SPFGA Outdoor Youth Program - Bushcraft & Wilderness Living Skills

The Sherwood Park Fish and Game Association Outdoor Youth Program is grounded in the understanding that children and youth play a crucial role as future stewards of our planet.

Through outdoor education initiatives, the program aims to nurture responsible environmental stewardship. Research indicates that engaging in outdoor activities significantly improves the mental well-being and happiness of young people, enriching their overall quality of life, and that outdoor experiences bolster physical, mental, and cognitive health, as well as enhancing problem-solving abilities. By fostering a deeper connection between youth and nature, the program seeks to enhance ecological literacy and cultivate conservation-oriented values and actions, essential for addressing current environmental and conservation challenges. Recognizing the declining trend of outdoor engagement, especially in urban settings, our Youth program offers structured outdoor experiences to counteract this shift. These experiences not only foster a meaningful connection with nature but also facilitate the development of outdoor skills and competencies, empowering youth to better engage with, and appreciate the natural world.

Through a safe and supportive learning environment, this will be comprised of six sessions starting in May 2024.

Bushcraft & Wilderness Living Skills will be led by Colleen and Dale Kiselyk, owners and instructors of Nature Alive Adventures, on Saturday, May 25, 2024. Colleen and Dale will introduce youth participants to bushcraft, the art of firecraft, animal tracking, knife skills and carving, ropes and knots, and plant uses, and campfire cooking systems.

Youth can expect to be inspired, entertained, and engaged through Dale and Colleen’s fun and safe teaching style. Dale and Colleen have years of combined experience working with youth of all ages.

Participants are encouraged to bring their own survival kits, cool gadgets, and favourite survival kit items to the day. SPFGA will lend participants knives and ferro rods. Nature Alive Adventures will supply all the other materials, so participants only need to bring their interest in bushcraft and wilderness living skills.

Attendee Age

Attendees must be between 12 and 17 years of age.

Session Leader Biographies

Dale and Colleen have been teaching bushcraft, survival, winter camping trips, animal hide tanning, trapline tours, and leading canoe trips and courses throughout Alberta since 2011. Dale and Colleen have enjoyed great success in Alberta, and their influence is now reaching out around the globe through their successful YouTube Channel, social media, and flagship trips and courses that have attracted participants internationally.

Colleen Kiselyk: Lover of the outdoors – even in our cold Canadian winters! Explorer of the small unnoticed places and spaces. Mother of five, stepmom of two, mother-in law of four, grandmother of four, wife to one and a slave to six cats. Stricken with wanderlust, overcome by curiosity, chronically distracted, a voracious reader, passionate canoeist, and hopelessly optimistic.

Colleen is a Let’s talk Science Teacher Leader, Outdoor Council of Canada Instructor Trainer, Paddle Canada Canoe Instructor, Swim Canada Coach, Lifesaving Society Swim Instructor. graduate gtudies at Acadia University for Masters of Outdoor Learning and a schoolteacher for over 30 years.

Dale Kiselyk is a tracker and pursuer of animals, paddler of rivers and lakes, explorer of forests. He is a father of seven, climber of mountains, an outdoor fanatic, and obsessed with bushcraft.

Dale possesses the Animal Tracker Level III with Tracker Evaluation North America, Paddle Canada Canoe Instructor and Instructor Trainer, Outdoor Council of Canada Instructor Trainer, Search & Rescue Fundamentals, swift water technician, team leader, Man Tracker Level I, Wilderness Living Skills Instructor; certified by the one and only Mors Kochanski, Kamana Naturalist Training, resident, and registered trapper and trapline manager, and hunting guide.

Will there be refreshments?

No, but a water cooler is available. Participants should bring their own reusable bottles.

Is lunch included?

No. Participants will be responsible for providing their own lunch.

What happens if there's bad weather?

Unless the weather poses safety conditions, this event will proceed.

Is an SPFGA membership required in order to register?

No, these sessions are open to both members and non-members.

We will refund registration fees if an event is cancelled. Outside of that, individual refunds will not be provided. Please ensure your availability prior to booking. Individuals who cannot make the event may transfer their registration to another individual.

Host or Publisher Sherwood Park Fish & Game Association Board