Tomorrow, October 24th, is the birthday of the United Nations. To celebrate 70 years of the organization’s work helping to promote world peace and encourage global economic development, more than 200 iconic monuments, buildings, statues, bridges, and other landmarks in nearly 60 countries across the globe will be lit up blue.
If you live near a landmark such as New York’s Empire State Building, San Francisco’s City Hall, Washington D.C.’s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Sydney Opera House, the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, Diana The Huntress Fountain in Mexico, the Hermitage in Russia, or Edinburgh Castle and Central Hall Westminster in the UK, your family can join in the fun by visiting the site and sharing an image of it all lit up in blue using the hashtag #UN70 and #UNBlue. We’d also love it if you could share an image here on our blog.
Even if you don’t live near any iconic landmarks, your family can still be part of this real life scavenger hunt as you check out social media throughout the day for images and videos of the lighted structures. Thanks to the wonder of time zones, you should be able to follow the blue tide as it spreads across the world with the sunset. Cool right? Here’s a link to all the structures that will be blue so you can check them all out.
Since we are on the subject of the United Nations, how about checking out 70 Ways the UN Makes a Difference. I hadn’t realized how far the scope of the UN reaches, how much work they do in the field, and all the great programs they are behind. The UN website has a wealth of information and resources, and it’s a great place to start showing your children (and, if you’re anything like me, introducing yourself) exactly what it is the UN does. More importantly, it can teach them why it matters to consider the world around them.
For more stories with a global perspective, check out Faces magazine, including this back issue all about the United Nations.
Cricket Media Mama was wondering if her own house qualified as a worldwide iconic landmark and decided to just go ahead and light it up blue just in case.
