How to talk to children about the Climate Crisis
Introduce climate change with a new talk from the Barn Owl Trust
Discover how extreme weather events might affect Barn Owls in the future and consider how we might take positive action to protect our planet. Aimed at 7-11 year olds, our Flying into the Future story aims to introduce young people to the issue of climate change as seen through the eyes of Barn Owls. Children will learn about Barn Owl habitat, adaptations and predator-prey relationships, and be inspired to consider how they might live more sustainably and help protect an iconic species.
For more information, please visit Barn Owl talks for schools and young people.
A guide for parents
This is a brilliant resource from ThoughtBox Education
“As parents and educators, we need to recognise that building emotional resilience is a key aspect of responding effectively to the climate crisis and supporting ourselves and the young people around us moving forward. It’s time to talk about climate change.”
Exploring Climate Change: Developing Understanding & Empowerment – A Parent’s Guide.
This article from OneHome lists more climate education resources, all of which are designed to communicate the issue to children in an engaging and inspirational way.
Talking about the climate and ecological emergency with friends and family can be difficult. This short video suggests some very effective tips for making it easier.
This video is from Alliance for Climate Education and was inspired by the research of Dr. Renee Lertzman, an expert in the psychosocial aspects of climate change communications.
Free PDF download
How to speak with your family and friends about environmental issues by Thomas-Walters, L., Cologna, V., de Lange, E., Ettinger, J. & Selinske, M. (2024)
“We are currently facing a wide range of enormous environmental crises, including biodiversity loss and climate change. Human activities are driving many of these problems and it is reasonable to feel hopeless. However, our actions at both individual and policy-levels can help address these challenges – and one of the most powerful, yet underappreciated, ways we can take action is by engaging our social networks in dialogue. This is why a group of environmental social scientists and I have created a “how-to” guide for talking to friends and family about the environment, drawing on our research and combined experience of campaigning for change.”
Laura Thomas-Walters – environmental social scientist with a focus on behaviour change.
