International Day of Friendship – 6 Fun and Easy Ways to Celebrate
Guest post by Language Lizard
What is International Day of Friendship?
International Day of Friendship, also known as World Friendship Day, was created by the United Nations in 2011 “with the idea that friendship between peoples, countries, cultures, and individuals can inspire peace efforts and build bridges between communities.” Held annually on July 30th, the International Day of Friendship encourages involving “…young people, as future leaders, in community activities that include different cultures and promote international understanding and respect for diversity.”
“Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.”
– Woodrow Wilson
Friends Are Important
Just like people, friends come in all shapes and sizes! They can be similar in age and personality or come from different cultures and backgrounds. They can be a next-door neighbor or someone who lives on the other side of the world. Regardless of where you met or how long you’ve known one another, a good friend is essential to our health and happiness and encourages our understanding and acceptance of one another. In addition, multicultural friendships can broaden our view of the world and ignite our curiosity to learn about other cultures and languages, discovering that we have more in common than we think!
6 Ways to Celebrate
Embracing one another’s cultural differences can help build and strengthen relationships which will encourage a more kind and peaceful world. Here are six fun and easy ways to celebrate International Day of Friendship:
- Reach out and let your friends know you care. Today’s technology makes it easy to text or email, but a hand-drawn picture, a written note, or even a phone call is an excellent way to connect.
- Make a small gift for a friend to tell them how important they are to you. (Friendship bracelets are always a hit!)
- Plan to spend the day together at a local community festival or cultural event. Welcome the diversity of your community and make some new friends.
- Host an “ International Day of Friendship Party” to celebrate each other’s heritage. Have friends bring their favorite food or dessert and create a playlist featuring songs from around the world.
- Read books about multicultural friendships. Check out these titles available in many different languages from Language Lizard (www.LanguageLizard.com) that celebrate friendship:
- We Can All Be Friends (part of the Living in Harmony Series) is a beautifully illustrated book showing how much we have in common, even though we are all different.
- Mungo Makes New Friends follows Mungo and his new friends in the Scottish Highlands. The story will promote discussion about friendship and inclusion.
- Keeping Up With Cheetah is a charming story about the value of friendship and what it means to be a good friend.
- Handa’s Hen is a colorful story of best friends and their journey through an African landscape looking for animals around the hen house.
6. Create a friendship book. It can contain items that celebrate your friendship, and you can continue to add to it throughout the year.
What’s your favorite way to celebrate International Day of Friendship?
