Family-Friendly Events about Climate Change
I’ve been creating family-friendly events that make it possible for young people and their families to take action on climate change.
My son had a huge session after watching some climate change videos. Most young people’s parents don’t give them sessions—so I lead games (in local environmental groups), with climate change as a theme, to get people laughing and playing together.
In addition to getting information about climate change—which they want and can take in [absorb and understand]—middle-schoolers need to laugh and play together in the face of their fears.
Many of us know some fun and silly group games that can be shifted so that people look at climate change. For example, I play a game in which the group names three of their favorite animal species. Then at a certain point, instead of shouting out an animal name, everyone screams, “Climate change!” and runs around finding a new place to stand. After the games, people partner and take turns sharing on a question I ask.
From what I can see, people are open to the value of playing games—even if they don’t understand that the resulting discharge is a big part of what makes a difference.
USA
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion
list for leaders of wide world change