Children's books on Climate Change for parents

Activity Introduction

Quick summary: Amy’s Balancing Act by Bjorn Sturmberg and Laura Stitzel is a colourful, easy-to-read picture book for younger kids perfect for starting conversations about energy and its impact on the climate.

Time required: 40 minutes or so.

Resources Required:

Art supplies – coloured pencils and textas
A computer with access to the internet
Factsheet – Everything you need to know about energy (optional)
Text – Amy’s Balancing Act. You can purchase a physical copy of the book here. You can also access the book for educational purposes here, using the password SchoolAccess
The ‘teacher’ worksheet (below), which you can print off. This has all the instructions to follow
White paper.

Worksheets

Step 1. Begin by having a chat with your kid/s.

What is energy? Energy is all around us. When you cook over a campfire you’re taking the stored energy in the wood you’re burning and transferring it to the food you’re about to eat to warm up that meal. However, when we talk about energy in our homes, it's usually synonymous with electricity.
What do you know about how we produce energy? Kids might be able to talk about solar panels. You can feel the energy of the sun when you feel the warmth of the sun on your back, and solar panels convert that energy into electricity. Kids might also know a little bit about fossil fuel power plants. This is where we burn coal and oil (fossil fuels) in order to produce energy - which is exactly what we're doing when we burn wood to create fire to warm up our camping meal, just on a way bigger scale.
Do you know of any challenges when it comes to producing energy? Kids might be able to t

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