Third-graders spent the last week learning about watersports and being outside. For Bill Wilson’s Petrova Elementary School class, those lessons culminated in Tuesday morning’s visit to Lake Flower, where kids took to the water in canoes provided by St. Regis Canoe Outfitters and also got lessons from the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation.

Wilson said the kids lapped up the games and lessons in the classroom and were excited to get outside.

“They gave us some press-on shirt decals, so we put those together for the kids to wear today,” Wilson said. “We had different canoe books. We watched a video on canoeing just to give them a little preparation.

“There are little activity books, and any time there’s a little game associated, they love it. We’ve had a lot of fun just getting them ready for today, and they’re excited to get out on the water.

Half of Bill Wilson’s third grade class at Petrova Elementary pose with a fake loon and loon eggs before a presentation on the birds Tuesday morning. (Enterprise photo — Justin A. Levine)

“I polled the class, and only about three of them have been out in a boat,” he said. “So it’s a new experience for a lot of them, and it’s great that we have a lot of parents who want to help and volunteer and come out and be part of their kids’ education.

“Just to be out and get them into the outdoors a little bit more is fun. This is a good starting point for them.”

Rivka Cilley, co-owner of St. Regis Canoe Outfitters, has been doing similar programs for years. She says kids in the Adirondacks, especially, should be familiar with canoes and kayaks.

“I was an art teacher, and I was a kayak guide with an outfitter at the same time,” she said. “And every year, I did kids and kayaks programs. So that’s just been a passion of mine. I’ve wanted to do that since I moved up here, and with Celebrate Paddling, I got all of the outfitters on board.

“They live in the Adirondacks, and there’s a lot of kids in the Adirondacks that have no experience in a canoe or a kayak. And we live with water, so it’s important for them to know that, before you get into a boat, you have a life jacket on. You need to be prepared for any type of crisis.

“You can really hurt yourself out on the water, so it’s important to start them young,” she continued. “There is a national movement, so this is kind of part of that. They got all kinds of educational information before they came today, so they had books and I gave them lesson plans. Some of them were art; some were environmental. So the teachers worked with all the students for a week, so it’s not just an hour.”

Several local outfitters are hosting the courses for local students on different days this week. For more information on the full slate of Celebrate Paddling events, go to www.celebratepaddlingadk.com.