Each year on February 22, World Thinking Day, girls honor their sister Girl Guides and Girl Scouts by taking time to give thanks for their international friendships and remember that Girl Scouts of the USA is part of a global community—one of nearly 150 countries that are members of the  World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).

Why do we do this? Click here for the History of the day.

The theme for World Thinking Day 2015 is:

Girls worldwide say “we can create peace through partnerships.”

This year, WAGGGS is not selecting “focus countries” for World Thinking Day-rather they’re asking every group to use this year’s occasion to learn about the different WAGGGS regions. The five WAGGGS regions are: Africa, Arab Region, Asia/Pacific, Europe, and Western Hemisphere.

Why are we talking about this in January? To help you plan, of course! Here are some Thinking Day celebration ideas. Take them back to the girls and let’s see how “global” we can make 2015.

• Earn the World Thinking Day Award by completing the Activities for your age level.
• Share your Guiding Light: Light a candle, or get creative and use the sun, your laptop, a lantern, the flashlight on your phone, a spark from two pieces of flint, or even a campfire. Take a selfie, upload it with a message to share with this worldwide movement, and challenge someone else or a whole country to do the same! Share your picture using the #guidinglight hashtag.Tag: @girlscouts, @wagggs_world.
• See the world through food: make February the month of food exploration. Ask girls and their parents to sign up to bring a snack from a different country like middle eastern salad, french eclairs, charmoula from Morocco or many more recipes. Each girl can tell the group something she learned about the country her snack is from as well.
• Connect with your local service team and find out if there is a Thinking Day Event being planned in your area. If not see what other troops would be interested in collaborating on a fun day of global exploration.
• Go beyond thinking and start doing by earning the Global Action Award for your age level.

Need more ideas? There are many more ways to go about Planning a Global Event. Ask the girls what they’d like or who they know that’s traveled overseas or use Peace Corps Speakers Match to see who lives near you and would love to share. You can explore the world through music, stories, or research a day in the life of a typical girl from another county. Put your thinking caps on, the globe’s the limit!