Pre-Visit Information Package

Talking Trees – Student Program (K to Grade 12)

Welcome to our TALKING TREES - School Program | Presented by Talaysay Tours

Type of Program:  Student Indigenous Walking Tour - Ecology

Tour Description:  This is a walking tour in Stanley Park. Your Talaysay Cultural Land Ambassador(s) / Guide(s) will take you on a forest walk and teach the rich stories and history of the land while you learn how the trees and plants are used by indigenous people for both food and medicine.  Learn to identify a variety of indigenous plants and tree species  so when you venture into the forest you too will know what is edible, medicinal and adaptable for technology.   Emphasis on Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Sustainable Practices and Ecology. 

Date of Tour:  Monday to Friday

Start Time:  10:00 am   End Time:  11:30 am    Duration:  1.5 hrs  We can book custom times between 9:00 am and 10:30 am for the morning tour and 12:00 pm and 1:30 pm for the Afternoon Tour.

Includes:  Guide-Ambassador-Instructor.  At times we have a co-guide, a trainer and or a trainee. The tour is rich with Indigenous stories and interpretation.  Students have the opportunity to discuss and ask questions during the tour and or in the last 15 minutes of the tour.  

Student Rate with 20 or more participants:  $32.00 / participant + GST & Fees (This Rate is for K to 12 Students Only). 

With 20+ students, 1 teachers or adult volunteers is complimentary.  When there are less than 20 students, the base rate is $640 + GST & Fees.

Primary Location:  Stanley Park:

This tour meets at the Stanley Park bus loop which is accessible by car, taxi, bus or by foot. Our guide will meet you under the gazebo in the bus loop. Please note, if driving by car, the parking lot is all pay parking. If taking the public bus, it is the #19 bus to Stanley Park and it is the last stop.  
If traveling by school bus, the driver can drop the students off then park at the designated bus parking in Stanley Park.  

Please provide yourself plenty of time to arrive and find your guide.

Custom Locations: 
When planned in advance, our Cultural Land Ambassadors could travel to a forest area near your school.  Review of the site for safety, access and diversity in Indigenous plants is required. There is an additional $115.00 + GST & Fees cost for travel related fees for us to come to a custom location.

Inquiring and Bookings:  Please email info@talaysay.com or contact us at 1-800-605-4643 (Toll Free) or 604-628-8555 (Vancouver line)

Our Tour Line-Up:

1. Talking Trees - Nature Based  (90 min)

2. Spoken Treasures - History Based (75 min)

3. Talking Totems - Art & Culture Based (60 min)

4. Love the Land - Nature & History (90 min) | North Vancouver

5. Salish Sea & Me - Ocean / Nature & History Based (90 Min)

6. Workshops & In-class presentations:
     We can turn any of our tours into a presentation / workshop. Contact us for activities.

Locations:  Vancouver, North Shore, Sunshine Coast, Squamish

Dates and Times:  can be customized with groups.

Wishing you a great week ahead and look forward to planning further with you both.

Media:

Land Based Learning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahAFvrl90e4

Talking Totems:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ww0P01Ehtgo

Spoken Treasures:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7JbZgnnNKg

Talaysay Virtual Tours:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ-4KWXx5p0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-LY2tTLzrc

Liz V | Reservations Manager - info@talaysay.com 

Talaysay Campo | Co-Owner / Regional Manager

Talaysay Tours - Authentic Indigenous Cultural Experiences | www.talaysay.com

Tundra & I will visit your school if it is within a reasonable travel distance. During the COVID 19 pandemic, this visit occurs outdoors, preferrably in a forested area on your school grounds or nearby. If no such location, then we use your school fields & we improvise that it is a forest. Students & staff get to watch Tundra's behavior & I explain what wolves in the wild would be doing. I tell many First Nation stories & legends about the wolf & why this animal is so important to their culture. I explain the important role the wolf plays in the ecosystem as an apex predator & keystone species. Opportunity for many questions from students & staff. Cost is $100 for the walks & travel expenses to the school.

If your school is too far away, I can over a ZOOM version of this program where the same material is covered & the students & staff get to see the four wolves our centre has.

September 15, 2025-June 25, 2026

Join us in exploring the complexity of the BC coastline. Students are immersed in ideas of interconnection, ecosystems, water cycles, and shoreline wildlife, inspired by works from the City of Burnaby's Permanent Collection. Using watercolour, drawing, and collage, students develop individual mixed-media works.

Curriculum Tie-ins: Art Education, Earth Science, Indigenous Art

Looking for a live experience, but current policy has you staying close to home?  We’re taking our Owls and First Nations Hiwus program on the road to your school!   While we would much rather have your students visit an authentic Feasthouse and enjoy the wide open spaces of Grouse Mountain, we realize that’s not always possible.  We are now taking bookings for our Outreach program that will include experienced Educators, owl ambassadors, and First Nations presenters.  Our staff will teach your students about owls and open a discussion about habitat and conservation. In turn, our elder will drum, sing and speak to your students about the rich, Squamish culture and the importance of community.

Written to support distance learning but also useful for physically distanced teaching, a Tech-Up Learning Kit contains resources for both synchronous and/or asynchronous lessons. The teacher guide walks you through leading student activities over a series of sessions of approximately 30-45 minutes. Student activities are handouts for students to work through on their own as assigned, according to your own timeline and discretion.

In these activities, learners in Grades 4-6 will explore how binary code can be used to represent images while exploring reflections and transformations. They will be invited to share their binary code with their peers and work from each other’s codes. They will start with binary code for simple two-toned images and then work their way into coding four-toned images with possible extensions into how all colours are coded in binary for computers to use.

This kit contains resources for both synchronous and asynchronous lessons.

Tech-Up Learning Specialists are available to support you with these kits.

Find out more and request Coding Math Learning Kit

While we are not currently offering on-site school programs, school groups are welcome to visit the museum for a self-guided experience. There is a lot to discover! Worksheets to support and enhance your self-directed exploration can be emailed to teachers on request. 

Self-guided museum visits must be booked at least 10 days in advance to receive the discounted rate.