Typically, unhealthy environments affect kids more than adults. They are still growing, with greater exposure to air, food, and water relative to their weight. They will have more years of exposure to climate change than people who have already grown up. Today’s children are the people who will have to create ever-more-effective solutions to these problems in the future.
Adults have a responsibility to teach children the scope and consequences of climate change while we try to limit its impact on their health. Kids are experiencing increasingly destructive disasters fueled by climate change, like hurricanes and wildfires. It can be disheartening, frightening, and overwhelming. So, what should kids learn about climate change that is developmentally appropriate and action-oriented while also instilling hope?
Young children (ages 1-5 years)
Parents can watch their child’s delight as they show them the joys of nature. Take nature walks. Talk about the weather and changing seasons. Teach them about birds, wild animals, and their habitats. Talk about the need for healthy air for both plants and creatures.
Gardening is also fascinating for kids. Buy seeds for a garden or herbs to plant in kitchen boxes.
School-age children (ages 6-12 years)
Parents and educators can ask kids about what they already know. They can do research together to fill in the gaps. Use simple scientific terms. NASA has online resources to help parents go through each aspect of climate change.
Discuss how personal choices can affect the environment. Calculate your family’s carbon footprint together and ask children for their suggestions on lessening it. Try walking, biking, taking public transit, or carpooling instead of driving with just one or two people in a car. Eat a more plant-forward diet. Parents can impress on their kids that they have the power to protect the environment and that the choices people make can help make the planet healthier.
Teenagers (ages 13-18 years)
Teens are aware that climate issues influence their lives. That means adults can now discuss how climate change affects our economy and culture. Parents and educators can choose a recent or ongoing event and discuss how climate change may have influenced the event and its economic consequences.
Talk about climate change causing more severe and prolonged destructive weather events and wildfires, resulting in the loss of homes and businesses. Discuss how it causes air pollution, forcing people indoors. Consider the mental health effects on families. Explore how climate change does not affect everyone equally and the ways some communities experience more health risks.