Design your own Water Smart® event to teach people in your community or group to be safe around water. Consider what activities or theme would be most relevant to your group. Be creative.
Easy Water Smart ideas when working with schools:
- Do a short presentation on water safety at a local school. Take one package of 10 posters to post within the classroom.
- Take one package of 30 ice cards to a local school to distribute during their winter carnival days.
- Partner with the Board of Education/schools to host a lifejacket/PFD clinic for interested families.
- Host a backyard pool screening with the Board of Education/school/parent council present. Suggest that the local school library purchase a video or DVD for families to borrow.
- Offer to conduct a boating safety session for Safe Boating Week.
- Encourage the Canadian Swim-to-Survive® standard established by the Lifesaving Society.
Easy Water Smart ideas for the community:
- Have a contest for the Top 10 Water Smart® tips for the community.
- Present Water Smart tips to community groups such as Brownies, Girl Guides, Cubs.
- Send season-specific Water Smart ® information to the local paper as a press release or letter to the editor.
- Take part in a community event hosted by other organizations/groups such as a fishing derby or child safety event.
- Include a Water Smart message in community newsletters.
- Go to parents and toddlers groups and incorporate the Within Arms' Reach message in your presentation.
- Participate in local Canada Day events with a Water Smart booth.
- Participate in the local Santa Claus Parade with a float.
- Encourage the local high school kids to become volunteers as part of their community volunteer commitment.
Easy Water Smart ideas at the local pool:
- Designate an area of the pool to post the "Water Smart Rule of the Week."
- Give swim lesson assignments that require kids to teach a particular rule to their parents.
- Have a weekly or monthly theme with an end of the month quiz. The first randomly selected quiz wins a prize.
- Decorate an area of the pool with pictures drawn by the kids of the weekly or monthly Water Smart topic or rule.
- Put different Water Smart messages on the back of registration forms.
- Incorporate monthly themes into public swims. Have extra staff do things in other sections of the pool such as lifejacket testing, boating safety, etc.
- Have Junior Lifeguard Club members do presentations for parents in the viewing area.
- Have a Water Smart Tip Day at the pool where everyone has to give a tip, and the top 10 win a free swim pass.
- Have Lifesaving Society instructor course participants do community presentations of Water Smart tips.
- Have participants on Lifesaving Society instructor courses make Water Smart tip booklets.