The Haliburton-Muskoka-Kawartha Children’s Water Festival (HMKCWF) will celebrate it's 20th Anniversary in 2025, as an annual outdoor Fall event that informs and inspires elementary students of this region to become water stewards in their homes, classrooms and communities. Children have fun while visiting a variety of hands-on activity stations where they learn about all things water, while making ecological connections to the natural world around them. We are the premiere program of local charity, the Friends of Ecological and Environmental Learning.
Since 2012, we have also provided information, guidance and resources for Teachers to use in integrating engaging water stewardship lessons into their classes throughout the year. In 2021 we developed Water Week: an updated set of such resources and annually update recommended resource lists in our Teachers' Guides all available under the Teachers tab.
We are adapting our programs through the pandemic and climate change; in 2022 we revived our in-person Fall event with updated safety protocols and have started to develop and launch mobile programs; a series of water festival outdoor activities for families, such as storyboard walks at public parks and community events. We continue to combine experiential activities with messages relevant to youth's daily lives, through which they can 'soak up' knowledge on the properties, uses, connections and importance of water through these and our Waterheroes on-line programs.
Our programming has been offered free of charge since 2005, thanks to the generosity of volunteers, partner programs and sponsors. Please contact us for more information or to get involved!
J. Douglas Hodgson Elementary School of Haliburton is this year’s winner of the Big Splash Award! Water Hero Honourable Mention goes to Lady Mackenzie Public School of Lakefield. Thank you to everyone who participated in the Water Hero contest! You have some amazing water saving ideas! Remember to keep on…
“You can expect your kid to return a budding water warrior after visiting the annual Haliburton-Muskoka Children’s Water Festival, which takes place in late September in Minden, Ont.” Anne Casselman, Canadian Geographic (www.canadiangeographic.ca) It is an honour to be mentioned in Canadian Geographic magazine as an ideal place for children to…
The Haliburton-Muskoka-Kawartha Children’s Water Festival and its parent organization, Friends of Ecological and Environmental Learning (FEEL), were recognized for the valuable role that this fun and unique festival plays in water education when they received the2010 Haliburton Land Trust Enviro-Hero award for Education. This is a wonderful honour and the…
