Learn how to conjure a better world through social action!
Although most parents believe social action is important for children, and most children have a natural desire to make the world better, it can be difficult to find meaningful and relevant social action experiences for tween-age children.
The Magic of UU immerses children in the idea that one can work to make the world better.
The curriculum includes many fun wizarding activities, but the main purpose of the curriculum is social action. The class works on real world social action projects. There are eight social justice issues provided, plus directions on creating your own social action project for another issue.
The curriculum spends two to three classes on each social justice issue, with one class devoted entirely to action. The goal is to produce tangible results on real-world problems.
In addition to the wizarding activities and social action projects, additional games are included that can be used for All Ages days or parties, allowing the wizarding theme to be spread throughout the congregation.
The Magic of UU
22 lessons; grades 4-5
Social Action
Your class will work on real-world social justice issues throughout the year, engaging in social action projects designed to be both relevant to tweens and in which they can experience making a tangible difference. Although any wrong that needs to be righted can be chosen for a project, this curriculum provides the outline for social action projects on eight social justice issues. Also included is a template for a disaster or humanitarian aid social action project, intended to allow your class to provide help, should the need occur during the year. Instructions are also included for creating your own projects.
The social justice issues discussed are:
- Illiteracy
- Hunger
- Poverty
- Hatred
- Fair Trade and Child Labor
- Child Sickness
- Animal Cruelty
- The Environment
Instructions are also provided for customizing the projects for your class and geographic area, as well as how to create your own social action project. Your class will be capable of producing amazing results!
Here is what one class of 4th and 5th graders were able to achieve in 9 months:
- Illiteracy - the class ran a book drive for the local library and collected 420 books for donation.
- Hunger - the class ran a food drive at the local Kroger store, collecting $3070 in cash and food items for a local food pantry.
- Poverty - the class ran a warm clothing drive for a local non-profit that services low-income county residents and collected 259 pieces of warm clothing. They also made and contributed fleece scarves.
- Hatred - the class learned about non-biased sources of news information online, and how to respond if they witnessed hatred. They also participated in the Actively Caring for People movement which teaches the lesson of passing kindness forward.
- Fair Trade and Child Labor - the class collected signatures on a petition, asking Warner Bros. to release the source of chocolate used in promotional merchandise. When it was announced that Warner Bros. had committed to using only fair trade chocolate in these products, the class wrote thank you notes to Warner Bros.
- Child Sickness - the class made bean soup mix and sold it, raising $380 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
- Animal Cruelty - the class held a “Pennies for Puppies / Koins for Kitties” voting campaign to raise money for the local chapter of the Humane Society, and ran an item drive, using the items in an Easter Egg Hunt to benefit the H.S. Over $900 in cash and items were donated.
- The Environment – The class educated the congregation, and raised money to plant a tree by selling “Save the Monarchs” kits .
Some of the content of this curriculum previously appeared in the curriculum "Harry and UU", copyright 2014, Karen Hager.
This curriculum also contains the complete "Social Action for Tweens and Teens", also available on this website. If you are looking for social action projects without wizarding, please visit that page.