Water Works

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Getting Started

Providing and promoting water, especially in place of sugar-sweetened beverages, can help prevent dental cavities, promote overall health, and help students and staff feel better throughout the day. Earn this badge by promoting water as the beverage of choice at school.

Steps To Earn This Badge

Step 1 - Ask the Students

Ask students about the drinking water at school. Are fountains or hydration stations easy to find? Is it possible to get water during class?

Step 2 - Start a Conversation

Share Why Water Works (see Water at Schools Toolkit in Tools - page 3 ) and have the Water Talk (page 5) to see how to increase water drinking at school and in the classroom.

Step 3 - Do a Nutrition Checkup

Think about the drinks that compete with water (e.g. juice in vending machines, artificially-sweetened drinks available at the cafeteria, drinks served at sporting events) and look for ways to promote water instead. Use the suggestions in How to Promote Water (page 8) to make water the drink of choice at your school.

Step 4 - Make it Fun

Have fun promoting water as the beverage of choice! To earn this badge, choose at least one of the ideas below to encourage students and staff to drink more water.

Badge Inspiration

Innovative and inspirational ideas submitted from schools across the province!
Choose from the many activities in the School Water Toolkit
- Have students create a poster for each of the passport to hydration water messages and run the Passport to Hydration Scavenger Hunt (page 9)
- Serve fruit-infused water for special occasions at school (page 11)
- Play the Water Wheel Game (page 14) at a health fair
- Run a Photovoice Activity (page 16) with students more about strengths and barriers to water access and promotion

Ask students to share their ideas for promoting water with school council, staff and other students to get their feedback and suggestions
Hold a ‘water’s cool in our school’ health day to promote drinking water
Partner with students and teachers in your school’s art, music, photography, and digital media classes to design a class project that promotes water consumption
Launch a design contest for water bottle designs or water fountain poster designs. Ask students to brainstorm non-food prizes for the contest.

Related Badges

Our Student Nutrition Program coordinator served a lentil salad (made with salsa, lentils, peppers and onions) and the kids liked it so much, a bunch of parents called asking for the recipe!

—Southwest Public Health

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