Education is a key ingredient in building a culture of peace. Today’s youth deserve a radically different education – one that does not glorify war but educates for peace, non-violence, and international cooperation.
- Ambassador A. K. Chowdhury,
Former UN Under-Secretary-General & High Representative
and former head of UNICEF
Build Peace Day in Your Classroom! Activities that can be done in 20-40 minutes.
The only way we can create global peace is through not only educating our minds,
- UN Messenger of Peace Malala Yousafzai
but our hearts and our souls.
Peace Day provides a powerful and inspiring opportunity to engage children and youth in diverse activities related to peace, unity, and making a positive difference in their world. Meaningful involvement can help establish respect and unity early in the academic year.
Here are a few additional resources you can use:
- Peace Breathing/ Why Peace Breathing?
Ideas for Libraries
-Build PEACE at your Library
- Peace Poetry Activities
- Multicultural Children’s Books about Peace
– Social Activism Diverse Book List Pre-K through 8
Mindfulness in Schools:
– “ROOM TO BREATHE” Documentary – Mindfulness for Students
– Teaching Mindfulness Skills to Kids
PEACE ART ACTIVITIES
PEACE CRANES – Armed with the Arts
Make peace cranes with messages of peace that can be given to those near you or delivered to student groups across the globe! About the Project – Peace Crane Instructions (kids can also fold an easier peace dove or peace heart)
Make and fly PEACE DOVES – Thousands of giant and small peace doves fly on and around Peace Day inspired by UN Messenger of Peace Dr. Jane Goodall and the youth and environment program she founded, Roots & Shoots. DOWNLOAD Small Peace Dove Instructions – Watch slideshow with giant doves.
Write/draw a PEACE PLEDGE (Download template for younger kids HERE). You can view examples and what educators who’ve used them say HERE. View Chicago’s written Peace Pledge Template, which you can modify.
POETRY RELATED
Create peace poetry
Poetry resources celebrating Black History
Film
Explore the short films and photo essays on global issues, all free, from the Global Oneness Project.
Screen “Before the Flood” – a climate change documentary featuring UN Messenger of Peace Leonardo DiCaprio (you can rent or purchase the video for less than $10).
PEACE EDUCATION ACTIVITIES, CURRICULA AND RESOURCES
Advancement Project's Restorative Justice Toolkit for Educators
This toolkit is intended for all educators who support the growth and health of students in schools. It is an introduction for those new to the concepts and will help support and enhance the work of teachers already implementing these practices in their classrooms.
Since 2008, Chicago Build the Peace has provided Peace Day activity ideas to all Chicago Public Schools. Schools are encouraged to have their students commemorate the International Day of
Peace through a suggested activity, or by creating a peace-related activity of their own.
Global Campaign for Peace Education
Global Oneness Project Educational Resources A compilation of videos, photo essays, curriculum links and resources.
Hague Appeal for Peace: YOUTH AGENDA FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE (Includes peace education resources and peace activity ideas)
National Education Association- Classroom Resources Re: Martin Luther King, Jr. Lessons for K-12 related to Martin Luther King, Jr., non-violence and civil rights, as well as MLK related videos.
National Liberty Museum (Philadelphia)- Resources for Educators and Students Offers Professional Learning Experiences that present real solutions to common educational challenges. The NLM also offers in partnership with educators in youth leadership and character education through the "Young Heroes" program.
Oxfam - Global Citizen Resources for Educators
Peace Alliance - Teach Peace
Peaceful Schools International - Educational Resources - Offers many different types of resources for schools, students, and parents, such as films, books, teaching guides and toolkits.
Also from PSI: Creating a Culture of Peace - A Practical Guide for Schools
Philadelphia Folklore Project - Educational Tools for Teachers
Pulitzer Center - Education Resources - PC's Lesson Builder is a quick, easy and flexible way to create curriculum, using Pulitzer Center reporting.
Roots and Shoots Program (Dr. Jane Goodall)- Resources for Educators
Dr. Goodall, a UN Messenger of Peace, offers a program through Roots and Shoots to encourage youth “of all ages” to make positive change happen―for the animal community, the human community, and for the environment.
Southern Poverty Law Center Project - Teaching Tolerance
Includes printer friendly educational resources, and training information. For FILM KIT, free to educators, CLICK HERE
Teaching for a Peaceful Future Think, Care Act BLOG
Teaching for Change
Teaching for Change provides teachers and parents with the tools to create schools where students learn to read, write and change the world. Encourages teachers and students to question and re-think the world inside and outside their classrooms, build a more equitable, multicultural society, and become active global citizens.
United Nations Youth, Peace and Security Programming Handbook
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES/ARTICLES FOR EDUCATORS
– Learn about Martin Luther King Jr.’s Principles of nonviolence and steps to social change: CLICK HERE. (For more info, go to the King Center Website).
– Emotional Agility as a Tool to Help Teens Manage Their Feelings
– Peaceful Warrior-Rethinking Schools
– Stomp Out Bullying: Why Do Kids Bully
We have been so honored to have Sister Sonia Sanchez be a part of numerous Peace Day programs throughout the years…
We miss our dear Ashack the Poet, who annually shared, with the Earth Day Kids, the Universal Greeting…