This winter, Wildsight educators headed into forests, fields, and schoolyards with some exciting new tools thanks to generous support from TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.
The funding supported the purchase of a Stories in the Wild kit for every educator on our team. The kit provides the perfect framework for storytelling, investigation, imagination, and fun—all found in nearby nature. Using the resource to deepen the learning that happens on a Winter Wonder field trip, students got to learn how to observe and interpret animal tracks and signs across the winter landscape. Even when tracks aren’t immediately visible, the track sheets help guide inquiry and storytelling, encouraging students to think like wildlife detectives.
With these kits in hand, our Winter Wonder educators guided more than 1,500 young learners as they explored who might have been moving across the landscape before them. Students stepped into the lives of some of the common animals in our region, creating detailed stories using clues from both the tracksheet and the ground around them.
Where are the tracks going?
Why are they heading that way?
Are they running from a predator, or searching for food?
There are no wrong answers—only curiosity, creativity, and connections to the natural world.
“The stories in the wild kit was extremely helpful this year with the lack of snow. This kit allowed me to essentially create a little bit of snow with the white sheet and have a whole activity around the tracks. It was a life-saver!” Jessie Caza, Wildsight Educator
“The students really liked the fake scat and how realistic it is. The ‘gross’ but cool intersection really hooks the students into looking closer at the track sheet. The track sheet is also way better than my hand-drawn bed sheet version.” Melissa Flint, Wildsight Educator
The grant also provided funding for our educators to purchase Indigenous learning resources to deepen their understanding of Indigenous perspectives, stories, and the First Peoples Principles of Learning. These materials help bring Indigenous knowledge and perspectives into our environmental education programs, enriching students’ understanding of the land, seasonal cycles, and our shared responsibility to care for the natural world.
We’re grateful to TD Friends of the Environment Foundation for helping us equip our educators with tools and resources to inspire the next generation of environmental stewards.
