Educating young people is seen as one of the most important ways of influencing how our wetlands 
may be managed in the future - what children learn at school profoundly influences how they go on to lead their adult lives. Much of our work is done with schools, delivering structured educational activities, which may or may not form part of the recognised school syllabus. Working with schools can be challenging, and teachers need to be convinced of the importance of the environment as part of their course work. Many links can be made from different areas of teaching to the natural environment. For example, history of wetland drainage and management, art using nature as inspiration, science (biology, chemistry, physics), and even performing arts.
It is also important to remember that we all carry on learning into our adult lives, and outside of the formal education system. We work with families, the general public and communities to deliver education, through non-formal education activities. You may like to visit WWT's teachers pages, which are packed full of useful information and activities for all ages of school children. Below are just a few of the resources that might help you run a range of educational activities - we will be adding to this as members send in more resources.
Primary school (under 12 yrs old)
WWT's great pond safari gives you all the resources you need to run lessons across the curriculum on a ponds theme. They also have a range of teaching resources aimed at primary school children. WWF Hong Kong have produced a climate change game called STEP aimed at primary school children. At Lake Biwa they have a range of resources including a puppet show with puppets of wetland animals - including this really cool Daphnia, see right!
The Irish Peat Conservation Council has some good resources to help students learn about wetlands, including worksheets / information sheets for the classroom, and ideas for work on field trips.
Secondary school (12-16 years old)
For older children, WWT's secondary school teaching resources are a great aid for teachers.
Adult (18 years old +) and non-formal eduction
For fun things to do for children, check out WWT's kid's zone! Guaranteed to keep them busy (for a while at least).
A new book on engaging young people in sustainability has been produced by Peter Blaze Corcoran, Philip M. Osano, with 38 essays from contributors around the world. For more information and a summary of the book, click here.
The RSPB (a UK NGO workig on bird conservation) has produced a CD with games called 'Wild and Wondeful' based on habitats, migration and bird species, available for £10 sterling from education@rspb.org.uk, check the RSPB resources catalogue for more info. Suitable for adults and children. Charges may be waived for partners in developing countries. The CD includes versions with no text that can be adapted for your own language / situation.
World Wetlands Day 09 education material
WWT London Wetland Centre used the upstream downstream theme to run activities and quiz at the centre. Check the game explanation, the upstream downstream factsheet, the trail (3 MByte!) the game cards and the quiz.