Armed with scientific curiosity and enthusiasm, young people throughout the region descended on CM Wilson Conservation Area this week for the Chatham-Kent Lambton Children’s Water Festival.
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The annual three-day event, which wraps up Thursday, offers a chance for students from Chatham-Kent and Sarnia-Lambton to take part in hands-on activities covering five water themes: water science, water technology, water conservation, water protection and water attitude.
Approximately 700 kids are expected to have attended each day of this year’s festival, said Glenn Smith, festival steering committee chair, on Wednesday.
“It’s multi-faceted, not just to teach the young students, the third and fourth graders, the importance of water in their lives, but it gives the high school students the opportunity to do the teaching in each of the activities,” he said .
Throughout the conservation area, located outside of Blenheim, there were different booths related to water and aquatic life, demonstrations and an obstacle course, along with entertainment on the lunch break.
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Raising awareness about respecting the essential resource is one of the main goals.
“It’s of critical importance,” Smith said. “They learn simple things, like (while) brushing your teeth, when you get water on your toothbrush, turn it off.
“They learn about water conservation and they learn it in a real way. They learn about wastewater containment, water animals.”
Although the site had a few muddy areas due to the previous day’s rain, Wednesday’s visitors were treated to sunny skies and mild temperatures.
Smith admitted he had a few nerves, since Don Hector, the festival’s previous co-ordinator, retired earlier this year after his long-standing service.
“It all came together,” he said. “We had more kids this year than ever before… It’s been really smooth.”
Since 2007, more than 20,000 elementary and 3,400 high school students, along with 2,400 teachers and parents have shared in the experience. During this time, more than 1,000 adult volunteers helped deliver the event.
Along with the Lower Thames Valley Conservation Authority and St. Clair Region Conservation Authority, numerous community groups, educators and government departments also are involved.
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