I’m sure I can speak for many people when I say that climate change is scary, especially when you’re young. Personally, I remember my dad speaking about climate change in another room, and I was on the verge of tears, really when anyone brought it up, and I felt an impending sense of doom that no kid should feel.
That’s why I teamed up with Dream Tank to create a program for kids 6-9 years old to turn that climate fear into confidence. With months of hard work, our team came up with a concrete plan, Planet Protectors, and made it a reality.
We had 10 amazingly brilliant young kids attend, who knew little about climate change (apart from it being scary), but they all learned about recycling, changes in weather, and more, and each of them reported being more knowledgeable and more confident about their own abilities to stop climate change by the end of it.
How They Did It
Our plan was to have each kid come up with their own solution to climate change, to build the confidence within themselves that they can make a positive impact on our world.
On day one, we opened up their creative spirits by playing games, learning about some solutions that other young people have done to stop climate change, and brainstorming about their own solutions.
On day two, we started to prototype their solutions. Some kids built lego, some made beautiful art, and some used cardboard and popsicle sticks. That freeform creation really goes to show how creative these kids are, and that the sky’s the limit for them. When they started to finish up, we helped them put their projects on slideshows for them to present on the presentation day.
On day three/the pitch celebration, they made some final touches to their projects and presentations, and we took a nature break by the creek and had some lunch. Then the magic happened! All of the kids had the courage to stand up in front of a group of parents and some members of the community, and give a presentation on their climate solutions. It was spectacular, and I, the Dream Tank mentors, and all of the community members were inspired and learned so much, and were motivated to utilize our creative minds more often.
Overall, everyone had tons of fun, learned a lot, built confidence in themselves, along with making new friends. It was an amazing experience and we would love to run it again in the future, and if you’re a parent, teacher or anyone else who’d like to bring Planet Protectors to your community please reach out!
How You Can Help
In order to make Planet Protectors a reality we rely on donations! We wanted to make this camp accessible to everyone who signed up and we gave every Planet Protector a scholarship to attend. If you would like to help Planet Protectors continue as free for kids who sign up, please consider donating here.
Follow Dream Tank’s socials and be on the lookout for any upcoming events, or to sign up for a future Planet Protectors camp!
Thanks
I want to personally thank the Museum of Boulder for hosting Planet Protectors, Heidi Cuppari for her enthusiasm and massive help, and mentors Anya, Sophie, Pavel, Jenny and Cody for refining the program and being there to witness the wonderful kids and help them along their journeys, and of course thank you to our participants and their families for showing up with enthusiasm and bright ideas.
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