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!
Congratulations to the students of Monck Public School in Bracebridge! For the second year running they have won the Water Hero Challenge and will be presented with the Big Splash Award in the New Year! Thank you to all who participated in the 2017 Water Hero Challenge and remember, it…
We had a beautiful sunny HMK Children’s Water Festival this year! Two whole days of sunshine where 1088 elementary students from the Trillium Lakelands District School Board learned about water in a fun hands on way! 47 activity centres were spread across the autumn Kinark Outdoor Centre grounds where children…
Register your classes now! There are still spaces but they are going fast! You don’t want to miss this active, hands-on learning experience for your students! It is a splashing good time! Contact the festival coordinator to register at info@hmwaterfestival.ca.
A huge shout out goes to all the people who dedicate their time on the HMK Children’s Water Festival committee and on the ground at the festival! It couldn’t be done without you! Thank you for helping to educate our youth about one of our most important natural resources ……
