At spring break camp, learners spent the week learning about heroes in the Torah from Mordechai to Moshe and harnessing their inner superheroes. Activities included designing their own superhero outfits, making play dough from scratch to build golems, and creating cards that show heroic acts of kindness. As we learned about the hero’s journey and prominent heroes in Jewish stories and folklore, we brainstormed what it takes to be a hero. One of our second graders came up with the definition that, “a superhero helps people with using their powers. A hero does all the same saving, but without powers.” Campers came up with ways that they can be heroes, including “encouraging others to be proud of themselves,” and “giv[ing]compliments and ask[ing] questions to show I’m curious about people.”
On our second to last day of camp, our campers put the hero knowledge and definitions they came up with over the week to use on a “Heroic acts” scavenger hunt. We took a rainy walk through Rittenhouse Square Park, taking note of any heroic acts or super talents we could find. Here is the list of super acts our learners came up with.
Rittenhouse Square Park Superheroes
Super meowing kitten
A sculpture of a woman who sacrificed herself to help her people
A person helping kids put their hats on
Someone helping the streets stay clean
A mom pushing a baby in a stroller
Someone pushing someone else in a wheelchair
Selah encouraging Melora to climb
Noah giving encouraging advice to Erez
Makom kids are great at noticing the super people around them and within their community, and performing their own super acts of kindness daily. Their heroism and appreciation for the everyday hero is inspiring and it gets us wondering: How can you be a superhero today?
