Haliburton-Muskoka-Kawartha Children’s Water Festival - promoting water conservation through education

13th Festival a Splashing Success!

In 2018, we had 1088 students in attendance over two days!

Young Water Stewards

Motivating students to become water stewards in their homes, classrooms and communities

It's All About Water!

Students explore the concepts of Water Conservation, Water Attitudes, Water Technology, Water Protection and Water Science

Water, Wow!

Water is essential for all life on earth. Without it, nothing lives or grows!

Our Primary Objectives

To develop awareness of the importance of water, and to foster respect for the natural environment.

The Haliburton-Muskoka-Kawartha Children’s Water Festival (HMKCWF) has, for 13 years, been 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.

Since 2012, we have 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, 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 launched 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!

Teachers

Teachers, register your grade 4-6 students for a fun, interactive learning opportunity

Volunteers will be in the gorgeous Haliburton Highlands as the leaves are turning. They will spend the day playing with water and watching young faces come alive with understanding.

A huge thank you to all who help bring this event to our youth and to all the principals, teachers and parents who recognize its importance. Together we are making a splash!

Making A Splash!

“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…

Enviro-Heros!

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…