5 Ways To Make Your Child Smile

One of the biggest milestones when you become a Mum is seeing your child smile for the first time. It knocks you off your feet. It then becomes your main aim in life to make your little one smile as much as humanly possible. It can make a bad day seem glorious, any worries melt away and have you think "I am doing a great job". Wrigley® recently undertook some research as part of their Extra Smile Back Project™ to find out what exactly makes children today grin from ear to ear and the results were quite surprising.

The Great Outdoors
Topping the chart of things to do was playing outside. There is nothing my two love more than running around the garden or going to the local park with their Dad for an adventure. Some of our favourite memories have been days spent on the beach and it's great that despite all the modern technology kids still love fresh air and stained grass knees.

Spending Time With Mum and Dad
It always shocks me how much my kids love hanging round with my husband and I. They love to play games, make play doh models and most of all read. In fact 24% of children questioned said that being read to by their parents really made them smile. As part of their campaign Wrigley's Extra have released their very own storybook entitled 'The Lost Smile' by famous children's author Joseph Coelho. My girl and I sat down and read the book a few nights ago and she loved hearing the tale of how Kyle tries to get his family to smile again.

Spending Time With Grandparents
My two are really lucky as they have been watched by their grandparents ever since they were tiny tots. When I went back to work I was worried about leaving them but it's clear that they have so much fun with their Nan and Grandad. And yeah they give them the odd illicit chocolate bar but that's all part of the fun of being a Grandparent.

Playing With A Pet
Also in the list of top things that make children smile is playing with a pet. We are HUGE animal lovers here and my daughter adores spending time with her guniea pig Anna whilst my little boy loves chasing our dog Lucy around. I'm not entirely sure that the feeling is mutual.

Watching Their Favourite TV Show
It was interesting to find that there was only one technology based way in the top five that makes kids smile and that's watching their favourite TV show. Children's TV shows also make me smile as it means I can pop the vacuum round or go for a quick tea break.

The Smile Back Project aims to protect children's smiles by donating money from every pack of sugar free gum sold to Action for Children, to create and run oral healthcare workshops in partnership with the Oral Health Foundation. The Project aims to protect the smiles of 10,000 children across the UK. Profits from the sale of The Lost Smile will be split between both the Action for Children and Oral Health Foundation charities. Visit here for more details of the project and to buy your very own copy of The Lost Smile.

Check out Wrigley's video that shows how The Lost Smile book was created by children and the inspiration the workshop gave to the children's author and illustrator.