**Note: This page is for educational inspiration and is not officially affiliated with World Smile Day. World Smile Day was created by Harvey Ball, the artist who designed the original smiley face. The Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation continues his legacy. For official information and to learn more, please visit their website (www.worldsmileday.com) or Facebook page (www.facebook.com/worldsmileday).
Understanding World Smile Day in EYFS & KS1
Share a smile! 😊 World Smile Day is celebrated every year on the first Friday in October (which in 2025 falls on October 3rd). This special day was created by Harvey Ball, the artist who designed the original smiley face in 1963. He believed that we should all dedicate one day a year to good will and good cheer, focusing on simple acts of kindness. The motto for the day is: "Do an act of kindness. Help one person smile."
For early years settings, nurseries, preschools, childminders, and Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, this day provides a wonderfully cheerful and important theme for exploring emotions, kindness, social connections, and well-being. It's about understanding how smiles make us feel, how our actions can impact others, and the simple joy of spreading happiness. This day offers fantastic planning ideas and inspiration for engaging activities that truly resonate with young minds, making learning about social-emotional health and positive interactions both heart-warming and practical.
Why Is Teaching About Smiles & Kindness Important for Young Children?
Integrating lessons about smiles, kindness, and positive emotions into your practice with young children (aged 0-7) helps their social-emotional development, empathy, and overall mental well-being. Understanding and expressing emotions, especially positive ones, is a fundamental life skill.
Emotional Literacy: Focusing on smiles helps children recognise and understand happiness in themselves and others.
Social Connections: Smiling and acts of kindness strengthen bonds between children and with adults, promoting a positive social environment.
Empathy: Learning how their actions (like smiling or being kind) can make others feel happy helps children develop empathy.
Positive Mindset: Encouraging positive expressions and actions contributes to a more optimistic outlook and a healthier mental state. Our Mental Health - 'healthy minds' display pack support this.
Conflict Resolution: A foundation of kindness and positive interaction can help prevent and resolve minor conflicts.
Engaging Smile & Kindness Activities for World Smile Day (0-7 Year Olds)
Make World Smile Day a truly joyous and heart-warming experience with these planning ideas and activities perfect for EYFS and KS1 children. The focus is on radiating happiness, showing compassion, and connecting with each other! Many of these early years and year 1 activities can be supported by the extensive range of printable resources we have available, especially those on our Emotions and Feelings and Kindness and Friendship pages.
Here's some inspiration for spreading smiles in your setting: (Please use your own discretion and knowledge of your children to ensure appropriateness of each activity and safety concerning any materials given and activity undertaken.)
Draw Yourself Smiling! Use the ‘Draw yourself smiling! activity sheet’ for children to express their own happy faces. You can also use ‘Draw emotions’ for more general emotion drawing.
"What Makes You Happy?" Brainstorm: Have a group discussion about things that make them smile or feel happy. Record their ideas on the ‘What makes you happy? sheets’.
Acts of Kindness Challenge: Encourage children to perform simple acts of kindness throughout the day, aiming to make someone else smile. Use our ‘Let's show kindness - activity prompt poster’ and ‘Let's show kindness - activity prompt cards’. Our ‘Acts of kindness’ activity and display can track these.
Smile "Chain" or Display: Have each child draw or write about something that makes them smile, then link them together to create a "Smile Chain" display.
Emotion Recognition with Emojis: Use our emoji-themed ‘Emotion Cards’, ‘Emotions mat’ and ‘Emotions Fan’’ to help children identify happy faces and other emotions.
"I Am Feeling..." Station: Set up an "All About Me - feelings station display" where children can identify their current emotion. Our ‘Emotions - 'I am feeling...' cards’ can be used here.
Connect with Others: Facilitate activities that encourage positive interaction and connection. Use ‘Let's connect - with each other - activity prompt poster and cards.
Movement for Mood: Discuss how movement can make us feel happy. Use ‘Let's get moving - activity prompt poster and cards to inspire active play.
Music and Emotions: Explore how music can make us feel happy. Use 'This music makes me feel...' activity sheets.
Story Time: Happy Stories: Read books that promote happiness, friendship, and kindness. Discuss how the characters feel and what makes them smile. You can also use 'This story makes me feel...' - mark making sheets.
Understanding Other Emotions: While the day is about smiles, it's also an opportunity to acknowledge that it's okay to feel other emotions. Use 'Emotion of the day' - display, basic emotions fan, and resources like ‘When I feel worried’ to support understanding.
Explore Related Pages: For more comprehensive support, visit our dedicated pages:
These activities offer great inspiration for making World Smile Day a memorable and impactful experience in your early years and Key Stage One setting, fostering emotional well-being, empathy, and a culture of kindness.
To explore ideas surrounding additional early years events, please visit our 'Special Dates Calendar' page.
Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: ‘World Smile Day’
Additional Pages you may like to explore which cover relevant &/or Connected themes
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Explore special dates (including awareness dates, festivals, celebrations & events) relevant to your EYFS & KS1 children
Browse our ‘Special Dates Calendar’ page using the link below. You’ll find calendars for every month of the year to aid your planning!
SEARCH ‘LITTLE OWLS Resources’ USING THE FOLLOWING MENU BUTTONS…
Disclaimer:
This page is for educational purposes only and is intended to support early years and primary practitioners with ideas and resources related to 'World Smile Day'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by the Harvey Ball World Smile Foundation. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this day. For official information and to learn more, please visit their website at www.worldsmileday.com.
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