Ideas for climate strike for young kids (Sept. 20th)
August 19, 2019 9:14 PM   Subscribe

I'm trying to think of ideas for how my kid's primary school could get involved with the Global Climate Strike this September.

I'm the PTA vice president (yes yes the power is going to my head) so I do have some allies among teachers and parents. I really doubt that the PTA will want to sanction actually striking (these are little kids and we couldn't be responsible for that) but I'd like to think of some other ideas to suggest that will get the kids engaged, which the school could easily adopt.

So far my ideas are pretty general:
- get the school or PTA to issue a statement of support
- encourage the teachers to talk about the strike in class
- some young-child-friendly way to talk about climate change?

I'd love more specific ideas, materials, activities, etc. Thanks!
posted by daisystomper to Education (3 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Some links that might help:
from Concordia University
from (US) National Public Radio
from Cornell University
from Scientific American
posted by mareli at 5:17 AM on August 20, 2019 [1 favorite]


Best answer: With young kids, I would focus on ways to address climate change/ crisis. There are curriculum materials available, and that's a big help for busy teachers. Greta Thunberg is sailing to the US to speak at the UN; fantastic opportunity to teach climate, geography, weather, climate, neurodiversity, international events. There's so much news about the effects of Climate Change, but it gets scary.

As an in-school strike, you could do a day of education on climate. This would be a big project, requiring a lot of buy-in, a lot of work. You could, at least, do an assembly on Climate. Whatever you do, get a committee going, get parents and teachers involved. There are a lot of people wishing they could do something about Climate Change.
posted by theora55 at 7:06 AM on August 20, 2019


This is a suggestion for ways to keep it going past the day of the Global Climate Strike itself. I know a perennial school favorite is a recycling drive (I have fond memories of being a 6th grader sorting through the recycling bins, my treehugging combined with my love of categorizing).

But since the climate strikers are pushing on major shifts in the way we live/govern/do business, I think encouraging a long-term shift in transportation modes might be a good way to both make a difference and make a statement.

The walking school bus strategy is a great one. This requires parent-to-parent relationships so as the PTA, you are in a great position to do this.

There is a Walk (and Bike) to School Day (diff days in var. countries, the US is Oct 2 this year)
posted by spamandkimchi at 9:40 AM on August 20, 2019


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