With a growing population, vital agricultural uses, and climate change, it's important to not take water for granted. Practicing water conservation every day, every year, just makes sense. Conserving simply means not wasting. 

Your whole family can learn about water conservation together. The web has a wealth of free learning materials for kids of all ages. Spend some quality time with the kids in your life, learn some new things, and have some fun — all at the same time. And along the way, understand more about the importance of water conservation and what you can do to save water.

Check out the Water Use It Wisely web pages. You will find interactive and downloadable games. You can go to the Tip Tank and learn water saving tips using a memory game of matching pictures (you may know the game as “Concentration”). Discover the role of water in peoples' lives: Spin the earth to select a topic (for example, the water cycle, watersheds, using water wisely.) Then for each topic, there are games, quizzes, and a video, plus other learning tools. Or have some fun testing your skill at saving raindrops, working against the clock.

WaterSense is a partnership program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) which is all about using water efficiently. You have probably seen the WaterSense label on products like showerheads and toilets — and even new single-family homes! WaterSense Kids provides some basic water use information and then you are tested in a challenging “Test Your WaterSense” interactive game. Help your kids take a water drop through a maze of water pipes and answer water use questions, while being careful to not to be gobbled up by Water Wasters.

Try your hand at Washing Machine Basketball and other interactive games at USFWS/NCTC - Education Resources or conserveh2o.org. There are also downloadable activity books where you can connect-the-dots, find your way through mazes, color by number, find the picture that doesn’t belong — and learn about water and water conservation at the same time.

If you're feeling a little more ambitious, look at the materials on WaterSense materials for elementary-level kids. There are two sets of learning materials, A Day in the Life of a Drop and Fix a Leak Week. The website has a great selection of materials for educators.

These links are just a start. Conserving water in the home isn’t hard — it’s just about learning some easy things to do, and then remembering to do them! Start today, and make it a family affair.