Padawan Parenting: A Jedi Lives to Serve

Jay Krebs, a teacher (Rogue 7 at StarWarsInTheClassroom.com), mom and blogger for one of my favourite Star Wars podcast/blog fan-sites Coffee With Kenobi, offered to write a guest piece on how she ties together Star Wars fandom and volunteerism with her kids. I loved the idea so much it begins a new series: Padawan Parenting! Look for more articles in the future. -Chris

We all know how incredibly precious time spent together with our younglings can be, and for parents like me who have older kids (a tween and a young teen); we know those sands of time fall faster than stars streaking by in hyperspace.

One of the ways I have found to be a win-win in terms of time spent with my kids is through volunteering. More specifically, Star Wars-style volunteering!

My love for Star Wars has inspired and affected my life in so many diverse ways, but one of the most surprising ways has been by helping me teach my children about the importance of service to others.

I am the proud Mom of two boys, now 12 and 14. Needless to say, they were raised on Star Wars. My Star Wars moniker has always been MO2YP – MomOf2YoungPadawans. So, it’s pretty safe to assume that Star Wars has permeated pretty much every aspect of their lives in one way or another.

Talent Show for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation - 2008

I am also a high school teacher entering into my 22nd year of teaching. As my kids grew, they were often part of the various service activities in which my students and I were involved. One year, we were part of a school-wide talent show, fundraising for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.  My niece (who was a freshman at the time), and I performed “The Saga Begins” by “Weird Al” Yankovic. We were in full Jedi garb; myself as Qui-Gon and my niece as Obi-Wan. My two boys, who were then 7 and 5 at the time, were dressed as Jedi “stage hands” and helped with the performance.

There have been several other service activities in which my boys have played a part. It’s just always been something we’ve done.  

Library Star Wars Party 2014

Most recently, last weekend my 12-year-old son and I volunteered at a “Star Wars Party” that a local library was sponsoring.  I happened to see an article in our newspaper about it, and called the library to help. I was just going to do it myself, dressed as Queen Amidala, but when I told my son about it he said “can I dress as Boba Fett? I’d love to come and help!” Gee, who am I to say “no” to a kid who wants to volunteer his time, away from the TV and/or video games?!

Why volunteer? Some of the major benefits are:

• It brings you closer together as a family!  By strengthening values, time spent together and the ability to connect with each other and with the greater world.
• It helps kids’ self-esteem: By helping others, kids feel good about themselves. It creates a sense of empathy and compassion for others as well.
• It builds future skills: kids who volunteer tend to do better in school, are less likely to involve themselves in risky behavior, and build a work ethic that will help them in whatever career field they choose later in life
• It makes kids thankful: Sometimes seeing or knowing what others DON’T have is the best way to teach kids about being thankful for what they have.
• It’s a lot of FUN!!

A few ideas, depending on your Padawan's ages and abilities:

• Star Wars Reads Day at your local library: You and your kids could help out with a variety of activities, read Star Wars books to younger kids, or cosplay and get lots of pictures taken (my personal favorite – I’m a sucker for dressing up!). Like I said, just call them up. Sometimes, you (the adult) may have to fill out an official volunteer form and be approved beforehand, so be sure to plan ahead for that one.

Students making blankets

• Making fleece tie-blankets: My kids have made those double-layer tie blankets with Star Wars fleece, and have donated them to various organizations. It’s easy to do with supervision, even for young Padawans. If you can use a pair of scissors and can tie a knot, you can make a blanket!

My favorite organization is our local chapter of Project Linus. If you ask around, you might even to be able to get some fleece donated to you.

• Make Star Wars-themed cookies for an event: This one could fit for a variety of organizations…

Local Red Cross Blood Drive – set up a table and give cookies to blood donors for their after-donation treat.

Delicious, they are!

Community charity fundraising event – This could be anything from a table set up for runners at the end of a race (yes, runners do eat cookies after a race sometimes…trust me, I’m one of them!  For a resource to find races near you, try www.runningintheusa.com or www.active.com/running for a start)...to helping out with a donation drive like Alex’s Lemonade Stand.

• Donate gently-used Star Wars toys, books, Lego sets, clothing: … And hand-deliver them to places like your local Children’s Services Office, Women’s Shelters, etc. 

• Get creative! Think about your own interests, your child’s, the time you have to spend, etc. It doesn’t have to cost money, either!

Of course, Star Wars-style volunteerism doesn’t have to end just because kids grow up! The 501st Legion and the Rebel Legion immediately come to mind. These organizations do an amazing job of giving back to their communities!

Please feel free to contact me with any comments or questions you may have about this blog, resources, ideas, etc.

I hope you have found some helpful and inspiring ideas for you and the children in your life! May the Force Be With You!

Jay (MO2YP)
e-mail: jayk@coffeewithkenobi.com 
Follow me on Twitter: @JoyceKrebs

Some great ideas for Star Wars baking and crafts...

Star Wars: The Clone Wars for the youngest Younglings

I'm happy to say another article I worked on has been published on StarWars.com, an introduction to Star Wars: The Clone Wars for parents & guardians.

At Star Wars Kidscast, we're BIG fans of The Clone Wars but it should be said that many episodes are scary, darkly intense and possibly too much for the younger younglings in your family.

However, here's an intro to a few of the many episodes that are fun and enjoyable for all ages:

http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/2014/04/10/5-kid-friendly-episodes-of-star-wars-the-clone-wars/

Thanks to Johnamarie Macias & Elisa Ardell for working together on this!

Thanks For An Amazing Start, 2013!

Star Wars Kidscast, both the podcast and the blog, just began in October of 2013 and a LOT is happened in only a few short months! The show is now downloadable on iTunes and Stitcher, it has Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr accounts, and has caught the attention of a lot of people across the worldwide Star Wars fan community in that very short time. The feedback from parents, kids, other websites and podcasts has been fantastic. Positive feedback has come from folks from within Lucasfilm itself!

To the thousands of you who have checked out this blog, listened to the podcast or just retweeted a tweet or Liked us on facebook, I thank you for your support and encouragement. Star Wars Kidscast is a little unusual: trying to reach fan-kids and parents all at once is not a typical goal in fansites but it seems you all are helping get the word out. Thank you for a fantastic start, but that's just it - things are just getting started. Big things are coming for 2014 so stay in touch!

In the meantime, here's ten fun and/or interesting posts from the blog from 2013 that didn't get as much attention as others but I think you'd enjoy, so I'm giving them a 2nd chance below.

All the best for 2014 & May the Force Be With You,
Chris
---

Star Wars Fan Bullied for her "Boy" Shoes

Star Wars Underoos Commercial. Yep, a kids' underwear ad from TV! 

Kellogg's C-3PO's Cereal: A New Force at Breakfast

The Disney Destiny? Looking Back a Year Later

Horror Stories from Star Wars? Galaxy of Fear

Star Wars Lightsaber Commercial (Kenner, 1978)

Read, You Must: Boba Fett : The Fight to Survive

Making Reading Fun...the Star Wars way!

Celebrate UN Day of the Girl Child today!

Star Wars Kidscast Salutes MOvember!