Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from 150 different countries celebrate World Thinking Day every year on February 22nd. This celebration of global sisterhood is a favorite event for Girl Scouts in Lake Zurich. Every year troops host ‘country booths’ where they present information about their chosen country’s culture, language, Girl Scouting or Girl Guiding, history, food and so much more. Girls visit the country booths during our “Around the World Fair” and are excited to learn about life outside the United States and connect their Girl Scout experience to that of sisters around the world.
On World Thinking Day Girl Scouts and Girl Guides also choose a theme to focus on during their celebrations each year. The themes are a wonderful way to dive into topics and conversations that are important to all of us as citizens of the global community. Past topics have included “Diversity, Equity and Equality” and “Leadership” as examples. In 2021 we are excited that our theme is “Peacebuilding”, a powerful theme for the girls to explore! Girls can work on their World Thinking Day Award while they learn more about what peacebuilding means and how to promote peace with others.
Girl Scouts and Girl Guides around the world also choose one theme to base the Global Action Award on each year. These themes are chosen from 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the United Nations in 2015. As Girl Scouts and Girl Guides focus their attention on the Global Goal of the year they learn a lot about some of the ways they can work towards global changes that will improve the health of our planet and the lives of people around the world. The 2021 Global Action Award is focused on Climate Action and it is exciting to think of girls around the world focused on such a timely topic.