The Kennisis Lake Cottage Owners’ Association (KLCOA) hosted a children’s water festival July 13, attended by lake residents and community members.
It was run in partnership with the Haliburton-Muskoka-Kawartha Children’s Water Festival, which has, for more than 15 years, been an outdoor fall event that informs and inspires regional elementary school students to become water stewards in their homes, classrooms and communities.
Dysart et al lake associations were invited to have families from their communities join KLCOA members to explore lake health.
Children attending the event had some fun visiting a variety of hands-on activity stations where they learned about all things water, while making ecological connections to the natural world around them. For this festival, some of the stations included ‘bugs in mud’, ‘stream savers’ and ‘stow-away guardians.’ While completing the activities, children learned about how invertebrate (benthic) critters in lakes signal lake health, how natural shorelines keep lakes and rivers clean, and why it is important to clean, drain and dry boats to avoid transporting invasive species to lakes.
Kara Mitchell, coordinator of the festival, said, “it was rejuvenating to share these learning activities with lake association families, thanks to dedicated KLCOA volunteers. There were plenty of connections grown between folk who care about the health of local lakes and shoreline ecosystems and ways we can give back to the waters that sustain us. We look forward to more of such partnerships in the future.”
Representatives from the U-Links Centre for Community Based Research and the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Association (FOCA) supported two of the activity stations with equipment and expertise about water quality monitoring with hands-on activities for the kids and information for the parents and caregivers.
Haliburton-Muskoka-Kawartha Children’s Water Festival programs have been offered to the local school boards and now with community organizations, thanks to the generosity of volunteers, partner programs and sponsors. Contact Mitchell at info@waterheroes.ca for more information or to get involved.
