The History of Children’s Day

Children’s Day is celebrated in many countries, but the biggest and grandest celebration is in Turkey, where an International Children’s Day was established in 1935, and to this day, April of every year sees children from all over the world come to Turkey for a week of celebrations and festivities. Many of the events are broadcast on Turkish TV, showing the children in their traditional national clothing as they sing and dance. Then, to cap it off, on April 23rd the seats of Parliament are held by children, and a child even becomes President for the day, delivering a speech on national TV!

In the United States the first proclaimed Children’s Day occurred in 1856 when a Christian pastor in Massachusetts dedicated one Sunday every year to Children. Since then many other denominations have set aside one day every year to honor our children, and in 2000 our federal government recognized the importance of celebrating our children by proclaiming November 16th as Children’s Day.

Despite a federal proclamation and the efforts of many churches over the years, the dream of a national day of celebration to honor and support and cherish our children is still but a dream.

With your support, that is about to change.