Water Journal

Your Child Will Learn

How water plays a role in everyday life

For a whole day, ask your child to notice each time water is used.
Make a list: write down each time your child notices water use. (examples: drinking, brushing teeth, flushing the toilet, boiling water for cooking, taking a bath)
At the end of the day, have your child make a water journal from the list. Write a label (like: “brushing teeth”) and ask them to draw a picture next to the label.
Talk with your child about where water comes from (before it comes out of the tap) and where it goes after it goes down the drain. Looking at the activities in the water journal, where do you think your family could use less water? Why might that be important?

PAUSE

In the morning, talk with your child about how they’re going to be a water observer today.

ENGAGE

“How did we just use water? Let’s write it on the list!”
“We’re going to make a water journal to keep track of all the times we used water today. To start, can you draw a picture of you drinking water at breakfast?”

ENCOURAGE

“How did we use water to make dinner? How did I clean the veggies? How did I cook the pasta? How did I clean the dishes? Let’s write those all on the list.”
“How would you draw a picture of flushing the toilet? What do you need to make a toilet? An oval bowl, a rectangle tank, a small rectangle for the flusher?”

REFLECT

“Why do you think it might be important to try to not use more water than we need? How does water get to our home, and where does it go after we’re done with it?”

Try only making drawings for a couple of the things on the water list (instead of all of them).

Talk about how water use is different around the world. (Some resources: “We are the Water Protectors” book, “The Water Princess” book)

Your child will begin to notice how important water is, and consider things they can do to protect Earth’s water resource.

20-30 minutes

Paper, something to draw with (crayons, colored pencils, markers)