Three years ago, my 8 year old daughter came home from school in tears. Between her sobs, I learned that she had been told that her overzealous use of glue stick meant that her kids would die in 2050. As a climate change communicator for over a decade, I realised how urgently our young people needed more support with the climate emergency.

Over the past few years, climate change has become increasingly prominent, with warnings in the news, school strikes, posters warning of a countdown to extinction… While many UK children, and adults, could until relatively recently hide or be protected from the truth of what we face, this is changing, particularly with increased access to media and smart devices.

Climate anxiety is on the rise, with almost half of young people worldwide in a 2021 survey saying that eco-anxiety negatively impacts their everyday life. Climate education remains largely absent from our schools and children are increasingly seeking answers.

And so, it falls to adults like you and me (parents, carers, teachers, scout leaders…) to think carefully about how we engage our children and have the important conversations which will prepare them to survive and thrive.

It can be hard to do this well, and very easy to cause extra anxiety. So, what have I learnt in the last three years about how we should engage, in a way that is honest, but also safe and empowering?

Start with yourself and put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.

Psychotherapist Jo McAndrews describes children as our Bluetooth speaker: whatever state we are in, children are likely to pick up on and amplify it. When we are in an ungrounded state, we find it harder to respond to situations in the clear-headed, creative, and sensitive way that a good climate conversation requires. Creating emotional connection with others is key to discussing difficult things, and to be able to connect effectively, we need to be in a calm and grounded state.

Ways to start:

• • Find ways to look after your own emotional wellbeing, get the support you need and ‘build a village’ of supportive others around you. This might be other parents/carers/teachers in your community, or you might look to wider established networks, like .
  • Find good sources of information to have at your fingertips; you will inevitably be asked questions you cannot answer. Check out , a website created by a nonpartisan group of climate scientists and mothers.
  • And importantly, think through what action you want to take yourself to tackle the climate crisis, so you don’t project your own need to do something onto the young people looking to you for guidance.

If you need professional support, many therapists are aware of eco-anxiety and groups like the offer tailored support.

For under 7s, you don’t need to mention climate change.

Climate Change is a complex idea. Instead, focus on nurturing young children’s innate biophilia, encouraging a love of the natural world around them and lay the important groundwork.

Jump in puddles, feed ducks, make rainbows, collect autumn leaves.

Starting tips:

• • Use books and music to introduce, normalise and inspire. Stories don’t have to be overtly environmental in theme; one of my personal favourites is Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s The Ugly Five, which teaches the intrinsic value of the world’s less beautiful beasts. In Clean Up!, by Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola, we meet feisty and loveable Rocket as she pulls a community together to clean up the litter-strewn island where her grandparents live.Ìý For a list of books which feature lead characters from diverse ethnic backgrounds, key to building the inclusive environmental movement of the future, see . Favourite music includes the songs of and anything by Australian ‘ecological edutainment’ trio, . Make it fun, by having a dance!
  • Lead by example and explain your actions. Small children notice our everyday actions, and we can add to their learning by taking the time to verbalise our intentions. Talk about why you put things in the recycling bin or leave the autumn leaves on the ground in the garden.
  • Start proactively building the skills children will need as they grow up. Build trust, interpersonal skills, emotional literacy. Start with .

For 7-11s, a good message is that ‘lots of adults are working on it, but if you want to help, here are some ideas for how you can’.

As children get older, they are much more likely to start encountering the idea and language of climate change. We cannot protect them from it, but we can accompany them and help them find their own way and build their resilience.

Starting tips:

• • When supporting their learning about the environment, start with what they know already, and build basic knowledge from there.
  • Offer a variety of actions that are relevant to their everyday lives. You can find six areas of action, with accessible and concrete ideas in the . Make sure you also ask THEM for their ideas. They’ll have great ones and be much more engaged if action comes from them.
  • Use the power of stories from all over the world; borrow stories from other struggles of how people overcame great odds. And ask them how they think the story should end. A few books to try include:

1. 1. 1. Dr Mya-Rose Craig’s We have a dream: 30 stories of young indigenous people and people of colour around the world taking action to protect the planet
      2. Tim Allman & Nick Shepherd’s Max takes a stand: the accessible and light-hearted fictional tale of Max, who wakes up one morning and realises BIG CHANGE is needed right now
      3. Georgina Stevens’s Stella and the Seagull: a picture book about one small girl’s campaign to clean up the beach.

• • Emphasise the importance of talking about how they feel, to enable the processing of emotions, and let them know that all feelings are welcome, however messy, contradictory, and changeable they may be. There are a range of tools you can use to encourage and enable emotional literacy, including emotions cards and ‘the anger iceberg’, and modelling this yourself can really help.
  • Be honest and open. Relationships built on trust are key to building resilience in young people. At the same time, it’s important to be mindful of what you expose them to and try to keep information to what they need to know.
  • Emphasise it is okay not to have all the answers, and that it is okay if they don’t want to take action or join the youth strike. Show them how to search for reliable information.

A couple of closing thoughts

It’s OK to get it wrong. None of us will get it right all the time but taking the time to think about how you engage is a great first step.

Don’t go it alone. Having a supportive network to draw on, and for any child to draw on, is priceless.

Google is your friend. Keep learning and accept you will not have all the answers.

Good parenting and teaching is activism.Ìý You do not need to be engaging in any formal climate activism to be doing important work. Building strong and supportive connections matters, and as Jo McAndrews says, just holding a baby is contributing to a better future.

LOOK AFTER YOURSELF. The climate crisis is scary, and this is a hard time to care for children. Any engagement with others will be far more effective if you are looking after your own needs too.

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It can be hard making the jump from counting and ordering numbers to actuallyÌýcalculating with them. In my third and final post, I will outline how to use Numicon to practically introduce the crucial concepts of addition and subtraction to your child.

These activities are for children who know the Numicon shapes by number without needing to count the holes. If your child isn’t quite there yet, you could try these ordering and counting activitiesÌýinstead.

My three year old is not ready for this stage yet, so her big sister (age 6) had a go with me. Here are some of the activities we tried out that were most successful. These activities use resources from theÌý, but if you don’t own the kit you can still follow along with theseÌýfreeÌý.

1. Number towers

This is a good activity to gently introduce the idea of adding two numbers together to make a bigger number. Have a go at making number towers like this:

1. Ask your child to choose a shape to put on the NumiconÌý. They should fill the holes of the shape with pegs so that it locks into place.
2. Choose Numicon shapes to fit on top to make the same shape. See if your child can find different combinations of pieces to make the same shape stacking them on top of the previous combinations.
3. Model the language you want your child to use during this activity, such as more, less, add, fit, and same. Encourage them to use the word together (a key word in addition) to explain what they are doing. For example, ‘I am putting two and four together to make six.’

This activity helps your child see that numbers can be made up of multiple smaller numbers, and will give them a go at adding different numbers together to get a total.

2. Number bonds

Following on from this activity, we explored number bonds to 10. We did this by choosing pairs of Numicon shapes to add together to make a total of 10:

1. Set out a shape that takes up 10 pegs.
2. Model for your child how you choose two shapes that fit together to make 10.
3. Encourage your child to continue choosing pairs of shapes to make the ten shape.
4. Remember to use the mathematical language –Ìýtogether, and, add, makes, equals, the same, and so on.

3. Introducing subtraction

My first activity to introduce subtraction involved using a ‘feely bag’ (an big bag that you can’t see through).ÌýAs with addition, it helps if your child is already familiar with Numicon shapes when you introduce the idea of subtraction because otherwise the activity might seem a bit confusing.

1. Put lots of Numicon shapes into the feely bag
2. Ask your child to take out two shapes at random.
3. Put the smaller shape on top of the bigger shape, and encourage your child to count the difference between the two shapes (i.e. to count the holes in the bigger shape that are not covered).
4. Your child can check their counting by choosing the correct Numicon shape to cover all the remaining holes.
5. Encourage your child to explain what is happening using mathematical language – the difference between, smaller than, leaves, equals, and so on.

At this early stage, we focus on the difference between shapes in order to subtract. This concept is nice and easy to visualise so is great for younger learners.

4. Taking away

The other way to explore subtraction with Numicon is byÌýtaking away part of a shape. For example, you could:

1. Choose a shape and pretend to take away 1 from its value by covering the hole with your finger.
2. Ask your child to find the shape that matches the pattern that is left. For example, if the original shape had a value of 6 and you held your finger over a hole, your child would need to find a shape with a value of 5.
3. Try taking away 1 from every Numicon shape.
4. You can build on this by taking away larger numbers (for example, holding your finger over two holes) when your child is confident with the process of taking away 1.

5. Reading and listening to songs

On top of these quite formal activities, you can also teach your child about adding and taking away through conversation, books, play, and songs. My little girl loves singing along to the songs in the Numicon At 51ºÚÁÏÍø kit and holding up her fingers to count along! We have tried to make these songs part of her bedtime routine to help her get used to counting.

When reading a book or listening to a song, try these tips to practise early maths skills:

• Talk about the pictures – explore shapes, patterns, size, colours.
• Count the number ofÌý a certain type of object on the page.
• Listen out for numbers and then count forwards/backwards from that number.
• Use the Numicon number line as you count, or count using your fingers.
• Try to use mathematical language as much as possible.

Giving your child a chance to practise addition and subtraction using Numicon, as well as incorporating maths into their daily routine through books and songs, will give their early maths skills a real boost. Keep it up and they will be moving on to trickier maths concepts in no time!Ìý

Numicon kits for parents

More from Oxford Owl

• Numicon guide for parents
• Blog:Ìý
• Blog:Ìý

As an Early Years teacher with twenty years of experience (and mum to two young girls), I am a huge fan of Numicon.

The multi-sensory shapes are my go-to for introducing maths to preschoolers. In this blog post, I talk about what Numicon is, how it works, and a couple of my favourite activities to get the most out of this versatile resource.

What is Numicon?

Numicon is a system of flat, plastic shapes with holes. Each shape represents a number from 1–10 and each number has its own colour. The pattern of holes is arranged in pairs, which makes it easier for children to make connections between numbers (for instance, seeing that each number is ‘one more’ than the last).

The aim of Numicon is to make numbers real for children. It is an effective, multi-sensory resource because it helps children to physically see and feel the value of numbers, and see the relationships between numbers.

You can find out more about Numicon on the Numicon guide for parentsÌýpage.

Using Numicon at home

Everything you will need to get your child started with Numicon is included in the , which provides a step-by-step guide to learning about numbers in a fun and interactive way.

The kit is geared towards pre-school children aged 3–5, and my three-year-old absolutely loves it. As well as Numicon shapes, pegs, and other equipment, the kit includes a booklet with a variety of clearly illustrated activities, and explanations of the maths concepts that your child is exploring through their play. For each activity, you are provided with a list of the mathematical language that you can use around your child.

If you don’t have the kit at home, don’t worry – you can download free Ìýto follow along with your own version of these activities.

1. Visualising numbers

Try using a ‘feely bag’ to help your child build up a mental image of the numbers one to ten. For example:

1. Have your child close their eyes.
2. Put one Numicon shape in an opaque bag.
3. See if your child can tell your what number it is just by feeling it.

When your child has to ‘feel’ for a number, they have to visualise the Numicon patterns, which helps them to develop their own mental image of numbers.

This proved challenging for my little girl when we initially used the bag. She insisted on emptying the Numicon tiles over the table so she could see all the pieces! We spent a lot of time talking about the colours, shapes, and sizes of the different tiles, comparing them to each other. I modelled the appropriate language (such as find,Ìýmatch, feel, the same as, and the names of the colours) so that she had the mental tools to think about and describe what she was feeling.

She is now a pro at identifying pieces in the feely bag and enjoys using it. She can tell me if a piece is big or small, has a chimney or not (odd/even numbers), and also puts her fingers in the holes to count before pulling the pieces out of the bag. Using the feely bag has helped her to develop a mental picture of the Numicon shapes, which is an important step in developing mental imagery of numbers.

2. Making patterns

This activity makes use of the 52 pegs in the At 51ºÚÁÏÍø kit. They can be used for a variety of pattern-making activities. For instance, the is designed to hold both Numicon shapes and pegs. It can therefore be used with the picture overlays to make matching puzzles.

My little girl loves to use the pegs on the baseboard.ÌýInitially, I let her explore and play with the pegs freely and she filled the baseboard with pegs in random order. However, she was keen to copy meÌýwhen I began modelling how to make a pattern.ÌýI only used two colours to keep it simple and she very quickly wanted to make her own patterns (‘I do it myself Mummy!’). She loved making necklaces with her pegs. To begin with, it is a good idea to limit the choices of colour and then build up more when your child becomes more confident.

The coloured pegs fit into the Numicon pieces, so there are lots of opportunities for learning using these resources together. For example, you could try:

• Matching peg patterns to Numicon shapes.
• Making number towers.
• Copying patterns.
• Using the feely bag to make Numicon shapes with pegs from memory.

In my next post, I will be sharing how Numicon can help you explore sequencing, ordering, number names, and counting with your child.

Numicon kits for parents

More from Oxford Owl

• Numicon guide for parents
• Blog:Ìý
• Blog:Ìý