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Kids Zone


Plugged In Kids 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 web- site 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 co- operatives, 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 in- teractive games, videos, activ- ity sheets, and surprises. “The website is all about en- gagement,” explains Ruben Musca, senior manager of advertising and marketing 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 en- ergy efficient habits that will last a lifetime. Through fun activi- ties, 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 fluo- rescent 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 effi- ciency 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. Kay Elec- tric can provide area schools with CFL Charlie Super Energy Saver kits. For more informa- tion, call KEC at 1-580-363- 1260.


“Each kit accommodates a class of 30 students and in- cludes a checklist that children can use to help guide their par- ents 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 com- puters 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 influ- ence household energy effi- ciency.”


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 week- nights, road trips, anywhere,” Musca concluded. “The new 10-page coloring book we’ve added can keep kids enter- tained and educate them about energy savings at the same time.”


Plug into these resourc-


es and more at www.kidsener- gyzone.com.


By Megan McKoy-Noe 1377116


Kay Electric Cooperative • 5


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