Fostering Global Harmony: Your World Thinking Day Host Guide

Update: This was the theme for World Thinking Day in 2021. The idea is still great years later to focus on with your troop. 

Peacebuilding is a very relevant and meaningful topic for your girls to learn about and practice. It is essential to foster a culture of peace and respect among people of different backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives.

Every year we’re given a new topic to teach our girls about, and in 2021 the topic was promoting peace and it is important for the next generation and is vital to create a safe and happy world for the future.

The 2021 World Thinking Day theme was about peacebuilding. These are ideas you can use even after 2021. This guide will help you with some ideas around that theme.

Here are some key lessons they should learn:

1. Use words instead of violence in an argument
2. If there is an argument happening don’t form an audience or encourage violence
3. Report any crimes to parents or the police
4. Stick with friends who avoid dangerous activities and behavior
5. Teach others to avoid violence and criminal activity

This is a super fun activity, and it encourages girls to think carefully about how they treat others. Get your troops to imagine that everyone holds a bucket, and when they do a kind action or speak nicely, their bucket fills up. When they do something negative that harms someone else, their bucket empties.

Now, get them to draw out three columns on a piece of paper, with the headings looks like, sounds like, and feels like. Under these, they should put examples of what kind of acts that will fill up their bucket look, sound, and feel like. Here are some examples:

• Kindness looks like sharing with others and smiling
• Kindness sounds like please, thank you, and a friendly tone of voice
• Kindness feels like happiness, safety, and being supportive

Let the girls discuss what kindness is to them and the acts they do to make the world a happier, safer place.

When it comes to World Thinking Day ideas, share a scare is a great way to bring your group closer together and promote kindness. The idea is that you create a safe space for your girls to share something they’re worried about. That could be anything from going to a new school to not being able to do something others can.

Make sure the girls all know that they shouldn’t share other’s worries, and never force any of the troops to share something if they don’t want to. When a girl shares an idea, encourage the other kids to help them find a resolution to their problem. The idea is to encourage support and empathy, helping your girls understand others’ emotions and learn how they can help.

Teach your troops that expressing love is more important than expressing hate. Get each of them to sit down and write a short letter to someone they love, telling them why they’re important to that child.

Once the letters are written, ask if anyone would like to share theirs. This is completely optional, but encourage them to do so! Sharing the love is a great way to promote peace.

By learning about other cultures, you can promote empathy and equality in your troops. Educating them on the way of lives of others is a great way to stop discrimination and encourage peace. Here are some links to different game ideas for different countries and cultures:

• Discover Brazil
• Discover Kenya
• Discover Ethiopia
• Discover India

Bingo is always a great game to play! It’s easy for kids to understand and they can create their own resources. Just ask them to draw up a grid of 5 by 5 squares.

Then, give the girls a list of kind activities. Get them to fill in those that they do on their bingo sheet, such as I’ve helped make dinner or I’ve hugged my mom. Call out the activities at random and whoever gets a row or column first wins!

When the game is done, send each of them a new bingo sheet. This will have a range of new kind of activities on that your troops should go off and complete. Some examples include:

• Share a toy with a friend
• Help your parents set the table
• Ask a sister, brother, or friend if they need help with a task
• Say hello to someone new at school

At your next meeting, they can report back on how many they manage to do and see if anyone wins Bingo!

World Thinking Day is a great opportunity to teach your troops some valuable life lessons, helping to build a better future for everyone. 

Here are few other around the world ideas I have shared in the past that may be great for your event as well if you are doing more than learning about one country.

• Airplane Ride Activity Girls will take an airplane ride around the world.
• World Trefoil Game Girls will learn the meaning of the Trefoil pin.
• 12 Resources on the Web to Plan Your International Event Here you will find a pile of amazing resources I have found online that will help you plan your event.

Enjoy every minute being a leader and continue to inspire your girls!