The Chatham-Kent (CK) and Lambton Children's Water Festival is back for its fourteenth year.
The event, which takes place from September 30 to October 2, features 45 different hands-on activities that educate children about watersheds, water conservation, water protection, and water stewardship.
“Sometimes they learn something they don’t even know they’re learning,” said Glenn Smith, Chairman of the Water Festival Steering Committee.
Approximately 2,230 students will participate in the three-day festival, which is expected to be around 50 to 100 more students than last year.
The event is run by 300 student volunteers, 150 adult volunteers, as well as 400 teacher and parent volunteers.
“The beauty is that these high school students first came here when they were in the third grade. And they came here to watch it, and now they're science students, and they come here, and they run the activities,” said Smith.
The most popular activity is hosted by the CK Public Utilities Commission and showcases the process of sewage treatment.
“My daughter did it twice yesterday, she loved it so much,” said Amanda Blain, Communications Specialist at the Lower Thames Conservation Authority. “When you say poop, they go wild. You get their attention. So, this starts off great because they really are poop going down the toilet.”
Other popular activities included two where children could interact with local species like turtles and snakes.
A new addition to this year’s festival was a watershed activity hosted by the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority (LTVCA).
“Kids get to come up, they find where their school is on the map, and then I teach them all about what the watershed is, where it flows into,” said Geographical Information Systems Technician at LTVCA , Sarah Rabideau. “So many kids, they ask the best questions, they're like, ‘Oh my goodness, all this water flows from the same spot.’ Yes, it does, and it's a really, really good conversation starter.”
The event takes a whole year to organize, said Mariah Alexander, Indigenous Community Educator for CM Wilson Conservation Area, and organizer of the Children’s Water Festival.
“It's a great show of community getting together to help children, and I think that's really important,” said Alexander.
She hopes students attending the event will take away the fact that water is vital to all aspects of their livelihood and community.
“It instills a value of what water means to them in their lives, young so that they can know how to better take care of their watershed and be better stewards of the land,” said Alexander.
Starting next year, the festival is expanding from three days to the full first week of October.
