Hmmm. There’s a Mashable article: How to talk to kids about climate change without scaring them

Dum, Dum, Dum

We avoided the topic, I think, because of her young age and the doomsday nature of being on the brink of a major extinction event. How do you tell a 4-year-old the plants, animals, and landscapes she adores are in grave peril?

It’s a step by step guide to teaching your climate fears and delusions to your kids.

Then we arrived at the episode about coral reefs dying off en masse because of climate change. My daughter had a lot of questions, and I teared up looking at footage of the desiccated reefs, thinking about what those images meant for her future. Suddenly I regretted letting Blue Planet II into our lives so easily.

The article continues on:

It turns out, of course, there are plenty of ways to talk about what’s happening to the Earth in an age-appropriate way that doesn’t needlessly frighten a child. The key is to ensure that you’ve laid a foundation for children to appreciate and be curious about the natural world, that you’re capable of discussing basic scientific concepts, and that conversations with children about climate change focus on critical thinking skills and solutions.

You don’t even have to understand the subject. We’ll dictate what you should say:

Cobos says parents don’t need to teach themselves everything about climate change in order to effectively communicate about it with their children. (The Climate Reality Project recently published an e-book on how families can start conversations about climate change.)

Take you through the stages:

By the time children reach the first or second grade, parents can try having more complex discussions about the causes of climate change and the effects of global warming, provided they use simplified or relatable language.

Until that proud day when the little larvae graduate into full blow Klimate Yuth:

Edmonds-Langham says elementary school-age children who participate in the museum’s classes and educational programming most often want to know how to help. By fourth grade, kids can understand why climate change threatens habitats and animals, and that human activity is to blame.

Read the whole instruction manual here: