International Day of Children and Young People 2025
Join us in celebrating the presence, power and promise of children and young people within The Salvation Army!
Every year The Salvation Army celebrates the International Day of Children and Young People on the last Sunday of April.
The day provides an opportunity to create space for children and young people to participate, co-create and co-lead in every aspect of our mission. It is about giving them a voice and a platform.
We believe that, although children are developing, they are, at the same time, whole and complete human beings. God calls each individual into a genuine relationship and a real vocation, not a potential vocation somewhere in the future.
This means we regard children and young people as full, active members of the Body of Christ, equally important as anyone else.
Join us in celebrating on Sunday 27 April, or on another Sunday of your choice.
Theme for 2025: Look Up!
In a world full of distractions, the theme LOOK UP! encourages children and young people to lift their eyes – away from the things that pull them down or distract them – and focus upward on God and outward toward others.
With so many distractions, like screens, social media and the pressures of daily life, Psalm 121 reminds us to lift our eyes and hearts. We are not meant to journey through life alone. By looking up, we reconnect with our Creator and with the people around us.
Within this theme, we will explore four key sub-themes that help us find connection and purpose:
- Look up to God for help and perspective.
- Look up from distractions.
- Look up at each other.
- Look up for hope and faith.
Materials for all ages
This year the materials have been created by the Norway, Iceland and The Færoes Territory.
A team of talented and creative people under the leadership of Captain Thea Karlsdóttir Welander have created materials for all ages:
- a video clip with the theme song 'Look Up!'
- an instruction video for the theme song choreography
- devotions for different ages
- a meeting plan and sermon outline
- icebreakers, games and activities
- prayers for children and teenagers.
Theme song: Look Up!
This year's theme song, featuring Iben Toke Solberg, is an upbeat reminder that God is always near.
Share the song with your church, school or social media followers:
Resource pack
Family devotions, ideas for Sunday worship, games and more:
We invite you to use the materials as a framework. Feel free to add, adjust and adapt them for your own unique context and culture.
If your territory is translating the material into another language, please send us a copy so we can make this available to others. Send your translation by email to youthandchildren@salvationarmy.org.
Promotional material
Download posters and graphics to promote the International Day of Children and Young People:
- save the date flyer (1MB)
- social media graphics (19MB)
- presentation slides (1MB)
- logos (10MB)
- design files (21MB)
Outreach ideas
We believe our children and youth should be fully engaged in the mission of The Salvation Army. They are not supposed to stay on the side-lines! So here are some ideas for activities in your community:
- Use the theme song to go public with the message about ‘Look Up!’. You could introduce the song at school or organise a competition or creative arts festival for children and young people in your neighbourhood. Use the opportunities in your community to reach and involve children, young people and families. Check the creative arts section in Icebreakers, games and activities for more information.
- Organise community stargazing, a blind volleyball game or a sunflower sky watch. See the outdoors section in Icebreakers, games and activities for details. Perhaps a school, community centre or other location would like to join you!
Be as creative as possible! Share your own ideas to inspire others by tagging us on Facebook or Instagram: @TSAyouthandchildren.
International competition
We're hosting an international competition this year! The energetic, catchy song 'Look Up' dares you to create your own video.
Do you want to join this competition? It’s really simple! Use 'Look Up' as your theme song and make a video that shows off your creativity. Just remember to include the song and the chorus choreography. For all the details, please check the rules and regulations.
THE SALVATION ARMY INTERNATIONAL HEADQUARTERS (‘IHQ’) IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE SALVATION ARMY NORWAY, ICELAND AND FAEROES ISLANDS TERRITORY- INTERNATIONAL FILM MAKING COMPETITION
IHQ and The Salvation Army Norway, Iceland and The Færoes Territory’s Youth and Children departments are running an international competition (the ‘Competition’) to coincide with The Salvation Army’s International Day of Children and Young People. The aim is to encourage expressions of praise and worship to God through creativity and the participation of children and young people from all over the Salvation Army world.
This year, a theme song entitled ‘Look Up’ has been created to celebrate the International Day of Children and Young People (the ‘Song’). The Song is available to download from this webpage https://salvationarmy.org/ihq/idcy25. To enter the Competition, participants (‘Participants’) are invited to create and submit a film (‘Film’) to accompany the Song.
- The Competition is administered by the Youth and Children Section, Programme Resources Department, The Salvation Army International Trustee Company/The Salvation Army International Headquarters, 101 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4EH, United Kingdom (‘IHQ’). Any queries concerning the Competition should be emailed to youthandchildren@salvationarmy.org.
- All Films will be required to feature the Song and the chorus choreography. Participants may record their own version of the Song to accompany their Film.
- Participants are encouraged to be as creative as possible, using different arts, styles, and techniques for their Film to complement the Song; from animation to live worship, all forms of expression are possible and acceptable.
- Films must be 3 minutes or less in length and sent in MP4 or MOV format.
- Participants must be affiliated in some way with The Salvation Army, e.g. through worship, work or other activity, aged 30 years old or younger and can be located anywhere in the world.
- The Competition will be launched via the Social Media platforms of the Youth and Children Section and the IHQ webpage on Friday 28 February 2025. Further details of this will be published on IHQ’s Youth and Children social media channels soon. Registration for entry to the Competition will open on Friday 28 February 2025. Participants must visit IHQ’s website at https://salvationarmy.org/ihq/idcy25 and follow the online instructions in order to register for entry to the Competition and submit their Film.
- The deadline for registering for the Competition and submitting entries is 23:59 GMT on Saturday 19 April 2025. No late entries will be accepted.
- Participants may submit their Films as individual participants or as a group of Participants. Entries are limited to one Film per Participant or group of Participants.
- All Participants will receive a paper certificate to acknowledge their entry. There will be one certificate per individual Participant or group of Participants. Certificates will be sent to relevant Salvation Army Territories and distributed accordingly.
- All Participants who are visible in Films must declare their consent by ticking the "Consent" box in the form on https://forms.office.com/e/361paC7tuh.
- All material comprising Films, aside from the Song, must be fully owned by Participants. By entering the Competition, Participants agree to fully assign all intellectual property, moral and other rights in the Films to IHQ.
- By entering the Competition, Participants agree to their Film being shared on the IHQ Youth and Children’s YouTube channel located at https://www.youtube.com/@TSAYouthandChildren on 19 April 2025, one week before an online award event to take place on 26 April 2025 (the ‘Online Event’). Films will remain on the YouTube channel indefinitely.
- Films will be judged by members of a jury comprising experts in creative arts from three different regions of The Salvation Army world (the ‘Jury’). Members of the Jury will be announced in April 2025 via the IHQ Youth and Children’s Section’s social media channels. There will be one winning Film and all decisions of the Jury are final with respect to all aspects of the Competition.
- During the Online Event, in addition to the winning Film, an additional four Films awarded the next highest scores by the Jury will be shown, as well as the five Films to have received the most ‘likes’ on YouTube.
- The winning individual or group will receive a physical, customised banner as their prize. This can be sent to the winner by mail or awarded in person, if possible. There will be no alternative prizes or cash offered and where a group of Participants wins, one prize per group will be awarded. The winner must accept their prize within one week of announcement.
- Should a winner refuse a prize, IHQ shall be released from any obligation related to the prize and the prize will be forfeited.
- IHQ accepts no responsibility for the failure or malfunction of any hardware, software or telecommunication component relating to online Competition entries.
- IHQ has the right to terminate or suspend the Competition or to modify the Competition terms and conditions at any time, without notice, for any reason whatsoever.
Online event
This year, the Norway, Iceland and The Færoes Territory is set to host the international competition! From the stunning coastal town of Moss, young people will be hosting the online event, giving you a glimpse of their country and introducing some of their talented peers. And of course, the competition winner will be revealed live!
It all kicks off on Saturday 26 April 2025 at 12pm UTC (2pm Norwegian time) – don’t miss out!
Check our Instagram and Facebook pages for more information.
Contact us
If you have any questions, remarks or ideas, please email youthandchildren@salvationarmy.org.
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