About Our Family
The natural world has always had a large place in our family and we wanted to share it with others, but as we learned more research which shows, among other things, on average a person spends 8 hours a day in front of a screen, we wanted to do something. My Natural Playce began in 2011 as a blog dedicated to getting kids outside and away from the screen. As time moved on the writing turned to building as we decided to lean on Walter’s past carpentry skills. First we built things for kids, forts and play areas and then as we recognized adults were not going outside, we began making things such as garden planters, mantra signs and other things.
The folk styles in our work grow from a number of seeds; the fresh simplicity it conveys, our Germanic-Polish roots and to memorialize the artistic crewel (embroidery art) workers of early America.
Now with the kids moving out of homeschool age and Molly, after spending years in upper management, where she created and ran nature-based initiatives for other organizations and wanting to be more hands on, we are launching our own business dedicated to building un-ordinary, beautiful things that help us all realize the nicer things in life are not on a screen.
We hope our products, un-ordinary and built well, will give us the financial ability and trust of community to someday have a stationary place to offer “open-play” for children and a “hobby table” for the adults.
Walter does most of the actually building. Molly volunteers her time doing much of the clerical work. Eva-Marie does most of the stylistic painting and Auguste picks of the miscellany in the middle. Together we make the company.
We are trying to stay local and use the internet as little as possible.
The folk styles in our work grow from a number of seeds; the fresh simplicity it conveys, our Germanic-Polish roots and to memorialize the artistic crewel (embroidery art) workers of early America.
Now with the kids moving out of homeschool age and Molly, after spending years in upper management, where she created and ran nature-based initiatives for other organizations and wanting to be more hands on, we are launching our own business dedicated to building un-ordinary, beautiful things that help us all realize the nicer things in life are not on a screen.
We hope our products, un-ordinary and built well, will give us the financial ability and trust of community to someday have a stationary place to offer “open-play” for children and a “hobby table” for the adults.
Walter does most of the actually building. Molly volunteers her time doing much of the clerical work. Eva-Marie does most of the stylistic painting and Auguste picks of the miscellany in the middle. Together we make the company.
We are trying to stay local and use the internet as little as possible.
About Walter:
From the time I left school in the eighth grade till I married at age 25, I worked in my father's construction business (I was also discerning priesthood for about four years). He had come to America from Germany when he was sixteen and so we did things more primitively and traditional than most. I learned to build a house from beginning to end.
After the birth of our daughter and subsequently our son, and while Molly finished her master’s and pursued a doctorate, I began homeschooling which has lasted for the last eighteen years, now. This, I think, is my greatest accomplishment.
Over the years I have written children stories and essays, mostly for our entertainment, but also to help guide ourselves through this world. These among other things contributed to us becoming critics of the screen-culture and advocating outdoor and open play.
A large part of the reason for starting My Natural Playce was to separate people from the screen. It is why, when Molly was director of the Environmental Learning Center (ELC), I (along with our two children) frequently volunteered there. We three built the children’s play area, the loose parts play area, the fire pit and so many other things. After she left the ELC, I put together a small wood shop in our garage in order to continue this work and experiment. So far, we have learned about alternates to the “treated lumber” phenomenon, joinery that will hold up against the weather and much about European and American folk art (this mostly from Eva-Marie).
I grew up in California, married in Indiana, had our kids in Michigan, bought our first house in Pennsylvania and now live in Florida. I took classed from five colleges in three states. I love America!
Poverty and difficulties of life are worthy of the title, 'education'.
From the time I left school in the eighth grade till I married at age 25, I worked in my father's construction business (I was also discerning priesthood for about four years). He had come to America from Germany when he was sixteen and so we did things more primitively and traditional than most. I learned to build a house from beginning to end.
After the birth of our daughter and subsequently our son, and while Molly finished her master’s and pursued a doctorate, I began homeschooling which has lasted for the last eighteen years, now. This, I think, is my greatest accomplishment.
Over the years I have written children stories and essays, mostly for our entertainment, but also to help guide ourselves through this world. These among other things contributed to us becoming critics of the screen-culture and advocating outdoor and open play.
A large part of the reason for starting My Natural Playce was to separate people from the screen. It is why, when Molly was director of the Environmental Learning Center (ELC), I (along with our two children) frequently volunteered there. We three built the children’s play area, the loose parts play area, the fire pit and so many other things. After she left the ELC, I put together a small wood shop in our garage in order to continue this work and experiment. So far, we have learned about alternates to the “treated lumber” phenomenon, joinery that will hold up against the weather and much about European and American folk art (this mostly from Eva-Marie).
I grew up in California, married in Indiana, had our kids in Michigan, bought our first house in Pennsylvania and now live in Florida. I took classed from five colleges in three states. I love America!
Poverty and difficulties of life are worthy of the title, 'education'.
About Eva-Marie:
I’ve been interested in needlework for most of my life, albeit that’s not very long. After I learned to crochet, I was drawn into historic methods of sewing, knitting, embroidering and all things in between. Learning these methods led me to read and study fashion history as a whole. This has complimented my knowledge and ability at needlework, which has resulted in my desire to make my own clothes. Also, I make historical costumes for my brother and mine reenacting.
My familial ties to Germany (my grandfather came to America when he was 16) and my enjoyment of Classical Ballet has lately lead me to the European folk costumes, designs and the methods of making one of my own. I have always had an interest in American historical costumes and this joined to my enjoyment of camping and hiking in the woods gives me hopes of one day participating with my brother in a Revolutionary War reenactment.
My banjo would feel at peace nearer the Appalachians and clear streams where I can put my feet in the water without fear of an alligator or some other toe-eating animal and practice some folk tunes. My brother and I are nearly continually together, explaining how he has passed some of his interests on to me. He is responsible for my curiosity with black powder firearms, military vehicles and warplanes, especially World War II era. Here, my learning of German language plays a useful part.
I’ve been interested in needlework for most of my life, albeit that’s not very long. After I learned to crochet, I was drawn into historic methods of sewing, knitting, embroidering and all things in between. Learning these methods led me to read and study fashion history as a whole. This has complimented my knowledge and ability at needlework, which has resulted in my desire to make my own clothes. Also, I make historical costumes for my brother and mine reenacting.
My familial ties to Germany (my grandfather came to America when he was 16) and my enjoyment of Classical Ballet has lately lead me to the European folk costumes, designs and the methods of making one of my own. I have always had an interest in American historical costumes and this joined to my enjoyment of camping and hiking in the woods gives me hopes of one day participating with my brother in a Revolutionary War reenactment.
My banjo would feel at peace nearer the Appalachians and clear streams where I can put my feet in the water without fear of an alligator or some other toe-eating animal and practice some folk tunes. My brother and I are nearly continually together, explaining how he has passed some of his interests on to me. He is responsible for my curiosity with black powder firearms, military vehicles and warplanes, especially World War II era. Here, my learning of German language plays a useful part.
About Auguste:
I have been deeply interested in the outdoors, firearms, aircraft and military vehicles for a longer time than I have been interested in anything else. As I learned more about these subjects, I naturally began to learn about the time periods and environment that particular weapons or vehicles were operated. Over time, my interest and knowledge began to encompass World War II, the Civil War, the black powder era and the weapons and wars of the twentieth century. My love of armored vehicles and military aircraft has also introduced me to modeling, and I enjoy building, painting, and especially, weathering these models, and they also allow me to expand my knowledge about how a particular plane is built, for example.
However, despite all this talk about military things, what I enjoy perhaps even more than a good airshow would be catching frogs, snakes, turtles, and what have you at a muddy little northern pond. I caught my first snake when I was one and a half years old, and I have continued to further my interest in reptiles and amphibians, something that Florida has been amazing for, as it is crammed with interesting native species, and even more interesting nonnative/invasive ones. Florida has also proved to be much more fertile in the fishing point of view, and inshore fishing has yielded plentiful results, although we unfortunately lack a proper boat capable of going offshore, our only vessel at the time being a leaky 10ft Jon boat that we are in the process of repairing. Also, I have a telescope, which I use to observe deep sky objects, the moon and planets.
And finally, (not the last of my hobbies by any means, but merely the last important one) stop motion animation has allowed me to combine not only the previously described hobbies of all things military, models, herpetology, fishing, boating, and astronomy together, but also some of my other hobbies, such as sci-fi movies, Godzilla, RC cars and tanks, dinosaurs, and hunting, and blend them together into a short and highly comical movie.
I have been deeply interested in the outdoors, firearms, aircraft and military vehicles for a longer time than I have been interested in anything else. As I learned more about these subjects, I naturally began to learn about the time periods and environment that particular weapons or vehicles were operated. Over time, my interest and knowledge began to encompass World War II, the Civil War, the black powder era and the weapons and wars of the twentieth century. My love of armored vehicles and military aircraft has also introduced me to modeling, and I enjoy building, painting, and especially, weathering these models, and they also allow me to expand my knowledge about how a particular plane is built, for example.
However, despite all this talk about military things, what I enjoy perhaps even more than a good airshow would be catching frogs, snakes, turtles, and what have you at a muddy little northern pond. I caught my first snake when I was one and a half years old, and I have continued to further my interest in reptiles and amphibians, something that Florida has been amazing for, as it is crammed with interesting native species, and even more interesting nonnative/invasive ones. Florida has also proved to be much more fertile in the fishing point of view, and inshore fishing has yielded plentiful results, although we unfortunately lack a proper boat capable of going offshore, our only vessel at the time being a leaky 10ft Jon boat that we are in the process of repairing. Also, I have a telescope, which I use to observe deep sky objects, the moon and planets.
And finally, (not the last of my hobbies by any means, but merely the last important one) stop motion animation has allowed me to combine not only the previously described hobbies of all things military, models, herpetology, fishing, boating, and astronomy together, but also some of my other hobbies, such as sci-fi movies, Godzilla, RC cars and tanks, dinosaurs, and hunting, and blend them together into a short and highly comical movie.
About Molly:
I have spent much of my adult life in strategic planning and community relations building, focused on the intersection of ecology & the natural world and human well-being. Currently, I serve in a volunteer support role in my family's new endeavor, as Walter builds his own business as he moves on from homeschooling our children for nearly the last two decades.
I am full-time the Community Health Improvement Manager at the Florida Department of Health in Indian River; I see it as an honor to work for our governor. My prior positions included the Executive Director of the Environmental Learning Center in Vero Beach, Director of Science Education and Research at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, PA, and Biology Lecturer and Science Laboratory Director at Ave Maria University in Ypsilanti, MI, prior to the school's move to FL. Additionally, for nearly 15 years, I taught various undergraduate and graduate courses, in subjects spanning human anatomy & physiology to animal behavior to environmental education & field research techniques, at Purdue University, Miami University and the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, among other places. I love teaching.
I earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Dallas; an M.S. in Ecology from Purdue University; and completed post-graduate work, attaining Ph.D. candidate status, at Miami University (OH), studying people's interactions with nearby nature in the built environment.
I am an accomplished, self-taught photographer, having my work exhibited at the Sundance Film Festival as “one of seven emerging female artists from across the U.S.” in 2009 and displayed at the World Wilderness Congress in Mexico in 2010. My photography has also graced book and music album covers, and been featured in many nature and human-nature related magazine articles, books and websites. I spent many years teaching photography and am currently represented by Getty Images, though I now spend more of my time with watercolor painting and pen & ink.
I grew up in NH, the third oldest of 12 children, the daughter of the founder and longtime publisher of the Catholic book publishing company, Sophia Institute Press. I experienced a very high number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which made a significant impact on my life's trajectory, work and passion to help others to see beauty and find joy in their everyday lives. I am in constant awe of the beauty of the natural world and see it as a conduit to God.
Visit www.mollysteinwald.com to learn more about my current photographic and artistic work.
I have spent much of my adult life in strategic planning and community relations building, focused on the intersection of ecology & the natural world and human well-being. Currently, I serve in a volunteer support role in my family's new endeavor, as Walter builds his own business as he moves on from homeschooling our children for nearly the last two decades.
I am full-time the Community Health Improvement Manager at the Florida Department of Health in Indian River; I see it as an honor to work for our governor. My prior positions included the Executive Director of the Environmental Learning Center in Vero Beach, Director of Science Education and Research at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, PA, and Biology Lecturer and Science Laboratory Director at Ave Maria University in Ypsilanti, MI, prior to the school's move to FL. Additionally, for nearly 15 years, I taught various undergraduate and graduate courses, in subjects spanning human anatomy & physiology to animal behavior to environmental education & field research techniques, at Purdue University, Miami University and the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens, among other places. I love teaching.
I earned a B.S. in Biology from the University of Dallas; an M.S. in Ecology from Purdue University; and completed post-graduate work, attaining Ph.D. candidate status, at Miami University (OH), studying people's interactions with nearby nature in the built environment.
I am an accomplished, self-taught photographer, having my work exhibited at the Sundance Film Festival as “one of seven emerging female artists from across the U.S.” in 2009 and displayed at the World Wilderness Congress in Mexico in 2010. My photography has also graced book and music album covers, and been featured in many nature and human-nature related magazine articles, books and websites. I spent many years teaching photography and am currently represented by Getty Images, though I now spend more of my time with watercolor painting and pen & ink.
I grew up in NH, the third oldest of 12 children, the daughter of the founder and longtime publisher of the Catholic book publishing company, Sophia Institute Press. I experienced a very high number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which made a significant impact on my life's trajectory, work and passion to help others to see beauty and find joy in their everyday lives. I am in constant awe of the beauty of the natural world and see it as a conduit to God.
Visit www.mollysteinwald.com to learn more about my current photographic and artistic work.
