We are very proud of the work our Rideau Eco-Kiddos do at every workshop.
We are honoured to record the participants’ work and display it here for the world to see.
The Enchanted Canoe
Late May and June were combo months- some Enchanted Canoe- Some Terrariums.
Participants dressed up like voyageurs of long ago in front of a green screen. They heard a story about an Enchanted Canoe and made up their own adventures.
Nature Journaling
In May, artist and naturalist Merideth Luce joined the team to give workshops on Nature Journaling. Participants were encouraged to carefully examine details in nature and record them in their field journals.
What's Eating You?: Poetry and Poop
In April, Tina visited 5 libraries to talk about eco-systems, the food web, and how energy transfers from the sun to plants to creatures to poop to decomposers and back to the plants again.
Then we used the vocabulary words like producers, consumers, herbivores, carnivores, omnivores to make magnificent magnet magnum opi (…poems that paint a picture). In total 56 kids and a few grandparents and parents attended.
Take Your Best Shot- Nature Photography with a Smart Phone
During March Break 2025, Tina visited all 6 of our partner libraries. The participants learned about visual storytelling using angles, perspective, juxtaposition, light and shadow, and many other photography techniques. Click the button to see the gallery of their work. In total 77 kids and grown-ups attended.
Dam It! Beavers: Nature's Eco-Engineers
In our first workshop of summer 2026, we began by establishing some background info about beavers, such as their habitat, characteristics, and important purpose in the ecosystem. Kids experimented with our custom-made wetland models that pulsed running water through them, with the goal of creating a successful dam. We read an original book about the history of the Rideau Canal from multiple perspectives (including a beavers) and kids illustrated pages of the book to prepare it for publishing.
Lock In! The Story of The Rideau Canal
We started with a custom-written children’s book about the engineering feat that is our region’s UNESCO world heritage site.
Using a model of a set of typical Rideau canal locks, participants discovered for themselves how the water must be manipulated to get boats up and down what is essentially a staircase for boats.
Molecules & Atoms & Ions, Oh My!
Today, we’re breaking matter down into its tiniest pieces with our small humans. We will start with atoms, the building blocks that make up everything around us. Next comes molecules and the surprising ways atoms connect with each other. Expect to spot a few familiar favourites along the way, including H2O and CO2. The elemental table will swing by as we learn about what occurs naturally in nature, what is man made, and we will dip into the idea of acid and alkaline substances. There will be lots of fun hands-on mini experiments to see proof of the existence of these invisible factors at work with each other.
Aquatic Invertebrates: Animal Water Testers
Did you know that invertebrates make up 97% of the creatures in the world? Just like molecules, they can be simple and tiny or large and complicated. In our lakes, rivers, ponds, and wetlands, they perform very important jobs.
Being able to identify them can tell you lots of things about the water they live in. Using some of our elemental learning from last week, we are going to do some citizen science and test the water to confirm our hypotheses.