Children across Staffordshire will get hands on with climate change from tomorrow.

Primary schools pupils will become energy detectives, measure carbon footprints and take the solar scrapheap challenge in a range of interactive workshops.

Climate experts at Staffordshire County Council have teamed up with top scientists from Keele University to deliver the workshops as part of the council's campaign to bring the climate change message to people across Staffordshire.

Children at St.Gabriel's Catholic Primary School in Tamworth, Churchfields Primary School in Chesterton and St.Joseph & St.Theresa Catholic Primary School in Burntwood will benefit from the free sessions over the next three weeks.

Alongside the workshops, teachers will also be offered support to see how climate change and sustainability can be embedded into lessons and what the school can do to become more sustainable, and pupils will be given information packs to take home.

Staffordshire County Councillor Mike Maryon, Cabinet Member for Highways and Environment, said the workshops were a great way to reach young people.

"Many children know about climate change and the effects we are already seeing across the world, but it can be difficult to relate that to our activities at home, work and school. These hands-on workshops really show how reducing energy use and renewable technologies like solar power can make a real difference.

Young people are one of the key groups we want to work with to tackle climate change. They hold the key to the future and giving them information now will help them to shape the world to be more sustainable."

Dr.Zoe Robinson, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science and Physical Geography at Keele University, said the workshops were a proven success.

"We have been delivering climate change workshops in schools for some time and we know that letting kids get hands on really brings the message home. The workshops are based on hard science and develop pupils' key life skills like problem solving, investigation and understanding the world around them.

We are delighted to be working with the County Council to reach pupils across Staffordshire." she added.

The climate change workshops follow the Johnsons alternate reality game, run on the OC3 website between September and December 2009, which brought the climate change message to young people across Staffordshire and beyond.