Creating Eco Warriors
How my children’s eco education inspired me to create a new educational game…
Hello! I’m Shiri Atsmon, a ‘global citizen’ who after living in the US and in China, made North London my permanent home where I live with my husband and three children, aged 16, 14 and 11. My professional background is in behaviour research, and for over a decade I was researching how families clean, cook, do the laundry and other household chores. My role was to understand families’ needs and wants, so that companies could develop new products that cater to those needs.
Three years ago some family health concerns prompted me to leave my full time work and embrace a new endeavour to help children feel more confident. Capitalising on my expertise in domestic behaviour change I opened a small consultancy called Helpful Kids . I became a “chores for kids” specialist, focussing on motivating children to help around the home and families to share the housework. My work involves developing educational aids and games that help families achieve that goal.
At the end of last year I decided to combine my professional expertise with the desire to take action on environmental issues. I developed a fun and educational game called Eco Warriors which encourages children ages 5-12 to adopt sustainable habits at home and take care of their belongings, their home and the environment.
It is my children who have inspired me to not only develop my own business but also the ‘Eco Warriors’ cards. They all attended an international school called Dwight School which was accredited ‘Eco School’ in 2016. The accreditation requires some work and thought, and my children were all involved with helping to achieve their school’s green flag certification which obviously made us very proud.
All three children were Eco Rangers, responsible to ideate and implement sustainability initiatives that make the school even more environmentally friendly. My youngest is still a Y6 student at the school and has been his class' Eco Ranger in this academic year's first term, while my daughters have continued the environmental action through secondary school too by participating in the youth strikes and then talking in school assemblies about their experiences.
For my children and our family, becoming an Eco Ranger was quite a big deal. Children present their candidacy and are voted by their classmates, so every time each one of them got elected it was considered a big achievement which we all celebrated. Their school created a vegetable garden in the school’s grounds, as well as speciality recycling boxes for items that are not widely recycled such as stationary. They were bringing home ideas to share with us!
What really stood out for me is the positive impact being an Eco Ranger had on my children’s character development. First of all, being in charge of these responsibilities instilled a sense of pride and confidence in them. They were beaming whenever their ideas were implemented in the school. Secondly, being an Eco Ranger developed the kind and nature-loving side of their character. It helped my children appreciate what they have and the world around them.
My children’s enthusiasm and the stories they brought from school started influencing my own mindset too. We started paying more attention to recycling - being more firm about rinsing everything that can be recycled and “fishing” items that can be recycled from the general refuse indoor bin. We then moved to making sure items in the bathrooms got recycled too such as loo roll inserts and toiletries packaging. Habit by habit, job by job we started changing how we clean, cook, do the laundry, use feminie hygiene products, how we shop, how we garden, these are just a few examples! Looking back I can’t believe how many changes we have taken on, but whenever we made each change it didn’t feel particularly meaningful at the time, it is the accumulation of all these changes that really makes a difference.
My business Helpful Kids was always inspired by the work I do with my kids. I practice what I preach so cleaning, cooking and other housework is done together with my family. The Eco Warriors Cards are no different and were inspired by seeing the love my children have for taking environmental action both in school and at home.
With Eco Warriors, I have merged the two sets of knowledge - motivating children to help with chores on one hand, and teaching sustainable habits on the other. I got so excited by the prospect of equipping a sense of purpose, an empowerment to be part of the solution and not of the problem. Children will suffer the detrimental impact of climate change for a longer duration of their life, it is only fair that they learn as early as possible how to avoid further damage. Moreover, they have every right to demand families to behave in a way that promotes sustainability and therefore a greener future.
It was a real challenge to get the production right and make sure each element was as environmentally friendly as possible. This is why the production is very small and very much home made. I assemble each pack of cards myself at home because that was the only way to make sure the cards were printed on recycled cards. The stickers are biodegradable, the pack is made from recycled materials and the mailer is biodegradable too.
I feel very proud of what I managed to achieve and of the positive impact that cards have had on families. Parents who have used the products and left reviews stating the kids love the cards and feel very proud to take action at home and also help their parents with things like laundry and tidying up. They also come back to purchase them as birthday gifts for friends and family, which is a lovely way to create that ripple effect in the community.
What I wanted to create was an interactive game for kids that doesn’t only teach children about sustainability action at home, but also encourages them to take action on a daily basis and without being prompted to do so. We have a set of instructions for kids in the pack that encourages them to take action without being told, and give themselves a biodegradable sticker on the chart (both provided in the pack).
To make the game more interesting I have also included treasure hunt clues to be used by parents to hide some of the cards. Each card has two parts, the first part explains why doing certain jobs around the home in a more environmentally friendly way is beneficial. This part uses rhymes written by the children’s author Sally R. Wilkes. The second part in each card details the “Eco Warriors Actions” kids can do on a daily basis. There are a total of 20 rhymes and over 45 Actions to do around the home.
I also wanted to make this a family activity so when families buy the pack they can choose to add additional reward charts and stickers for siblings. It’s nice for the little ones to feel part of the team even if they can’t yet read the cards and take independent action. People love the journey of discovery that the whole family can go on together and the real benefits that Eco Warriors brings to kids and parents.
Many families have welcomed Eco Warriors as an excellent and natural way to develop children’s character and behaviour. They learn to care for the things around them and take responsibility for them while they have lots of fun. The cards teach them life lessons that will make them pro-active, organised, tidy, helpful and thoughtful, allowing them to develop a sense of responsibility for themselves and for the planet they live on.
I have also produced a teacher’s handbook which expands the knowledge presented in the cards and provides many ideas for activities for both a classroom and a home environment. This handbook alongside the cards have been purchased by Eco clubs and schools in the UK and I have even had the occasional order from overseas!
Producing the Eco Warriors game has been a wonderful experience as a small business owner. It always feels great to do something that benefits others and finding a way to reach people’s hearts. Moreover, I love how producing the cards encouraged me to connect with a wider community of eco-minded individuals, change-makers and influencers including the Eco Action Families organisation. It encouraged me to follow new accounts on social media which in return have enhanced my knowledge and allowed me to try new ideas at home.
Afterall, it’s all about taking action!
Shiri has very generously given a 10% discount to anyone ordering from Eco Action Families! Order your Eco Warriors Game via the links on this page. (Discount Code ECOACTIONFAMILIES)