Suzie Hicks the Climate Chick is creating climate community for kids
A new show called Suzie Hicks the Climate Chick and Sprout, dedicated to teaching children about climate change, has debuted online over the last few months. The show, intended for children ages 5-10, teaches the audience how to care about the planet around them, as well as the emotional skills to handle the overwhelming feelings that can come along with learning about climate change. The show also fills a void present in children’s media: only around 1% of kids’ shows mention climate change at all.
This statistic is from a study by The Aspen Institute, through This is Planet Ed, their climate change education initiative. The same study also highlights a demand for children’s media that addresses climate change. A survey done in 2022 shows that around 70% of caregivers want the media to present their children with age-appropriate climate change information.
Suzie Hicks, the Climate Chick and Sprout, has jumped on the high demand and low supply of climate change content for kids and filled that void with bright videos, fun songs, and powerful lessons.
In the show, Suzie Hicks is an energetic yet grounded scientist who is joined by a puppet named Sprout. Sprout is a sunflower too small to have bloomed yet and is learning about the world around her. Throughout the episode, Suzie and Sprout learn about concepts like the greenhouse gas effect and solar energy and meet a solar company called Grid Alternatives that works to make solar energy accessible in their community.
“Every time I introduce a problem related to climate change, I make sure to always, always highlight a solution with it,” Hicks says in a video interview from their apartment in Los Angeles. This is a part of the pedagogy of the show, as well as their teaching practice at an outdoor school in Los Angeles where Hicks teaches K-8.
Suzie Hicks the Climate Chick and Sprout released its first episode on YouTube, but Suzie Hicks, the creator and star of the show, is not stopping there. Along with the show, Hicks has created curriculum, short form content, classroom programs, and role model festivals in the name of educating kids about the science of climate change. The creator’s main goal is to connect children to their climate community.
The show debuted on Earth Day 2025, as did its curriculum, and shorter videos have been released regularly since then. The show’s website also hosts a curriculum that was built alongside the show to help adults approach climate change with their kids through activities and lesson plans.
Hicks is also developing a “climate buddy” program to accompany the show. When a classroom elects to be a climate buddy through the program, it will receive even more content, like posters and videos featuring the show’s main characters.
Finally, Hicks just finished hosting the “Sprouting Bright Futures” festival in Los Angeles. Hicks organized the event highlighting kid-friendly climate solutions and invited families to meet the people who are taking positive steps toward a more resilient future. Hicks hopes to recreate the festival in many different locations, so that kids and families everywhere can meet the climate role-models in their neighborhood.
The show has debuted to positive acclaim. One video has reached over 87,000 views, but as much as the popularity matters to Hicks, there’s other kinds of reception that really warm their heart.
“I’m receiving videos of kids singing the songs from the show.”
Hicks shared a recording of a classroom of young children singing “S.T.O.P.” a song featured in the show. In the song, kids go through four steps when they feel overwhelmed: “Stop what you’re doing, take a breath, observe how you’re feeling, proceed to what’s next.” The song encourages kids to understand how they’re feeling and includes a simple motion of patting their hand over their heart to the music.
In the video sent to Hicks by a kindergarten teacher, the kids sang the song while doing the motion over their heart.
“People believe in this,” Hicks shared, reflecting on what has changed now that the show has been out in the world for a few months. “It’s hard being an indie creator,” Hicks continues, citing crowdfunding finances, long hours, and being the only person who knows what they’re really creating. “Now it’s out in the world, and people are looking at what I made, and they’re saying ‘Yeah, this is something.’”
In terms of what’s next, Hicks is currently writing ten more episodes, and working with their production company, Very Big World, on funding the rest of the first season.
“It’s real. I’ve been working on this for forever, and it’s fun to have it out where people can see it.” Hicks finishes with a big grin on their face.
Check out Suzie Hicks the Climate Chick and Sprout:
