What puts a smile on your kid’s face?

As parents, we want to make our kids smile.  We want to give them plenty of things to be happy about.  That’s the way it is with the little ones you love so dearly.  Their smile is precious and a reward you can’t wait to get again.

So, what can you do to keep that bright, toothy grin on their face?  Well, I’ve got a few ideas for you that will help make the sun shine in their little world.

Simple Ways to Keep Your Kids Smiling

The great thing about kids is that they are usually very easy to please.  It is us parents that tend to make things complicated and expensive.  So, my first piece of advice for you is to keep your ideas simple and straightforward.  There is no need to dream up a bunch of crazy schemes.  You can keep your kids smiling by sticking with the basics.

Here are seven simple ways to keep your kids smiling:

1.  Act Goofy

Kids love attention from their parents and they love to be silly.  Therefore, the number one thing you can do to make your kids smile is to be goofy with them.  Pull out your elementary school humor and get wacky.  This doesn’t cost you a thing (other than maybe your dignity) and your kids will cherish the regular crazy escapades making them smile from ear-to-ear.  The bonus is that that laughter will be good for you too.

2.  Surprise Them

If you want to put a big smile on your kids face, then take them to do one of their favorite activities when they least expect it.  A surprise trip to the zoo, movies or playground will have them beaming with joy.  Heck, just show up one day to have lunch with them at school.  Most kids would consider this a treat in and of itself.  Remember, your surprise doesn’t need to be as involved as a trip to Disneyworld to get the reaction you’re looking for.  An unexpected treat or outing will make their day and save you a fortune.

3.  Finger Paint

I don’t know what it is about finger painting, but kids absolutely love it.  They can’t help but to smile the whole time they are doing it.  Yes, it can be messy, but if you prepare properly, then clean up isn’t that big of a deal.  You can get a double-whammy with this one because you will totally surprise them if you are the one that initiates a big finger painting session.  Once they are done, be sure to hang their artwork in a prominent location.  It will make them smile every time they see it and remember the fun they had.

4.  A Big Cardboard Box

What kid doesn’t love playing with a big cardboard box?  Make friends with the folks down at your local appliance store and bring home the largest box you can fit in your vehicle.  It will become a ship or a clubhouse or something else from the fertile imagination that only kids have.  They’ll grin every day they dream up the next thing they are going to play in their giant box.  Of course, you’ll expand their enjoyment if you crawl in right beside them.  You can zoom off to a wonderland of delight right in your own living room floor.

5.  Anything Involving Water

I don’t know about your kids, but mine never smile and giggle more than when water is involved.  It can be the swimming pool, lake, lawn sprinkler, a rain shower, squirt guns, a bubble bath or just a kitchen sink full with plenty of containers for pouring.  Children absolutely love playing in water.  The good news is there are loads of ways you can create this merriment for them.  Water tends to work best in the great outdoors, but I also mentioned some ways that this works inside too.  Water can be a year-round kid pleaser.

6.  Animals

Everything from the zoo to a lone puppy will lock a smile on your child’s face.  Animals are fascinating and playful.  Your kids will appreciate any opportunity you give them to chase, pet, snuggle or entertain a cute fuzzy friend.  My girls love just a quick visit to the pet store and how easy is that?  Again, you don’t have to make this time-consuming or difficult.  If you don’t own a dog, then stop for a few minutes at a friend’s house to play with their pup or visit your local dog park.  Your kids will talk about it for the rest of the day.

7.  The Local Amusement Park

Okay, this last one is a bit more involved than the others, but it is too good to leave out.  A carnival or amusement park is like a fantasy world of smiles and cheerfulness for most any child.  Yes, it can cost a big chunk of your money and your time, but the happiness it produces on a kid’s face is worth it.  Don’t you remember these experiences from your childhood?  I loved going to our county fair.  It was one of the highlights of my year.  Block out the time, put on your best walking shoes and get ready to see your kids smile all day long as they fly by on carousels and rollercoasters.

What do you do to keep your kid smiling?  Add to the list by leaving a comment on this article.  It would be greatly appreciated by all.

Photo: Copyright PhotoXpress.com

There are several infectious afflictions in this world that you would want to avoid at every opportunity.  Ebola, the blood spurting, eyeball rotating, puss oozing monster of an infection probably comes in at number one, along with a host of other gruesome and debilitating illnesses limping in close behind.  It is part of human nature to steer clear of infectious things, but there is one infectious affliction that you should positively hunt down, place yourself fully in front of, and consciously induce into every facet of your being.  It is also the most infectious of all: the smile.

Ancient Scandinavian Smilers

The word smile in the English language seems to be derived from one of the plethora of Scandinavian languages which subdued the native languages of Britain in generations past, which is strange considering that Vikings are rarely depicted as smiling cherubically from under their horned helmets.  Anyhow, back to the point at hand, smiling was with us long before the Vikings, of course, and is present in every culture and used by every peoples of this world.

A smile is also one of the first expressions to grace the face of a baby – its first real sign of meaningful communication – which signals the smile’s crucial and timeless role in affecting human relationships.  Ask any parent if they remember their child’s first smile, and they’ll happily regale you the details; and what will they be doing as they recount this episode?  Smiling.  And what will your reaction be?  Smiling, too!  The fact is that smiling is the one of the most powerful communicative tools in the human arsenal, and it can, as with any excellent tool, be put to a huge number of uses.

The Land of Smiles

People smile for many different reasons, not just out of happiness.  Nowhere is this more true than in Thailand: The Land Of Smiles, where the smile is used a cohesive social device to great effect.  One research duo has noted up to 12 different types of Thai smile (Holmes & Tangtontavy: Working With The Thais), all of which mean different things from happiness to anger, from admiration to hatred, from calmness to agitation, to name only a few of the 12 different varieties they discuss!

Daniel McNeill, author of The Face: A Natural History, has also discussed the variety of meanings which are embedded in the smile.  More interestingly, perhaps, he has identified a curious and surprising claim that: “Though courtroom judges are equally likely to find smilers and non-smilers guilty, they give smilers lighter penalties, a phenomenon called the ‘smile-leniency effect.‘”  Although I’m not yet willing to accept this ‘point’ on face value, I would not be at all surprised if it is indeed true.  The smile is an excellent way to improve the quality of your life, and of those around you; best of all, it’s free, always available and so easy to do!

Unconscious Action

I am a teacher.  As such, I have to deal with a range of students with a range of different personalities and abilities.  Some students take constructive criticism very well, whiles others become very emotional and personal about the issue at hand, which renders meaningful and rational communication quite difficult.  Other students become immediately very defensive about any errors that they make and are very sensitive to any kind of criticism.  So, how best to deal with these types of students?

Firstly, very defensive students usually lack a good EQ (Emotional Quotient) and have a large ego, and are therefore easily annoyed or enraged.  Overly-sensitive students can become instantly nervous and worried when a teacher assumes a blatantly authoritative stance; even though the teacher may not have even said anything yet, and certainly doesn’t have any desire to make the student feel uncomfortable or scared, their body language can disguise this, resulting in a student who feels very unstable.

Although I used students as a vehicle to explain my point, they can be taken as representing two specific types of people with whom we all come into contact: the easily-angered/unreasonable/volatile, and the overly-sensitive/worrisome.  Of course, there are a multitude of other personality types that we haven’t mentioned, but they generally fall into the ‘middle’ categories, which are not particularly extreme, and tend to be more rational, and therefore, tend to be able to navigate personal interactions with more skill.

The main conclusion that can be drawn from these examples is that body language is in many ways a more immediate, comprehensive and complex form of communication than the spoken word – more often than not it is an unconscious action.  And with this in mind, we can revisit the above situations and ask ourselves: how could these situations be avoided in future?  The answer, of course, is: by consciously smiling!

Conscious Thai Smilers

For anyone that has ever visited Thailand, or spent any extended length of time here, they will have experienced the warmth and regularity of the Thai smile.  It comes in all shapes and sizes, and for a variety of reasons.  However, the main reason that Thais smile so much is that they will do almost anything to avoid confrontation and keep things calm and amiable, at least on the surface – consideration for others’ feelings, as well as not losing face by losing control, are at the epicenter of Thai social behavior.

Even if a Thai person is seething with anger, it is probable that you will not know about it, as all you will see is a broad smile and a calm demeanor.  It works; rarely, if ever, will you see Thai people raising their voices and arguing openly.  And that, I reckon, is part of the reason that so many foreigners, myself included, love to spend time in The Land Of Smiles – who wouldn’t?

It could be considered advantageous to everyone if we each make a conscious decision to smile sometimes, and not just rely on the unconscious action.  So, next time you feel that you might be entering into an argument, or having a non-desired, negative effect on someone – perhaps an employee at work, perhaps your own child, or perhaps your partner – consciously afflict them with a genuine, warm smile, and watch the negative energy disappear into thin air!

Don’t forget to read more of Richard’s articles at cheewit.net!

Photos by Jose Santiago Tan and Stygiangloom and (nutmeg) and Binder.donedat