I am a research scientist studying how coral reefs are at risk from climate change. In my spare time, I ask kids 'what do penguins and coral reefs have in common?' to teach them about the impacts of the overheating of the earth and what we can all do about it while having fun- feeding like corals by catching jelly snakes with our tentacle arms, overheating in penguin huddles, 'bleaching' me as I wear a coral costume, and making corals out of play dough and LEGO. Periodically, I reach out to kids (and parents and teachers) around the world via international drawing contests - see kidscareaboutclimate.org). The 2021 contest had 2,629 entries from 33 nations on 6 continents and from 213 schools. Our partner 15 Trees (15trees.org.au) planted a tree for each entry. We made a GIANT (7m high by 4 m wide) banner of all the drawings mosaic'd to form a picture of a penguin planting a tree on the earth. The banner has visited 29 schools, 6 nations so far and 2 COP climate meetings.
Marji Puotinen
Tomorrow, I start a marathon week-long tree 🌳hug at The University of Western Australia in Perth, Australia just as the United Nations climate meeting #COP30 begins in Brazil. I'm doing this because kids deserve a safe earth 🌏 and a safe earth is impossible without #ClimateActionNow. I speak for 829 people (aged toddler to senior citizens) from 42 nations who hugged 🥰 trees in the #kidscareaboutclimatechange tree hug challenge, and for over 13,000 kids who've been part of the initiative since 2018! Truphena Muthoni will join me on 13th Nov for her world recording breaking tree hug marathon in Brazil at #COP30. We hope this inspires you to reconnect with nature (hug a tree!) and to find any and every way YOU can help make earth safer for kids!!
3 months ago | [YT] | 1
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Marji Puotinen
In just two days time (on Monday 10 Nov 2025), I start hugging a tree for 4+ days as part of the #kidscareaboutclimatechange global tree hug marathon, timed to coincide with the United Nations climate meeting (#COP30) in Brazil!! This video answers some common questions I've been getting! If you have more questions, ask in the comments!!
3 months ago | [YT] | 1
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Marji Puotinen
Hi everyone! Amazing humans 💯 from all over Australia and the world (20 nations so far) are hugging trees 🌳 for the #kidscareaboutclimatechange global tree hug challenge!! Join in by uploading your tree hug photo to kidscareaboutclimate.org/ by 1 Nov ✅ The photos help amplify the call 📣 for urgent #ClimateAction at #cop30 by 10k+ kids from 33 nations.
Truphena Muthoni and I will simultaneously do a 72+ hour marathon tree 🌳 hug in Brazil 🇧🇷 and Australia 🇦🇺 during #COP30, starting 10 Nov. I’ll hug my tree for 1 min longer ⏰ for every tree hug photo I get! Make me hug it for an entire week!!
3 months ago | [YT] | 0
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Marji Puotinen
Hi everyone! I realised that I have a few more drone photos to share with you! These are from primary schools in Melbourne and Perth, Australia recently! Don't you think the kids (and teachers directing the kids into position) did such a great job?? Do you have an idea for a short word we can spell for the next drone photo?? Let me know in the comments.
4 months ago | [YT] | 2
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Marji Puotinen
Hi everyone! Now is your chance to join in our next exciting initiative! Watch the new video for what it is all about and how you can join in. I can't wait to see your tree hugging photos!!
4 months ago | [YT] | 1
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Marji Puotinen
Hi everyone!
The giant banner, the climate stripes banner and me are back home in Australia after a fantastic tour of 5 countries in Europe (Denmark, Ireland, France, Spain and Switzerland). I hope you enjoy the videos I've already posted from this - but I've also put together a video for #ShowYourStripes day which was 21st June as each drone photo included the climate stripes for Europe.
Right after I got back, I also visited year 7 students at Ocean Reef Senior High School and filmed them with the stripes and the giant banner as well (see drone photo below).
Cheers :)
Marji
1 year ago | [YT] | 0
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Marji Puotinen
The GIANT #kidscareaboutclimatechange banner celebrated World Oceans Day with kids at Learnlife Ecohub, near Barcelona, Spain. Their school had 29 drawings on the banner. They did a FANTASTIC job sending a message to world leaders everywhere. First - an SOS - because our planet and our oceans are getting way too hot. And then a heart. Because we already have the solutions that we need to cool the Earth to make it safe for everyone. What we NEED is to find the LOVE for each other required to pull together to use those solutions. Here is their video: https://youtu.be/hb_lyI2lm_s?si=DWkrW...
1 year ago | [YT] | 0
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Marji Puotinen
On 31st May, the giant banner visited 90 kids aged 3 to 9 in Cordoba, Spain! We filmed them via drone spelling AMA, which means 'to love' in Spanish and 'mother' in Basque. It has been getting very hot in Cordoba earlier and earlier in each year, and their school has no air conditioning. It was 40 degrees C on the day of my visit. Teachers were spritzing kids with water from squirt bottles to help them stay cool. We did the drone filming at 9:30 am to make sure it wasn't too hot to stand outside. Here is their video: https://youtu.be/83z1baxOZ-s!
1 year ago | [YT] | 0
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Marji Puotinen
The giant banner is currently in EUROPE! Kids aged 5 to 18 have seen Marji the penguin and Marji the earth, have learned why corals and penguins hate warming seas from climate change by feeding like corals and using a 3-way reversible penguin toy, and have of course been filmed with the GIANT banner via drone. The banner has been to 2 schools in Denmark, 2 schools in Ireland, and 1 school in France so far! Check out the videos: Denmark (https://youtu.be/72IsvlBHmEU?si=6DvS1..., Ireland (https://youtu.be/0YoZ-gKVErM?si=kWHT8... and https://youtu.be/1V1OHgEfky8?si=FV50A..., and France (https://youtu.be/NDGtWrpTG-A?si=WhOoQ....
1 year ago (edited) | [YT] | 0
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