how to introduce climate change discussions in a developmentally appropriate way. My goal was to encourage curiosity, knowledge building, and action rather than fear.
When my class embarked on the recycling activity described in the opening vignette, I was amazed by the children’ s empathy and action. Their interest in helping the Earth prompted me to begin an action research project designed to highlight the impact of early environmental education on young minds. I wanted to give children opportunities to develop climate literacy and critical thinking skills while exposing them to real-world learning experiences. Toward that end, I fashioned my research project to examine how the kindergartners in my class understood climate change, how they expressed that understanding, and what strategies and activities I could integrate to support their knowledge and skills related to the environment and climate.
In this article, I outline the research base for climate literacy, then describe how I collected information to gauge children’ s growing understanding of it. I discuss specific activities that were geared to my research questions and present this project’ s takeaways for other early childhood educators.
Climate Literacy in the Early Learning Setting
Climate literacy is a term first used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the early 2000s as an understanding of one’ s influence on climate and the climate’ s influence on individuals and society( NRC 2011). It is a learner’ s integrated understanding of Earth’ s climate system( Harker-Schuch 2022), and it goes beyond simply understanding scientific facts( Azevedo & Marques 2017; Alkaher 2020). Rather, it is composed of three parts that aim to prompt both individual and collective responsibility by creating awareness and engagement( Oziewicz 2023). The three components are( Azevedo & Marques 2017; Alkaher 2020)
› Knowledge, which entails a comprehensive understanding of climate science; for example, knowing the role that carbon dioxide plays in a warmer climate( DeWaters et al. 2014)
› Competencies, or the skills and abilities that allow individuals to effectively engage with climate information and take meaningful action
› Attitudes or values, which motivate individuals to engage with climate challenges
Early childhood educators can help build the foundation for children to understand and respond to climate change through engaging, inquiry-based, and contextually relevant curricular approaches( DeWaters et al. 2014; Azevedo & Marques 2017). Evidence suggests that using real data and role-play scenarios can support children’ s competencies around the issue. Likewise, project-based investigations that connect learners to real-world contexts can nurture changes in behavior( DeWaters et al. 2014).
Children can observe and wonder daily about how the climate impacts their local contexts( Beaver & Borgerding 2023). While they may have limited formal knowledge about weather systems and climate patterns, children have direct interactions within their immediate environments through their senses and activities. These include noticing changes in temperature, seasonal shifts in plant life and animal behavior, and / or variations in rainfall and sunlight. Such concrete observations help children build connections to their surroundings and foster foundational concepts of climate and ecological systems( NAAEE 2019).
Early childhood educators can help ensure that lessons about climate change are relevant and age appropriate by building on these local connections( Beaver & Borgerding 2023). This might include observing seasonal changes in nearby parks or gardens; discussing how local weather affects daily activities, like dressing for the day or playing outside; taking neighborhood nature walks; or introducing inquiry-based, hands-on experiments with soil or water. Such activities allow educators to introduce concepts in ways that young children can grasp without causing confusion or fear( Beaver & Borgerding 2023).
76 Young Children
Winter 2025