Teaching and Learning together since 2008.

This training is for teachers/community program leaders, facilitators,  who can assemble  a group of between 6 and 30 children between the ages of 8 and 12 (grades 3-7).

December until February you will experience an online support program that helps facilitate adventures outside. In the process you will become a Master of Adventure.

This pilot training uses new software to make the learning experience for teachers much more palatable.

• Less time on Zoom
• Easily accessible videos and resources from an App on your phone (or computer).
• Access to a mentor from a click of a button.

Receive support and training on topics such as;

• How to run Wild Craft Play
• Risk and Hazard Management
• Nature Connection Practices
• Financial and Ecological Literacy
• Coping Mechanisms for Youth with Varying Needs
• Free-Cycling and the Creative Arts
• Place Conscious Ecological Practice
• The Arts of Storytelling & Story-Catching
• How to Integrate Curriculum and Objectives into the Game
• Self-Care and Support

From the Founder, Jamie Black

When I train people to lead Wild Craft Play, I have come to understand that this experience is for teachers or leaders who are confident outdoor educators and are seeking something more dynamic, exciting, engaging and even magical.

I have played this game with different groups of youth for over 10 years now, and it’s evolution comes from tried and revised feedback from youth playing the game. These adopts practices and techniques come from a variety of games and pedagogies, has morphed into a unique and compelling platform. For some teachers, this is “child’s play” and you are off to the races, knowing exactly what you want and run with it, go ahead, adapt and change it and make it your own.

For some teachers it’s a challenge because I ask you to change your facilitation style from teaching to more of a guide role or facilitator. Working along side, or even sometimes behind the youth; witnessing, watching, and waiting. Although I appreciate that you might be more accustomed to helping, supporting and doing things for youth, this program is designed to let the youth lead.

With the Hummingbird Approach, we have a few techniques that hook them, making them crave more, and anticipate the next activity and await eagerly for your next move.  Built from the shoulders of giants such as; John Dewey, Jerome Bruner, and Montessori’s theories of Guided Discovery Learning; Jon Young and the 8 Shields Model with the Art of Mentoring; Role Play strategies from World of WarCraft, Cards, and resources from games like WildCraft, The Sacred Storyteller, Practices such as using dice in DnD, Tangible resources like in Minecraft, Questing with Clark and Glazier, and LARPing, the list goes on. 

With every adventure, we adapt to the changes, especially now with what is happening because of Covid.  We have learned to break things down a bit more, offer more support to teachers and leaders online, ensuring that there is less reading required and more tangible tools to simply use such as videos of Jamie speaking directly to the youth. 

By turning this into a step-by-step “compass” where you get what you need when you need it, rather than receiving a handful of reading material to start, the journey of learning by doing is much easier to swallow, allowing time to digest and celebrate success.

Kelli, a trained Wild Craft Play practitioner on Vancouver Island, has a class of grade 6’s and a great wilderness setting at a private school. She hosted Wild Craft Play 3 days a week, for at least 4 hours a day for months, which is not required for success in this program, yet quite a privilege. The feedback from young people is that they want to play this more, more often, and for longer. Even in sideways rain, one youth hollered “Can we play this all winter?”