Shine A Light Activity for a Virtual Camp Reunion - 3-5 Grade

With the power of video conference software, you can host a virtual camp reunion.  This guide is geared towards 3rd-5th graders but can easily be modified to engage different age cohorts. 

Campers are asked to reflect on all of the ways that they celebrate their Judaism at camp and to consider what that has to do with spreading light via Jewish joy year-round.  Once they have recalled these moments, they are introduced to civic education concepts: 

• bullying
• antisemitism
• upstander
• bystander
• ally
• majority
• minority

and then asked to imagine what might happen if an outside "majority" tried to come in and take over camp.  How would they, the "minority" respond?  Then, a connection is drawn to the story of Chanukah and the Maccabees and what real modern-day experiences they may have heard about or encountered which mirror our ancient story. 

Campers will have an opportunity to share ways they can radiate the light of camp year-round to dispel the darkness of negativity Jews face as a minority.