For many who call the Columbia Basin home, a deep connection to nature is part of everyday life. Families raising children here have a unique opportunity to nurture that relationship from an early age—through muddy boots, forest trails, and long days spent outdoors.
Wildsight Kimberley/Cranbrook’s year-round education programs are designed to deepen relationships between children and the natural world. Learning happens outdoors—beneath the dappled shade of lodgepole pines, crouched in the soil, peering at the wonders hidden in shimmering ponds. The simple joys of a childhood outdoors, such as climbing trees, building shelters, and painting rocks, are woven into the curriculum with intention and care. Whether stomping across dry ground, mud, or snow, children discover the ecosystems around them while forming friendships and building confidence.
Behind these programs are enthusiastic educators who believe deeply in the power of outdoor learning. We spoke with Kim Urbaniak, whose passion for connecting people to nature and community shaped Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook’s education programs, including Camp Odyssey, Forest and Nature School, and Meadowbrook Education.
Please introduce yourself and your background/work experience as an Educator.
Hi, I’m Kim Urbaniak, the Education Coordinator with Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook. You might know me from Camp Odyssey, Forest & Nature School, McGinty Lake field trips, or from one of the other school programs I lead through Wildsight’s Regional office. I am passionate about connecting people to place–both nature and community–and have been doing this work for nearly 20 years.
I have an MA in Environmental Education and Communications and my Forest School and Nature School Practitioners Course.
Tell us about your journey as an Educator with Wildsight and Wildsight Kimberley/Cranbrook. How did you get started and how has your role grown?
Like many of you, I moved west to escape the city and live closer to where I play. My husband and I first landed in the Columbia Valley, where I managed Wildsight Invermere’s office and joined Wildsight Regional’s education team. When we moved to Kimberley, I was able to continue with these school programs. We immediately found our community in Kimberley and, not long after I joined the Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook team, I started leading field trips to McGinty Lake and dreaming up Camp Odyssey. Most recently, I worked with a wonderful group of local parents to get Forest & Nature School off the ground before bringing it into the Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook family of programs.
Why is nature-based education impactful or important? What does it offer to kids and families?
The benefits of nature-based education are endless. It has been widely researched and documented that free play and repeated time outdoors helps develop the whole-child – socio-emotional, physical, and cognitive skills. It allows learning in a different context where children can carry out a range of practical, achievable activities with the freedom to explore, play, create and imagine, which helps foster deep positive relationships with place and community. In addition to better physical literacy, play-based and outdoor education can improve mental health, attention, and reduce ADHD symptoms, as well as increase confidence, capacity to learn (motivation, understanding and concentration), communication, critical thinking, problem-solving and social skills.
What do kids get to do at these programs? Why is this important for youth to experience?
Meadowbrook Education (and McGinty Lake Field Trips) are curriculum-based experiential learning. We have a different series of activities for each grade, from kindergarten to high school. Our focus is on repeated visits to the same space to build connection and understanding of cyclical changes. The older groups also do a sustainability-based action project.
Our Forest & Nature School programs use a play-based, child-led, emergent curriculum, where children are offered time and space to build, play, and form relationships with the land and each other. We offer a mix of instructor-led activities and free time. We explore, craft, learn age-appropriate tool use, climb trees, and do plenty of imaginative play. You can learn more about Forest school principles here.
Camp Odyssey is a nature-based day camp, combining some Forest & Nature School ideas with our instructors’ backgrounds in directed environmental/outdoor learning. We spend all week outside, with instructor-led activities each day, supported by exploring, hiking, gardening, crafting, group games, and of course, free play. It’s a low-pressure environment where kids are learning without realizing it!
What kind of feedback do you get from participants and/or their parents?
One of the most impactful comments I’ve ever received was from a family who started out with their 1.5yr old in our parented Deer & Fawns Forest & Nature School before moving up to the unparented Wolf Cubs group. “This has been such a great transition for him, after starting in Deer & Fawns with us. Switching to the unparented group, still with Ms Kim in the same location, has been smooth and easy.”
Another parent shared: “Just wanted to say that [my son] LOVES forest school! Thanks for making it an amazing time for them! This morning, he asked if he got to go to forest school today and [was] sad when the answer was no :).”
Camp Odyssey parents continually share how pleased they are that their kids spend all day outside and come home tired – the happy kind of tired. Parents appreciate that their kids are learning new skills with experienced instructors, and not just being babysat or having free play all day. (Don’t worry though, we DO have free play, just not the whole day!)
What do you find rewarding about this work? What do other Camp staff find rewarding?
Camp staff often share the excitement they get from leading a child to an “ah-ha” moment. That point when tying a knot finally works, when they can identify an animal track on their own, or when they finally understand the concept of sustainability, for example.
One of my favourite things about doing this work in this awesome community is seeing kids around town and hearing them excitedly yell “Hi Ms Kim!”. Their keenness to say hello in public, with their friends or family in tow, tells me we’re doing something right.
Share a fun fact about each of the programs on offer!
Camp Odyssey has been running in Cranbrook since 2020! Last year, we started a partnership with the College of the Rockies (COTR) in Cranbrook to expand our reach and firm up our program location. It’s been great to have COTR support, and we are expanding into two different age groups this year (like we have been doing in Kimberley): a keen group of Happy Hikers aged 8-11 who want to explore deep into the forest, and a more relaxed group of Nearby Naturalists aged 5-8 who do less hiking and more nature crafts.
At Forest and Nature School, we use tools with babies! Believe it or not, there are age-appropriate tools and activities for kids under 4 years old! Think hammers and pumpkins, smashing ice, even helping to hold a saw. We embrace all forms of play from the very beginning.
When it comes to Meadowbrook Education, you might not know that the dock at McGinty Lake was put in for us! The Meadowbrook Community Association used the leftover funding from 2020/21 (remember we couldn’t go on field trips those years…) to install it, and it has become a pretty special spot for the elementary classes we take pond dipping. It was a rough start with too much mud, then not enough water at the lake, but we’ve found our rhythm and discovered there is so much life to explore in McGinty Lake.
What funds these community programs?
Forest and Nature School and Camp Odyssey are funded primarily by registration fees. We do receive a small amount of local sponsorship money to support bursaries and help cover the cost of an Education Assistant to support kids with extra needs. We are looking to expand this offering, so if you or someone you know might like to support us, please get in touch!
The Meadowbrook Education Program is extremely fortunate to be fully supported by an anonymous local donor. Thank you deeply!
What are some of the biggest challenges you face running these programs?
The weather is certainly one of our biggest considerations. There is so much value in being outdoors in less-than-ideal weather: it builds problem-solving skills, confidence, and critical thinking among other things. When our bodies are warm and our bellies are satisfied, it’s surprisingly easy to forget about rain, cold, or heat. Kids can be incredibly resilient when given the opportunity to try!
We do our best to ensure everyone is dressed appropriately and has enough food and water or hot drinks, but there is a limit, and we pay close attention to weather forecasts. Extreme conditions mean different things for different programs. We might reschedule a school field trip, head to our backup indoor location for Camp Odyssey, or rebook a Forest & Nature School day.
What can people do to support these programs and help spread the word?
Word of mouth is our best friend! Talking with your friends about your experiences and sharing our social media posts is incredibly helpful in spreading the word and getting kids signed up for outdoor programs with Ms Kim. Help us build momentum – the more kids registered for our programs, the more programs we can offer and the more kids get to benefit!
Also, more specifically, we are looking for a long-term home base for our Forest & Nature School, with easy toddler-friendly access and the ability to have a (semi-)permanent shelter. If you have any ideas or are keen to volunteer some legwork, please reach out to kim@wildsight.ca!
Congratulations, Kim!
Wildsight Kimberley/Cranbrook is ever grateful for Kim, who received an Award of Excellence from the Columbia Basin Environmental Education Network in 2023 for her outstanding contributions towards encouraging environmental stewardship and sustainability in the Canadian Columbia Basin through environmental education.
We invite you to learn more about these excellent programs:
Camp Odyssey **Spring Camp Registration is open!**
Forest and Nature School
Meadowbrook Education
