Sweet Summertime Projects

Hi everyone, I’m happy to say our Real-World Super Heroes class will be offered again this fall. We are currently working on our juicy class line-up, pulling some favorites from last year as well as growing a few new ones. 

In the meantime, how do your kids keep flexing their Real-World Super Hero muscles?

Here are a few sweet summertime ideas:

1. Open for Business: The Lemonade -Cookie-Art Sale Stand - Kids love ths tried and true favorite, with a charity twist. Let your kids figure out what they want to sell depending on what they like to do. For some that’s baking.  But we’ve also known kids who have sold their own paintings, hand-made beaded jewelry or braided braclets. Help your kids identify cause to benefit and how much they will donate; some may want to give 100% of proceeds to philanthropy and some may want to keep some of the fruits of their labor –that’s ok too. If you can, try to find a local organization or office where the kids can hand over their money in person.  We have some young friends who did a Lemonade Stand while on vacation in Cape Cod and delivered their check to the International Fund for Animal Welfare  located just down the street in Yarmouth, MA.

2. Hear Me Roar: Visit Your Local Zoo.  We took a family trip to the Bronx Zoo yesterday and without any foresight, it ended up including a lesson about helping animals. Most zoos share lots of information about conservation efforts, and to be honest ,we usually zip right past this info. But this time we really checked out the Poacher Truck station in the Tiger Mountain exhibit and talked about what actions are being taken to protect these big cats. Then I let my son put some coins into one of those spiraling collection boxes on our way out.  Without prompting, he explained to his younger sibling that the money goes “to the people who are helping protect the animals.”  I could tell he was proud to contribute.

3. The Cupcake Fairies: Generate Instant Smiles. One of our favorite Real-World Super Heroes classes is called “Random Acts of Kindess.”  The best part of random acts of kindness is that because they are unexpected, they often generates wonderful immediate responses.  This immediate feedback loop can become somewhat addictive. The more fun you have with this, the more surprised and pleased your recipients are likely to be. Recently, my kids and I baked some cupcakes and declared ourselves the Cupcake Fairies. I gave my son and his cousin each a light-up wand (similar ones can be found here). We went out after dinner (because doing anything in the dark makes it more fun), knocked on doors of neighboring friends and handed out the brightly decorated treats. It was a big success and perhaps we’ve even started a new tradition in the neighborhood.  I’m personally hoping the Peanut Brittle Pirates or the Brownie Brigade will come knocking sometime soon.

More than ever, I embrace the unstructured time summertime brings. The projects mentioned here provide fun ways for your kids to flex their Super Hero muscles while they play outside, visit with family and stay up late. So enjoy!