Channel 4’s fan-favourite show, The Secret Life of Five Year Olds, has returned – and with it, our Professor in Neuroscience and Education, Paul Howard-Jones, has reprised his role as an insightful observer. 

Yet this time, the latest series brings with it a new focus. Partnering with E.ON Next, the series explores the children’s awareness of climate change in a bid to tackle eco-anxiety from a young age. 

Returning to the classroom, the children are educated about how their everyday actions can affect the environment and are encouraged to build energy-saving habits, realising the impact they can make in doing so. 

As the children are interviewed on camera with their parents, Professor Paul Howard-Jones and co-host Dr Laverne Antrobus observe their behaviour and provide insights into how the children’s understandings of climate change are developing at such a young, yet pivotal age. 

In a new move for Channel 4, the show will not be aired on “linear” TV. Instead, viewers can catch the latest episodes released fortnightly on Channel 4’s social channels, including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, with the first episode having been released on Monday 9^th September at 6pm.  

Professor Paul Howard-Jones said: ‘I was thrilled to be involved with bringing back The Secret Lives of 5 Year Olds, not least because the new series focuses on climate change - something that will impact their lives more than any other previous generation.’ 

‘At five years old, children are usually full of self-belief, creativity and curiosity. That makes it a great time for them to start thinking about how we depend on the living world and how we can better look after it.’ 

‘It’s been amazing to see how much a five year old can learn about issues such as renewable energy and sustainability and how, even at this early age, they can be empowered to take action.’ 

‘Along the way, you ‘ll see them grappling with many of the difficulties we face as adults: trying to understand about climate change, to think about waste, to bring others on board and, as consumers, to sometimes choose the less tempting option just to help the planet.’ 

Before the second episode is released this week, catch up with the first episode on Channel 4's YouTube channel here.