Last July, on a hot summer day, we came across a brightly colored tent outside of our local library. Here our wonderful librarians had decorated tables with books and activities all celebrating the International Day of Friendship. This marvelous day was proclaimed by the United Nations in 2011, with the aim of promoting friendship among all peoples, cultures, and countries. The UN recognized that friendship is a force that bridges gaps, fosters peace, and builds a world of love and understanding.
Friendship holds a place of profound importance in the lives of children and adults. Beyond mere playmates, friends become confidants, allies, and co-adventurers in the grand journey of growing up. If we extend this to the concept of a global community where people from diverse backgrounds come together to celebrate the bonds of friendship it instills in our kids a sense of interconnectedness with others around the world, promoting a broader perspective and a more empathetic outlook. Making friends from different cultures, languages, and traditions can be a transformative experience and the incredible impact it has on the development of children, leaves an everlasting mark on the course of their lives.
Why Celebrate the International Day of Friendship?
Cultivates Lifelong Values: Celebrating friendship on an international scale helps children understand the importance of love, respect, and mutual understanding. These values become the foundation for building healthy relationships not only with friends but with family members, colleagues, and others they encounter in adulthood.
Emphasizes Emotional Well-being: Friendship plays a vital role in a child's emotional well-being. Having supportive friends can boost their self-esteem, reduce stress, and provide a sense of belonging. International Day of Friendship highlights the importance of nurturing these vital emotional connections.
Promotes Inclusivity: For children, making friends from different cultures, languages, and traditions can be a transformative experience. This day encourages them to embrace diversity and appreciate the unique qualities of their friends, creating an inclusive and harmonious environment where everyone feels valued and accepted.
How We Celebrate
Inspired by the library’s friendship event and in line with the UN’s goals of the International Day of Friendship, I was interested in finding ways to “encourage activities that contribute to the efforts of the international community towards promoting a dialogue among civilizations, solidarity, mutual understanding and reconciliation.” Here are some of the ways our family has celebrated the International Day of Friendship with gusto.
As a family that lives in Miami, one of the most diverse cities in the United States, we are able to experience a variety of cultures right outside our doorstep. We decided to befriend, support, and learn all about our local neighborhood businesses. On our local trip we discovered a gas station that’s also a Spanish tapas restaurant, a Brazilian chocolatier shop, and right next door the best Lebanese food you’ve ever had! This gave us a chance to practice speaking Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic while also tasting mouth-wateringly good gazpacho, rich and creamy brigadeiro, and freshly baked pita bread.
We are fortunate to have friends in New Zealand, Canada, Peru, and London. One of the ways we maintain our friendships is by writing letters on July 30th expressing how much we enjoy having them in our lives. The novelty of writing a letter, attaching stamps (we tend to buy let our kiddo choose them), and dropping it off at a local post office is a wonderful opportunity for expression and ownership while also practicing reading and writing in Spanish and English.
This year, we’re also focusing on how we can be better friends to ourselves by reading the book La Amistad que Necesito: Como Darme Cariño y Bondad a Mi Mismo. Self-compassion is an essential part of being a good friend and this book helps children understand that the same qualities they look for in a friendship – someone who is kind, understanding, forgiving, wants the best for them – can be offered to themselves.
Recommended Reading
Está BIEN ser diferente
A book that encourages children to be respectful and form bonds of friendship and companionship with those who are different, teaching them from an early age that they should treat everyone well regardless of appearance or interests.
Dorothy - una amiga diferente
Gold Medal at the 2014 International Latino Book Awards. A beautiful, heartening ode to friendship and to all of those whose solidarity and tenderness make our world a better place.
A book that encourages children to be respectful and form bonds of friendship and companionship with those who are different, teaching them from an early age that they should treat everyone well regardless of appearance or interests.
Mi vecino Paco
Childhood and old age go hand in hand in this beautiful poetic text.
Un amigo como tú
A lovely and beautifully illustrated story about an unusual friendship that will teach the little ones important concepts such as love, diversity, and tolerance.
---
Karina Batchelor is a proud Latinx mama from Miami, la ciudad magica. She's a longtime educator, writer, and creative who holds multiple degrees in varied areas of study. Her qualifications have seen her excel across the US and the UK in various sectors of the education and theatre industry. You can often find her with a cafecito in hand at the nearest library, her homeschooling cooperative, or at the theatre, where she works as a professional dramaturg.
