Education Plans for 2026
By Carly, Environmental Education Manager
As we look toward 2026, our education team is gearing up for an exciting year of growth and innovation. We’re excited to continue to deliver our outdoor education programs! We will dive into fresh pathways to help students connect to the local environment, and advocate for their future.
Here’s a glimpse at what we’ve been working on—and what you can look forward to in the year ahead.
Want to keep up to date with what we’re up to? Sign up for the CPAWS Educator newsletter for lesson plans, updates, and booking information!
Professional Development
In addition to our workshops for students, we’ve launched professional development programming for teachers and post-secondary professionals to incorporate more outdoor experiences. This focuses on the importance of spending time in nature, building relationships with local biodiversity, how this leads to stewardship and reconciliACTION, and ways CPAWS facilitates outdoor learning experiences.
These professional development sessions are designed to give tangible takeaways for educators and professionals to bring the outdoors into their worlds.
We are all connected to nature, whether it’s used as a mindfulness tool, a place for learning, or a reminder of our shared responsibility to protect the world around us.
Check out our webpage to learn more and book!
Student Voices
We are inviting classrooms to participate in our new Student Voices campaign! This is a great opportunity for students to learn more about their local environment and wildlife, and be able to share their own opinions and feelings about why protecting nature is important.
Land and water protection is a shared responsibility, so every voice that speaks up is valuable and has a right to be heard. This campaign will be a great opportunity for students to speak out on what matters to them. We want young people to know that their voices matter, no matter what age you are!
Submit your work by February 13, 2026. We’ll bring all contributions together in a beautifully crafted booklet to share with decision makers and classrooms as an inspiring reminder of why protecting what we already have matters, and of the power of using your voice.
To support teachers participating in our Student Voices Campaign, we will be holding a webinar with background information and more ideas.
This webinar will be on Thursday, December 11 from 6-7pm, held on Zoom. Register now!
Winter Programming
We are excited to bring back our Polar Bear Program this winter! This last year, we were able to reach 629 students at 13 different schools. This year we have a smaller capacity for delivery but are still looking forward to getting students outdoors learning about arctic animals this winter!
We have quite a few upcoming events with various programs – from snowshoe hikes to leadership camps to professional development geared toward winter activities, we are always keeping busy connecting Manitobans of all ages to nature!
Spring Programming
Our popular Nature Discovery Field Trips and Schoolyard Workshops will be posted for booking in February 2026. We are excited to bring back our two themes – Prairie Pollinators and Boreal Bonanza.
These programs get booked up fairly quickly, often a season in advance. Also, we do hope to expand our team this spring/summer to deliver even more programming!
Sign up for our education newsletter, don’t miss out on booking!
Looking Forward…
We are very excited to be pursuing funding to provide more opportunities to get kids into Manitoba’s wild spaces.
We are seeking collaboration from school daycares or community organizations that are open during the summer and serve inner-city communities. If you are interested in a CPAWS workshop or collaborate on an adventure, please reach out to carly@cpawsmb.org.
I am very excited about the ideas already taking shape for 2026! Hopefully, we will have even more in the wings as we await future funding. Thank you to our funders for their support; we can’t wait to bring more of these visions to life.
Learn More:
Check our all our outdoor education programming
Sign up for our education newsletter
View our lesson plans
Learn more about the 2025 team
Thank you to our funders for their generous support they provide for our programming; Manitoba Habitat Conservancy, TD Friends of the Environment, The Government of Manitoba, and The Winnipeg Foundation.
CPAWS Manitoba’s Outdoor Education Program is made possible with funding from Manitoba Habitat Conservancy (MHC) through the Conservation Trust. Established by the Province of Manitoba, the Conservation and GROW Trusts support lasting, nature-based solutions that protect wildlife habitat and help address climate change, supporting opportunities for youth to connect with and learn from nature.