You have come to the right place if you are looking for fun, engaging and exciting Smile themed activities to do with toddlers, preschoolers and kindergartners. Our activities are widely used by teachers, moms, dads, child care providers and more!
All our activities are available at no cost and are free to print and share. Select below to get started.
Smiling Arts and Crafts
What Makes Them Smile?
Make a large chart and have each child contribute what gives them a smile on their face.They are always touching and amusing plus the parents love to see their child’s response.
Make happy faces out of play dough that can be baked(or dried) and painted.You only need to cut out a circle and decorate.They can then be given as gifts, made into magnets(depending on thickness)or glue a pin on the back to wear.
Have the children make a paper plate puppet with a happy face on one side and a sad face on the other.Tell a story or read sentences about things that would make a person feel happy or sad.Can lead to a discussion on opposites or emotions.
Smile Craft Give the children big yellow circles of construction paper. Let them use glitter, markers, stickers, etc. to decorate their smiley face…then punch holes in the circle, thread with yarn, and then let them wear their smiley face necklaces!
Another Smile Craft Paper plates with buttons for eyes and nose, yarn for hair and POPCORN for smiles! looks like lots of teeth.
Smiling Games and Activities
Activities
We sing the childrens favorite song “If you are Happy and you Know it”, afterwards we play a “hot potato” type game where went the music stops and you have the potato you choose a partner and you do whatever it takes to make that person SMILE. It is loads of fun and the teachers laugh just as much as the students do! Skills; logical thinking, interacting with peers, taking turn, singing, following directions.
I put out all sorts of magazines and newpapers and ask the children to cut out only pictures of SMILES/Teeth, and have them make a picture. I make it into a contest by asking for the picture that is covered the most with smiles.(otherwise my children this year, would choose one ortwo pictures and be done!).
We took teeth shapes and had our precious ones paint them with white paint using old toothbrushes. Then after they had dryed we took a smile shape and had the child trace the shape on large red construction board. They cut out their teeth, cut out the center of the smile and glued the teeth to the back side of the smile…so then we had a terrific red toothy smile! They parents got a big kick out of these. The skills are tracing, cutting, glueing and painting with different utensils.
When my son was first learning about smiley faces, my husband taught him how to draw them by teaching a little saying. They would say “A dot and a dot and a bi-i-ig smile” while they drew them. Even though my son wasn’t old enough to draw them then, he still remembers the saying and says it now while is trying to draw them.
Smiling Songs, Poems and Finger Plays
Song:
“I have something in my pocket
It belongs across my face
I keep it very close at hand in a most convenient place
I’m sure you couldn’t guess it
If you guessed a long, long while
So I’ll take it out and put it on
It’s a great big happy smile!”
Dear Reader: You can help us make this theme even better!
All of our theme ideas have come from our imagination and from reader submissions. Please use this form to contact us if you have crafts, activities, games, recipes, songs or poems that you would like us to add to this theme.
