SUBPLANNERS: "When I was very young, most of my childhood heroes wore capes, flew through the air, or picked up buildings with one arm. They were spectacular and got a lot of attention. But as I grew, my heroes changed, so that now I can honestly say that anyone who does anything to help a child is a hero to me."

Although this is my favorite perspective (anything Mr. Rogers said is my favorite perspective), there are many other ways to think about our heroes. I think it's important for kids to think about heroes, too, and not just the ones with capes. Helping kids find the right kinds of heroes when they're young may help them grow into being heroes themselves.

This full day of activities for you or for your sub helps kids explore their own, individual ideas about heroes. Can one kid's ideas be different from another kid's on this topic? And what really are the attributes of a hero? People in their families, their neighborhoods, books, movies, and, yes, even cartoons - no limit to the places in our world where we find people we look up to, people we want to be like.

Check out these activities for yourself and get the conversation going in your classroom at the very beginning of the school year. Helping kids learn about heroes helps them know the kinds of people they want to be.