Keep It Simple and Positive
3-6 year olds
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For younger children, focus on simple, digestible concepts and avoid overwhelming them with the negative aspects of climate change. Instead, highlight positive solutions and actions they can take.
- Use stories or characters: Create relatable characters (like animals or elements of nature) that help explain climate change. For example, you can use our characters such as Shelly, the Sea Steward, to talk about needing clean oceans, or Turbie, the wind turbine, working hard to produce clean energy.
- Focus on connection with nature: Encourage children to feel a bond with nature by talking about how they can help care for plants, animals, and the Biosphere.
- Simple actions: Teach them about recycling, planting trees, or saving water in their daily lives. Emphasise that their small actions make a big difference.
Encourage Curiosity and Hope
6-8 year olds
- For older children, you can discuss more complex ideas but still keep the tone hopeful and empowering.
- Introduce the science of climate change: Explain that climate change happens because of certain human activities, but emphasise that there are solutions being developed (like wind and solar energy) and that they can be part of those solutions.
- Talk about actions they can take: Recycling, conserving water, using less plastic, using the correct material for the correct product, and planting trees are all ways they can help. Link these actions to personal responsibility and a sense of purpose.
- Highlight progress: Talk about the great strides scientists, activists, and communities are making to become earth stewards and protect the environment and halt climate change . Make sure they know they are not alone in this effort. The Sustainables Earth Stewards are their to help
Address Climate Anxiety (All Ages)
- Children can sometimes feel scared or anxious about climate change. Be prepared to address their feelings.
- Listen and validate their emotions: If they express fear or sadness, acknowledge those feelings. Let them know it's okay to feel that way but reassure them that people around the world are working together to make things better.
- Focus on empowerment: Encourage children to see themselves as Earth Stewards.. Share stories of young activists or inventors who are making a difference.
- Balance bad news with solutions: If they hear about wildfires or melting ice caps, follow up by discussing the solutions people are working on to protect those areas, and remind them that change takes time.
Be Honest but Reassuring
- While it’s important to be truthful about the challenges posed by climate change and over use of our biosphere resources, it’s equally important to avoid creating fear
- Explain climate change in terms they understand: You might say, “The Earth is getting warmer because people are making too much pollution.Using too many resources, transporting goods globally, But there are lots of ways to fix it.
- Be honest about challenges, but emphasise hope: It’s important they know the truth about climate change, but always pair problems with solutions to avoid despair.
Create Opportunities for Action
- Plant a garden: Encourage children to grow plants or trees, reinforcing their connection with nature and showing them how their actions can make a positive difference.
- Eco-friendly crafts: Engage in fun, eco-friendly projects such as making crafts from recycled materials or creating posters about saving the Earth.
- Family actions: Involve the whole family in taking climate-positive steps, like reducing energy use at home or participating in a local clean-up
- Identify with the Sustainables Earth Stewards
Integrate with School Learning
- Work with what your child is learning in school, using topics like the water cycle, renewable energy, or ecosystems, to further explore climate change in a relatable, academic context. For children, these conversations are about instilling hope and resilience while fostering an awareness of environmental responsibility that is both meaningful and empoweri
