Embark on your own Time-Talent-Treasure Hunt

Every semester we begin our grade-school Real-World Super Heroes program with an introduction to philanthropy.  We explain that everyone has three super powers they can use to help others: Time, Talent and Treasure.   We cite examples of kind acts and our new Heroes identify which of the three powers are used in each case. Here, you can give it a try (more than one answer allowed):

• Clean up trash at the beach or park (Time)
• Make a cool art project out of clean recyclables, to give to your grandma (Time, Talent, Treasure)
• Sing in a concert for people in the hospital (Time, Talent)
• Invite someone who looks lonely at the playground to play tag (Time)

It doesn’t take long for the kids to realize that Time and Talent are every bit, or even more, important as Treasure. Or, that giving someone attention or expressing “love is a treasure” as one of our young heroes summarized.

After everyone understands what the three Super Powers are, we set out on a Time-Talent-Treasure Hunt to discover ways to use these powers in our neighborhood.  You can replicate this activity in your own neighborhood.  Here’s how we did it:

Each hero was given a map of the neighborhood and clues to four locations. Upon arriving at each location, we discussed as a group how we could use Time, Talent and/or Treasure to help others given the site. As usual, the children came up with things we hadn’t even thought of. Check out some of their Super ideas:

Location: Post Office. Super Hero Ideas:

• mail a letter to your grandma or grandpa or a get well card to someone who is sick
• buy stamps for someone who is not able to get to the post office
• send thank you cards to people
• bring flowers for the post office workers (can you imagine how happy they’d be??)

Location: Preschool/Daycare. Super Hero Ideas:

• donate books or toys we’ve outgrown
• make a bookshelf to donate
• make toys to give to the kids
• be reading buddies for them or read to them

Location: Garden. Super Hero Ideas:

• plant flowers
• grow vegetables
• give someone flowers (if it is OK to take some)

 Location: Grocery Store.  Super Hero Ideas:

• buy food to donate to charity
• buy ingredients to make lemonade and cookies and have a lemonade stand to raise money to donate
• do shopping for someone who is sick or unable to get to the store

 Our Time-Talent-Treasure Hunt proved there are plenty of opportunities for us to be Super Heroes all around us.  It doesn’t have to be big and complicated. Our young Heroes received a star on their maps for each location visited. Back in our classroom, they turned in their completed maps for a little goody bag. Treasure well deserved!

All Hallow’s Eve Epilogue

It seems like Halloween was ages ago, but I want to recount a little episode that has stuck in my mind. On October 30, the kids in our “Real-World Super Heroes” class (see About for more info) hosted a party for some tots at the West End Intergenerational temporary residence.  The residence is a housing facility used mainly by moms and their kids getting out of abusive situations; the kids attend on-site daycare while their moms go to school or job training so they can land a job that pays for their own housing, usually a 6-12 month process. Our young heroes, including my son Jeff, had spent the previous week’s class getting ready for the party, which included discussion about what a shelter is and why people may need to use it.  On the night of the party, after Jeff was in bed, he called me into his room and reported, “You know the reason I didn’t get any candy at party was there was none left because the grown-ups who live there were taking a lot.”  He seemed confused or upset that adults would take Halloween candy, so I led him through a conversation that went something like this:

Me: Well, where do these women live?

Jeff: In the shelter.

Me: Why do they live there? 

Jeff: Because they don’t have enough money to live in their own houses. They are living there until they can.

Me: What might it be like for them?

Jeff: Maybe they don’t a lot of stuff.

Me: So why do you think they took all the candy we offered?

Jeff: Because they probably don’t have any.

Me: Yes probably. And maybe they will save it up so they can give it to their kids long after Halloween is over.  They might not be able to go out and get more whenever they want.

This small conversation reinforced for me that “Real-World Super Heroes” is on the right track: not every moment of our classes is a grand “aha” one and not every day will the kids be acting as ideal altruistic ambassadors.  The hope is simply that by providing regular opportunities for our kids to see the world through someone else’s eyes and to have a positive impact on those people — be they family and friends, or community members (or animals or the world around us) — they will develop a richer annd more compassionate view of our world.  It is fascinating to see which experiences are starting to help my son broaden his perspective. And, if I’m really lucky, he’ll suggest donating all our surplus trick-or-treat supplies to West End very, very soon!

President-Elect Calls for Service

On Tuesday, we participated in a historic election. No matter how we cast our vote, we did so because we hope for better times in the days ahead. We also know that hoping is not enough to make it so.

In Barak Obama’s speech late last night, the following words really resonated with me: “So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism; of service and responsibility where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves, but each other.”

Now most Americans have been working harder for less pay for quite a while, so the “harder” comment is rather painful. But the community sentiment is right on and I am a big believer that much can be done if many take small steps. Of course, if you want to take a giant leap, go for it!

So, here are 3 things you can do today – pick the one that’s right for you:

1. Get inspired. Be Bold is an enjoyable call to action, published by the global social venture fund Echoing Green. This easy-on-the-eyes book is full of personal stories that show the many paths that lead people – sometimes unsuspecting or reluctantly – to creating a career with impact.

2. Do more good. I’ve checked out a variety of volunteer matching engines over the years, and while I’m sure they work for someone, they never seemed to get me to take the next step. But now I know about idealist.org. This site is super easy to navigate and includes a wealth of specific volunteer and paid positions. You can subscribe to your defined search to be alerted to opportunities that meet your criteria. If you are a parent in the NYC area, childrenforchildren.org is also worth bookmarking for its uber-local opps sorted by age.

3. Pay It Forward. In other words, do something nice for someone – and ask them to pass it on. Ugh. I mean how first grade can it get? Well, viral marketing is powerful. For inspiration and a review of the math, watch Pay It Forward (for teens and adults) this weekend, or read Ordinary Mary’s Extraordinary Day (for all ages and my kids love it). I’ll be sharing more about the Pay It Forward foundation soon, so stay tuned!

Take-Your-Kids-To-Vote day.

After dropping our six-year-old son at school this morning, our sitter said, “Jeff is realy into the election. He talked to me the whole way there about it. This year is different. When else have you heard kids all over the bus talking about the election?”

Hopefully today will produce greater-than-ever turnouts – in part because you did vote, right?? — and kids are catching election fever from their parents. 

Taking your child with you to the voting booth is the best way to concretely show them your vote counts. At the same time, don’t be surprised if they are underwhelmed (“That’s it?!” more than one child has been known to say after the lever was pulled). Picking the President is a powerful act yet, frankly, the physical process doesn’t compare to winning a soccer game.  And, sometimes taking your kid with you just sn’t possible. Either way, you can help them understand this whole election thing with the Nickelodeon Kids Pick the President site  (and yes, Obama supporers can rejoice that the have predicted the winner correctly in the past).  And, once our new President-elect is determined, it may be a good time to learn about what the President does all day.  So, pop some popcorn and let the kids stay up late. Show them that while American Idol may generate lots of text messages, our Presidential election is the real deal, and one day they too will be able to step into the booth and cast their own vote.