International Day of Peace

The 21st of September has been declared by the United Nations as the International Day of Peace. All across the world people may have celebrations or participate in community service projects, or other events that honor peace and nonviolence.

I thought I would celebrate in our classroom this year as well. Peace is something we could all use more of and why not start with our littles? We played games of cooperation like keeping the balls on the parachute, fort builders, gears, jenga, twister, and a new one for me: Smoosh and Seek Treehouse.

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At music time we played, “Everybody’s Doing It Just Like Me!” One us does a dance move and everyone tries to imitate the move. We have talked a lot about cooperation, turn taking, team work, playing with others and what helps us all get along.

I also found some wonderful books for children on the topic of peace. The country I live in has the worst political climate I have ever known. The way people make any and every argument a political issue is horrifying to me.

The atrocities happening on the Gaza Strip at the time of my writing this, are unspeakable and yet they also seem interminable. Sometimes we think these real life events are just for the grown ups and kids don’t even know about them. Children do, however, notice if there is peace surrounding them or not. And they definitely pick up on our sense of peace vs. stress.

This Todd Parr book does an excellent job explaining what peace is to young listeners. Check us out:

Here is one specifically about the International Day of Peace called “Can You Say Peace?” by Karen Katz

This special day also happens to fall within Hispanic Heritage Month. This quote from Cesar Chavez lines up perfectly with both.

So here’s to more peace around the world starting in our own small environments.

#internationaldayofpeace #canyousaypeace #earlychildhoodeducation #teachthemyoungandletthemleadtheway