Meet Kyla Maciosek of Tucson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyla Maciosek.

Can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today. 
In college studying Animal Science, I wanted to be a Zoo Keeper. I even started working summers at the Columbus Zoo as a camp counselor and did my internship with Jack Hanna’s animals. After graduating, I was asked if I would be interested in teaching the Zoo’s preschool classes and declined because I still wanted to pursue zookeeping. I went to South Africa to work with animals because getting a Zookeeping job in the US was exponentially harder than I thought. When I returned, I moved to Phoenix and started working with the Field Trip Programs team at the Phoenix Zoo. I considered this a “foot in the door” and constantly searched for zookeeping jobs. I eventually transitioned to the Zoo’s Family Programs team, where I worked with many more homeschoolers, preschoolers, and their families. At about this time, I resigned from my dreams of being a zookeeper and fell in love with environmental education.

I was introduced to the concept of nature play at this time, and as a team, we started creating nature play programming and events. I then learned about Miami University’s Global Field Program Master’s Degree, where I could research nature play, specifically in the Sonoran Desert. I enrolled in this program and dove into nature play research. I studied attitudes towards nature in the Sonoran Desert versus other environments, helped schools design outdoor classrooms, taught professional development classes for educators, outlined nature play spaces in the greater Phoenix area, and so much more. About halfway through my Master’s Degree, I joined a Reggio Emilia-Inspired preschool classroom, and little did I know how much that would change my life. The Reggio philosophy believes in following the child’s lead, and my role as an educator was to facilitate learning through their interests. I realized that this way of being in a classroom was easier, more joyful, and more fun. My amazing mentor helped me grow as a person and educator. We worked together for a few years, but I moved to Tucson to be with my now husband. I took a few years and worked an unrelated job, but in early 2021 I realized how much I wanted to return to doing what I love. But this time, I wanted to have a bigger impact. I wanted teachers to be able to walk through the same journey I did and experience the joy that can come from being in a child-led and play-based classroom. I loved teaching other adults how to do this; thus, my business idea was born!

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wouldn’t say it’s been perfectly smooth, but it has been perfectly fulfilling. My biggest challenge is and has been people knowing that my services exist! Most schools must provide a certain amount of training hours to their staff; it would be a dream if every school knew that Nature Created Play was an option! My other biggest challenge is getting the importance of nature and play-based early childhood education out there. Over the last several decades, there has been an increase in academic rigor in preschool, while the research shows that just the opposite is best for children. It can be hard to get people to understand that play-based learning sets up children for success socially, emotionally, physically, and academically. I’m incredibly passionate about moving preschool back to play and working tirelessly to help others see the importance of this!

Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work with childcare providers (preschools, daycares, in-home providers. etc.) to provide in-person or online professional development courses. These courses help deepen understanding of the importance of play-based education. We cover topics that include but aren’t limited to loose parts, child-led learning, nature play, risky play, process art, documentation, and outdoor classroom design. What sets Nature Created Play apart is that we build these classes to our customers’ needs. Every teacher and center is unique, and we will create our curriculum to meet their needs. We also follow up with each school. We want to make sure that what is learned is implemented. Otherwise, what was the point?

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
If you read about what I do, you read that I teach a class on “risky play,” so I certainly advocate for risk-taking in early childhood. Children who are allowed to take age-appropriate risks have better risk assessments than adults. What’s an age-appropriate risk in preschool, you ask? Running up the slide, jumping off the couch, trying to climb a tree, engaging in social play, or trying to build a tall tower risk assessment in adulthood looks like answering questions such as: which job should I take/not take; can I make that left turn on a yellow, should I spend my money on a downpayment or increase my emergency fund, should I open that business I’ve dreamed of, how should I approach my boss about that horrible thing they said. So on and so on! That being said, I’m relatively risk-averse. Security is essential to me. Could that be because I didn’t take many risks as a child? Who knows! What I do know about risk-taking is that it builds one self-perception, confidence, abilities, and perseverance.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.naturecreatedplay.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/naturecreatedplay/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/naturecreatedplay/