning resources and conference. Embracing the Reggio Emilia Approach: A Beginner’s Guide for Teachers — the book Heather discusses in the episode. Tree Top Academy — the Jupiter, Florida school behind How We Reggio. How We Reggio Study Tours — information about visiting Tree Top Academy and observing their Reggio-inspired practice. How We Reggio Conference & Learning Opportunities — current conferences, workshops and other professional learning opportunities. How We Reggio Instagram SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you found this episode valuable, we invite you to subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps us reach more educators who are committed to deepening their practice and creating meaningful learning experiences for children. CONNECT WITH HEATHER Instagram: @thesunflower_studio LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-jackson-17b0b455/  Take a Virtual Tour: Click Here

  8. Aug 8

    What Children’s Repeated Play Is Really Telling Us with Cassie St. Amand

    In this episode of Actions of Play, host Heather Jackson speaks with Cassie St. Amand, founder of Applejacks Preschool, about recognizing and responding to play schemas in early childhood environments. Together, they explore how repeated patterns of play offer educators a window into children’s thinking, why observation must come before intervention, and how the Reggio Emilia approach and schema-based play naturally complement one another. They also challenge product-focused programming, rigid planning boxes, and the pressure to prepare children for school rather than asking whether schools are prepared for children. This conversation is an invitation to slow down, look more closely, and create environments where children experience the safety, belonging, and freedom they need to learn. LINKS Applejacks Preschool Applejacks Preschool on Instagram Cassie St. Amand on LinkedIn Actions of Play by Lisa Agogliati and Heather Jackson How Does Learning Happen? Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you found this episode valuable, we invite you to subscribe and leave a review. Your support helps us reach more educators who are committed to deepening their practice and creating meaningful learning experiences for children. CONNECT WITH HEATHER Instagram: @thesunflower_studio LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-jackson-17b0b455/  Take a Virtual Tour: Click Here

See All (23)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Welcome to Actions of Play, a podcast for early childhood educators who believe in the power of play. Hosted by Heather Jackson, a Reggio Emilia–inspired educator with 40+ years of experience, this podcast shares stories, insights, and practical strategies to deepen your practice. From play schemas and observation to child-led learning, explore how to support curiosity, creativity, and connection in early childhood education.

Information

  • Creator
    Heather Jackson of The Sunflower School
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    23
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Heather Jackson of The Sunflower School
  • Show Website
    Actions of Play