Started by the City of Bloomington, the 40 Days of Peace kicks off on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and continues for forty days, each day inspired by a meaningful peace-related quote and a random act of kindness challenge.
Bloomington Montessori joins this event by discussing the quotes with children in the classroom as well as the acts of kindness, though some of the acts are designed to be done at home vs. school so we encourage families to follow along and discuss as well!
We created our own calendar of quotes and acts to better align with our school environment, and also because a parent volunteer went through and fact-checked some of the quotes and peace makers and adjusted for historical accuracy. Therefore, we publish our own version for BMS families, and are excited to join in along side the rest of the city during this event.
In addition to the chart below of quotes and acts of kindness, we will be reading books around justice, equity, and peace and discussing Martin Luther King Jr. and other peacemakers throughout the 40 days.
We hope you will have the opportunity to strike up a conversation at home and we continue to revisit these large and abstract ideas of peacemaking, activism, and justice to help them develop a deeper and more sophisticated understanding as they get older. Children will be participating in a school assembly the afternoon of February 28th to come together as a community to sing songs, share inspirational quotes, and more as closure for the 40 Days of Peace.
Please see the list of 40 days of peace conversation-starters below, created by Walnut Lead Teacher Eve Cusack for the BMS community.
Date | Day | Act of Peace | Peace Quote | |
1 | January 20, 2025 | Monday MLK Jr. Day | Honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in a meaningful way. You could volunteer for a non-profit, learn about his life and work or do another social justice activity. | |
2 | January 21 | Tuesday | Invite someone you don’t usually work with (or perhaps don’t know very well) to do a work with you. | “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” – Martin Luther King, Jr |
3 | January 22 | Wednesday | Instead of arguing, brainstorm solutions. | “People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.” Dalai Lama |
4 | January 23 | Thursday | Make a special note or drawing for a friend or family member. | “I do not want the peace which passeth understanding, I want the understanding which bringeth peace.” – Helen Keller |
5 | January 24 | Friday | Acknowledge it when someone else does something kind for you. | “Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful and believe that anything is possible.” Misty Copeland |
6 | January 25 | Saturday | Thank a person who prepared a meal for you. You could even offer to help prepare it! | |
7 | January 26 | Sunday | Clean your room without being asked. | |
8 | January 27 | Monday | Think about something from a different point of view than your own. | “Change your thoughts, and you change the world.” – Norman Vincent Peale |
9 | January 28 | Tuesday | Leave a surprise note for someone you care about. | “It isn’t enough to talk about peace; one must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it; one must work at it.” – Eleanor Roosevelt |
10 | January 29 | Wednesday | Write a poem about something you value. | “Our glorious diversity is not a threat to who we are, it makes us who we are.” Michelle Obama |
11 | January 30 | Thursday | Write a postcard or note to send to a sick child through “Cards for Hospitalized Kids.” | Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less. – Marie Curie |
12 | January 31 | Friday | Tell someone what you like about him or her. | “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.” – Nelson Mandela |
13 | February 1 | Saturday | Surprise your parents by doing a chore without being asked. | |
14 | February 2 | Sunday | Go on a walk and pick up litter. | |
15 | February 3 | Monday | Sing a song with a friend. | When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful. – Malala Yousafzai |
16 | February 4 | Tuesday | Be patient with someone who irritates you. | “An eye for an eye, and soon the whole world is blind.” – Mahatma Gandhi |
17 | February 5 | Wednesday | Say something positive to four people. | “This country will not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good place for all of us to live in.” – Theodore Roosevelt |
18 | February 6 | Thursday | Perform one random act of kindness. | “If your dream is only about you, it’s too small.” Ava DuVernay |
19 | February 7 | Friday | Do something special for yourself today. | “You cannot find peace by avoiding life.”-Virginia Woolf |
20 | February 8 | Saturday | Call a friend or family member you haven’t spoken to in a long time. | |
21 | February 49 | Sunday | Be especially kind today TO EVERYONE! | |
22 | February 10 | Monday | Say “Hello”, to a classmate you don’t know well. What is their story? | “Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.” – Maria Montessori |
23 | February 11 | Tuesday | Read a book to a friend or a younger child. | “We are the curators of life on earth. We hold it in the palm of our hand.” Helen Caldicott |
24 | February 12 | Wednesday | See if you have books or toys you no longer need at home. If so, donate them to someone who will use them. | “The true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good.” – Ann Landers |
25 | February 13 | Thursday | Perform one unpleasant chore without complaints. | “I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.” -Abraham Lincoln |
26 | February 14 | Friday | Today, practice mindfulness (breathing, yoga, meditation, silence, etc.) | “Every great dream begins with a dreamer.” Harriet Tubman |
27 | February 15 | Saturday | Consider questions you can ask an older relative or friend to show that you care and are interested in their lives. Give them a call and practice active listening. | |
28 | February 16 | Sunday | Go easy on the Earth. Don’t use any unnecessary electricity. | |
29 | February 17 | Monday | Do something special for yourself. | “I don’t do great things. I do small things with great love.” – Mother Teresa |
30 | February 18 | Tuesday | Listen without interrupting. | “Look closely at the present you are constructing; it should look like the future you are dreaming.” Alice Walker |
31 | February 19 | Wednesday | Think of a problem in your neighborhood and brainstorm how we can make a positive change. | “Once I got into space I felt that I belonged here as much as any speck of stardust, any comet, any planet.” Mae Jemison |
32 | February 20 | Thursday | Write a “thank you” note to someone who has helped you. | “My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” – Desmond Tutu |
33 | February 21 | Friday | Make a list of character traits you would like to build in yourself and how to practice them. | “Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become your character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.” – Lao Tzu |
34 | February 22 | Saturday | Donate a food item to a community pantry. | |
35 | February 23 | Sunday | Mail someone a handwritten letter or a handmade card. | |
36 | February 24 | Monday | Bake something for your local fire or police department or volunteer group. | |
37 | February 25 | Tuesday | Say “Thank You” for five good things in your life. | “If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed. But hate these things in yourself, not in another.” -Mahatma Gandhi |
38 | February 26 | Wednesday | If you observe a conflict today, be a peacemaker. | “We must declare war upon war so that the outcome is peace upon peace.” -Barack Obama |
39 | February 27 | Thursday | Reach out to an elderly person. Make their day! | “Small acts of decency ripple in ways we could never imagine.” Cory Booker |
40 | February 28 | Friday | Celebrate 40 Days of Peace with the BMS school community! | The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice. – Martin Luther King, Jr. |