Saturday, November 20th is the United Nations’ World Children’s Day! This year’s theme is “A Better Future for Every Child.” It is also National Child Day in Canada with the theme “#8MillionStrong.” This year’s theme honours of the power and resilience of all 8 million kids in Canada and their right to survive and thrive. These two special days and themes work well together. UNICEF is a key partner in World Children’s Day. Their website has lots of ideas, resources and media to participate and learn more.

The United Nations provides a list of World Children’s Day resources to learn about the rights of children. UNICEF also provides resources tailored for teachers with lesson plans, media and more.

On November 16th, Arjun Ram of CBC Kids News hosted an online event organized by Children First Canada. Watch the recording below to learn more about children’s rights, hear from inspiring Canadian leaders and find out how you can take action.

Events

Two major events are taking place for World Children’s Day. The first is the Kids Take Over event of media, politics, sports, business and more! You can also participate by having kids take over. Perhaps it’s at work on the Zoom call, let them control the social media channel, or simply let them run the house for the day! Get more ideas by downloading the Kids Takeover Toolkit from UNICEF Canada.

The second event is Turn the World Blue. Major monuments, landmarks, businesses and schools will be lit up blue to mark the occasion. The CN Tower, Niagara Falls and Calgary Tower are just some of the locations turning blue in Canada. You can participate by wearing something blue or changing your social media profile picture. Remember to use the hashtags #NationalChildDay and #GoBlue. Download the Go Blue Toolkit provided by UNICEF Canada.

For National Child Day here in Canada, UNICEF is hosting a Youth Activism Summit today (November 19th) on Zoom at 1:00 pm Eastern (10:00 am Pacific).

For those located in Vancouver, tomorrow (November 20th) the BC Aboriginal Child Care Society (BCACCS) will be hosting a screening (and Vancouver Theatrical Premiere) of the documentary film “For Love” at the Rio Theatre. Those involved with making the film will be available for a question and answer session after the screening.

Resources

• Children First Canada
• Learn about the UNICEF Youth Advocates and participate in the TikTok Challenge
• National Child Day 2021 Social Media Toolkit
• UNICEF (global) World Children’s Day website
• UNICEF Canada’s World Children’s Day website