What is happiness? And can it be taught? I tend to believe it can. If we start conversations about happiness and model joy and gratitude, I think we can help children understand how happiness happens. This isn’t to say that we’ll be happy all the time. That’s not realistic and kids should know that, too. We’re human, so we’re obviously going to experience moments of frustration, sadness, and nervousness. That’s natural. But there are also strategies people use to focus on living happier lives. A quick search on the Internet will reveal a ton! Clearly the topic of happiness is top of mind for many.
I was inspired by this HAPPINESS LESSON I saw on Artistic Freedom’s Facebook page. In that school-wide activity, the teachers used inflated balloons. While it was a really beautiful look (go check it out), I’ve had many students in the past who are afraid of balloons. I mean who hasn’t experienced anxiety over the thought that they can pop at any time? Hundreds of students near hundreds of balloons would make me a little nervous, too.
So we switched it up a bit…
THE HAPPINESS LESSON, REIMAGINED
Instead of planning this as a school-wide activity, try doing it in your own classroom or as a grade-level team. Because this is a lesson in happiness, we bought these cute HAPPY FACES. And, bonus, they’re squishy stress balls, so they have a purpose long after the activity. (No fear of popping balloons in this one.)
To begin the activity, have each child write their name somewhere on their own ball using a permanent marker. Then collect the happy faces, letting the children know you’re going to hide them later while they’re away… either during their recess, lunch, or specials. You could even wait and hide the balls after school, creating anticipation for the next day.
Usually when I hide items for the littles, I pick easy-ish spots so they have a better chance of finding them before getting super frustrated. However, for this activity, I don’t want it to be easy for them to find their own ball. You may want to consider this when hiding your students’ happy faces. I also like to hide some in hard-to-reach spaces. This encourages kids to ask other students for help, which is part of the point of this activity. (I’ll explain that in a minute.)
OK, I HID THE BALLS. NOW WHAT?
Once you’ve hidden all the balls, the directions to the kids are simple:
- “You have one minute to find your happy face. If you find a happy face that isn’t yours, kindly set it back in its place and continue looking for your own.”
Depending on how you’ve hidden them, the odds are low that each child will find their own ball in one minute. (The odds are even lower if you decide to do this as a grade level and hide ALL the happy faces on the playground… how fun!)
When the minute is up, gather everyone back in a meeting spot. Find out if anyone found their own happy face. If so, say something like:
- “Wow… you were lucky! You can see how rare that was since most of us still haven’t found ours.”
You can elaborate on that point however it suits you and the age of your students. If you have a few kids who found their own happy faces, ask them step away or cover their eyes for just a bit while you hide their ball again. Then say:
- “Let’s try it again. This time, pick up the first happy face you find and hand it to the person whose name is on it. Come back to our meeting spot after you have given someone their happy face.”
You can take this in a few different directions, but the gist is this:
- “These little balls are like happiness. It’s harder to find it if we’re only looking for our own. But if we care about other people’s happiness, we’ll find ours too.”
I love this lesson and the opportunity it provides to help us strengthen our classroom community. It’s a reminder that we’re all in this together.💛
MORE CLASS-BUILDING IDEAS
PAIRING CARDS FOR STUDENT PARTNERS
TEACHING POINT OF VIEW TO BUILD STRONG COMMUNITIES
Happy teaching!
