Saskatchewan conversations about learning, playing and surviving outside.
Let’s Talk Outdoors is a Saskatchewan conversation show about learning outside, from children's risky play and summer camp to bushcraft, treaty learning and climate education. Its guests include the executive director of the Saskatchewan Camps Association and the first person from Saskatchewan to appear on 'Alone', who spent 48 days in the sub-Arctic.
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Let’s Talk Outdoors is a SaskOutdoors conversation series about learning outside, and its home ground is plain from the opening lines. Most episodes begin with a land acknowledgment for the Cree, Assiniboine, Dene, Dakota, Lakota, Nakota, Métis and other nations of the Treaty 6 and Treaty 4 territories, followed by an encouragement to learn the stories of the land. Those themes come back in the interviews themselves. Jennifer MacDonald describes a graduate course she took with Dr. Dwayne Donald and Elder Bob Cardinal that ran across the 13 moons of the Cree calendar, with the group meeting monthly in circle at Elder Cardinal's ceremonial grounds. Kristen Simonson, Director and Lead Educator of Sage Creek Prairie School, talks about bushcraft and reconciliation together. The practical episodes are just as concrete. Monique Strachan, Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Camps Association, walks through a find-a-camp tool that sorts by location, activities such as horses or wall climbing, day or overnight stays, special needs support and accreditation. She also mentions that many camps rent out their facilities for family gatherings and staff retreats. Denise lays out the kinds of risky play she values: rough and tumble games, dangerous tools (a toddler's scissors count), and the thrill children get from believing they are lost while educators know exactly where they are. She signs off with Ms. Frizzle's advice to take chances, make mistakes and get messy. Adults get attention too. Kristen's school runs an adult program in survival and traditional skills, and its sourdough course is popular enough to puzzle her. Dr. Marcia McKenzie makes the case for climate education that ends in action, and one interviewer later picks out how that action step can help with climate anxiety. For a first listen, '48 Days Alone with Michelle Wohlberg' is an easy way in. Michelle, the first person from Saskatchewan on the TV show 'Alone', spent 48 days on Season 6 and is quick to point out that the location marketed as Arctic was really sub-Arctic. She also admits that applying to a television show at all takes a bit of conceit, especially for someone who doesn't watch television. The interviewers change from episode to episode: Leah appears in several, joined at different times by Mike and Justine, while Derek and Heather take the 'Alone' conversation, one of them a self-declared fan of the series. Some episodes close with the interviewers comparing what stayed with them, and in one an interviewer resolves to take on new outdoor challenges in the months ahead. The tone stays warm and encouraging. Listeners come away seeing outdoor education as something that lasts a lifetime, from toddlers and summer campers to adults relearning how to play.
Made for: Suits a listener who teaches, parents or runs programs and wants to hear how others get children and adults outside, from choosing a camp to allowing risky play. It also fits someone curious about treaty learning and the stories of the land in a Saskatchewan setting.
What sets it apart: It is tied to a specific place: episodes typically begin by acknowledging the nations of the Treaty 6 and Treaty 4 territories, and treaty and reconciliation come up in the interviews as well. Its range is also wide, putting a camp-finder walkthrough and toddler scissors next to a 13-moon graduate course and 48 days on 'Alone'.
A podcast about recreation and education in the outdoors in Saskatchewan, Canada by SaskOutdoors
A kid hiding behind a tree counts as risky play; your idea of outdoor learning may need updating.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A clear, practical guide to choosing camp with care and understanding why the experience can last.
Summer camp comes through as more than a childhood pastime: it is framed as an educational setting that can shape confidence, leadership, and a lasting sense of belonging.
A thoughtful conversation on climate education, action, and the outdoor experiences that help shape a career.
Marcia McKenzie brings a broad educational lens to climate education, action, and the early outdoor experiences that can shape a career. Now a professor and associate dean of sustainability in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne, she looks back on growing up…
A grounded early-learning discussion makes risky play feel practical, purposeful, and close to children's everyday joy.
Outdoor play is framed as everyday early-learning practice, shaped by a guest with 30 years in the field and a personal memory of growing up around parks and school grounds.
A thoughtful conversation on how maps, ceremony, and sustained attention can reshape outdoor education.
Jennifer McDonald's conversation about outdoor education begins with childhood time along the northern shores of Lake Ontario, where bird songs, rowing, and close attention to land shaped an early sense of place.
Bushcraft, traditional skills, and outdoor resilience become shared work across ages.
Outdoor learning takes a practical, repeatable shape as Kristen Simonson frames it as something people can return to across different stages of life.
Forest school pedagogy, overthought with affection and mud.
Héctor and Beto dissect Mexican grammar, slang, and news in native-speed Spanish conversations.
Small habit changes meet hands-on AI experiments.
Monique Strachan, Executive Director of the Saskatchewan Camps Association, explains how the SCA supports accredited member camps through leadership, advocacy, and education.
Marcia McKenzie says climate education needs cognitive, social-emotional, and action dimensions, not just facts.
Denise breaks risky play into six forms: speed, heights, getting lost, rough and tumble, dangerous tools, and dangerous elements.
Jennifer MacDonald says treaty is not a historical document but a framework for "how we're supposed to live together" with "more than human relatives."
Kristen Simonson defines bushcraft as fire, shelter, water, and medicinal plants, not domination.
Tirza Reilkoff and Denise Heppner describe outdoor play in a rural Saskatchewan kindergarten and grade one classroom.
At Engelfeld School in Saskatchewan, outdoor educator Marissa Carmark describes using nearby nature to connect students with science, art, and writing.
Carolyn Bates-Hardy of the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association describes the Connect on Common Ground campaign for June Recreation and Parks Month.
Interview with Michelle Wolberg, first Saskatchewan contestant on Alone, discussing her experience and survival lessons.
An interview with a wilderness first aid expert discussing trip preparedness for outdoor adventures.
Hosts interview a travel blogger about her world travels and outdoor winter activities in Saskatchewan.
Interview with a 15-year-old who canoed from Alberta to Saskatchewan for a summer job, discussing his adventurous upbringing and the challenges of the trip.