Website Offers Fun Ways to �Switch On� Youth to Energy Efficiency

Getting children excited about energy efficiency may seem hard � for some parents, it�s enough of a challenge to get them to do chores. But a website has been designed with young energy savers in mind.

Touchstone Energy� Cooperatives, the brand �ID� of the nation�s not-for-profit, consumer-owned electric cooperatives, offers Kids Energy Zone (www.kidsenergyzone.com) featuring a spunky energy efficiency mascot, CFL Charlie. The site is designed to teach children in kindergarten through fifth grade how to be Super Energy Savers in their homes. The Kids Zone also includes interactive games, videos, activity sheets, and surprises.

�The website is all about engagement,� explains Ruben Musca, senior national advertising & communications advisor for Touchstone Energy. �This is a way for parents to interact with children so the family can focus on energy efficiency together, and help everyone develop energy efficient habits that will last a lifetime. Through fun activities, students and their parents learn about energy, electrical safety, and energy savings.�

For example, Lights Out! � an energy- saving game in the Kids Zone � challenges kids to speed through a virtual house, replacing traditional incandescent lightbulbs with energy efficient compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) and turning off lights and appliances as fast as possible. The less energy a player uses by the time everything�s off, the better the score.

�Playing the Lights Out! game and taking kids through a house with an energy efficiency checklist, which parents can find in the Kids Zone, are great ways to work together to get good habits started,� Musca recommends.

Teachers searching for ways to help students focus on energy efficiency have several resources available. Some Touchstone Energy co-ops provide schools with CFL Charlie Super Energy Saver kits.

�Each kit accommodates a class of 30 students and includes a checklist that children can use to help guide their parents on an �energy efficiency expedition,�� Musca explains. �In the exercise, kids walk through the house with their mom and dad to make sure the refrigerator door is closed, and they discuss switching out incandescent bulbs with CFLs, turning off all lights after leaving a room, and shutting off computers when not in use.�

Finished checklists signed by children and parents are submitted to teachers for a certificate declaring the student �an official Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Super Energy Saver.� Certificates carry the image and signature of CFL Charlie.

�The kits also contain classroom activities such as connect-the-dots and word search games,� Musca adds. �Handing out these materials provides a great way to influence household energy efficiency.�

The latest addition to the kit is an educational coloring book. "As a kid growing up, I loved coloring books � it�s what kept me entertained on weeknights, road trips, anywhere,� Musca concluded. �The new 10-page coloring book we�ve added can keep kids entertained and educate them about energy savings at the same time.�

Plug into these resources and more at  www.kidsenergyzone.com. Source: Touchstone Energy� Cooperatives