Academy in the Wild - a Forest and Nature School

30/01/2026

🌸 SPRING REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN IN MAGRATH! 🌸
Join us this spring for outdoor play, hands on exploration, and child led learning in nature. Our spring session supports confidence, creativity, social growth, and a strong connection to the outdoors, all through meaningful, play based experiences 🌿

🌳 Magrath Spring Program Details
🗓 Thursdays, March 26-June 4 (10 weeks)

🌞 Morning Sessions (ages 3–10)
9:00am – 12:00pm

🌿 Afternoon Sessions (ages 3–10) **FULL/WAITLIST**
12:25pm – 3:25pm

Spots are limited and tend to fill quickly so enrol today!

🔗 Register here
academyinthewild.com/our-programs
academyinthewild.com/enroll

📸 Follow along and see what learning in the wild looks like
instagram.com/academy_in_the_wild

“Don’t just tell your children about the world, show them.” ~ Penny Whitehouse Immersing children in supported, yet unstructured, play based learning experiences in Lethbridge Indian Battle Park. We aim to foster and build children’s resilience, connection and environmental stewardship throu...

27/11/2025

laughter learning and communication🩹⛑️

20/11/2025

Turns out Mother Nature wanted the grand finale and she delivered. It snowed on us all day and the kids barely noticed because they were too busy building snow people, flipping doughnuts over the fire, stirring stone soup, and whipping up lip chaps and bath bombs like tiny forest chemists.

HUGE thank you to our wild families for continuously trusting us to be part of your village. You make this work feel like magic. Have the coziest winter❤️❄️☃️

PS. More posts coming as we catch up on sharing all the goodness from the season!

13/11/2025

Consider this the post that took the scenic route, through the trees, and maybe stopped for snacks! But honestly, how could we not share the fun of roasting fire foods (apple crisps, roasted pumpkin, and hot chocolate). Decorating, cooking in, carving and destroying pumpkins, and a whole lot of leaf fun!!

12/11/2025

“A ship is safe in harbor, but that’s not what ships are built for.” – John A. Shedd

05/11/2025

Nature is the best teacher, offering everything you need right at your fingertips. Out here, your imagination is the only limit!

This week we made natural glue, cattail dolls, cast animal tracks, explored bones, found a huge junglegym tree, and encountered the highest water level we have ever seen at one of our sites! Every project was a hands-on adventure in creativity and discovery! 🌿🔥🪶

23/10/2025

After stepping back in time to the world of cave painting, these wildlings looked like they came right out of a coal mine. Berries, ashes, slate, and even coal was ground up to fine dust and transformed today!

One of our crews was so dedicated to making high-quality primitive paintbrushes that they grabbed scissors and snipped bits of their own hair! While giving kids that kind of personal autonomy can be hard at times, it made the experience so much more memorable and exciting for them!

15/10/2025

Every cool invention started with someone saying, “What if?”

We took a long stroll to rediscover wonder in the world around us, to stay awake to the things most people stop seeing.

When we use all five senses, we connect more deeply…not just with nature, but with everything and everyone around us. It helps a wild brain feel present and a restless body find calm. 🌿👣✨

Things that made these Wildlings wonder:
• a sparkling creek
• a hole with a decaying deer
• bones, bones, and more bones
• a geocache holding a story of Lethbridge’s “ghost train” (yes, we searched for it most of the day!)
• spotted leaves
• the world beneath the soil
• who made the newest dug hole with three different skeletons?!
- pink tipped grass
- seashells in alberta!? (River snails 😉)
• why does fall smell different from other seasons?

…

11/10/2025

What do we do when there is a fire ban at one of our locations? Still have a fire day (with propane instead of wood)! Yes it’s amazing to explore and find adventure, however sometimes we just want to settle in, tinker, eat and play!

09/10/2025

Fresh apple cider, fire foods, dirty hands, big bubbles, and tons of play! Childhood magic in its purest form.

16/09/2025

What a way to kick off the fall! 🍂 From rattlesnake dissections to community-building games, foraging field guides, storytelling, and good old creek-splashing fun, it was a week packed with learning, laughter, and adventure!

From t-shirts to snow gear, from warmth to chill, from sun to snow! ❄️☀️🍂 We’re here for it all!

29/07/2025

5 summer camps back to back was a rush to say the least, but it was fantastic ending it with these beautiful Metis wildlings ❤️❤️.