subject: The Lose Your Excuse Program [print this page] The Lose Your Excuse Program The Lose Your Excuse Program
Everyone knows they should be trying to reduce energy consumption throughout their home. Not only does it help the environment but it will save big money for homeowners as well.
The problem is that knowing we should do something and then actually doing it can often be two rather different things.
That is why the U.S. Department of Energy has come up with the Lose Your Excuse program, aimed at getting both children and their parents to start actually making a bigger effort to reduce the amount of energy we all waste around the home.
Lose Your Excuse for Kids
As any good teacher knows if you want kids, especially the younger ones, to actually learn something, making it fun for them is always a good tack to take. This is exactly the approach that the "Lose Your Excuse" program is taking. Instead of listing dry energy fact after dry fact the site features games, puzzles and other related activities that are far more likely to hold a kid's short attention span for at least the regulation five minutes.
For instance, in the section of the main Lose Your Excuse website entitled Land of Lost Excuses children encounter a number of rather alien like creatures who all have a different excuse for why they don't help save energy around their place. In one example, a black hole has appeared next to one alien's light switch, making it impossible to turn off. Another red alien, apparently called Wendy, refuses to have her doors and windows insulated because she needs the wind generated by the drafts to power her pinwheels.
The object of this activity is for children to help all these game characters to "lose their excuse" while learning some energy saving trivia facts themselves. This game is aimed mainly at those who are in the lower grades at school but older children may even enjoy helping younger siblings straighten the energy wasting aliens out.
There are plenty of other activities at the Lose Your Excuse site as well. As well as several other games there is a poster maker; a chance to watch campaign videos; and a printable energy savings plan that kids can create for their own home.
The site also encourages teachers to make use of the site and the associated "What's Your Excuse" program in their own lesson plans.
Lose Your Excuse for Parents
For parents navigating to the site with, or on behalf of, their kids there is plenty of advice as well. There are links not only to more adult orientated educational fare in the form of outside blogs and articles but also to money saving energy related resources, something that parents everywhere are always going to be interested in.
How it All Began
Back in 2008 a US national survey of kids ages 8 15 found that a whopping 85% of the respondents believed they could be the ones to lead their family to do what is needed to consume less energy in the home. Acting on that information the Department of Energy, together with the Ad Council, developed the Lose Your Excuse program to encourage kids to do just that.
