From major holidays to the bizarre and wacky days of celebration – there’s something to celebrate just about every day of the year. Today is one of those lucky days where we have two really important celebrations to recognize. Today is International Peace Day and World Gratitude Day as recognized by the United Nations.
It started in 1977 when the United Nation Mediation Group started world gratitude day to show appreciation to people and organizations that make a difference on a global basis.
In 1981 the United Nations added International Peace Day, day to recognize the first meeting of the general assembly of the United Nations. The United Nations encourages a cessation of all hostilities on this day, opting for commemorating this day through increasing education and awareness of issues related to peace.
Isn’t it funny that both these days happen to fall on the same day? Over time, the UN has created a day where we are encouraged to stop fighting and instead recognize and be grateful for the things we do have and the achievements we make in life. For as well known as the United Nations is, these days, however important they may be, are not commonly celebrated as some of our major holidays – but they should be!
With that in mind, we’re going to give you 5 ways to celebrate with your children so that we can inspire future generations to take time out to think about peace and gratitude.
- Start a gratitude journal. Let your child pick out a journal where they can write each night about things that happened during the day that they are grateful for.
- Encourage your children to write thank you notes to 5 people. This could be anyone, a teacher, a friend, family member. Showing gratitude isn’t just for kids – make sure you do this activity too!
- Host a gratitude awards ceremony. Gather the family to celebrate the things we do for each other. Have everyone draw a name from a hat. Give them half an hour and necessary supplies to decorate an award to show appreciation for the other person. Then let everyone take turns presenting the awards.
- Spend time volunteering with an organization in need.
- Ask your child to research an issue related to world peace and come up with a couple of possible solutions. Give them the day (or two) to research then have them discuss it with the family at dinner.
As a bonus, if your children are fighting with siblings or friends – encourage a “cease fire” in honor of International Peace Day. Think how much better the world would be if we all learned to fight less and appreciate more.
Enjoy the day!
Cristen
