Smiling has many positive effects on our brains, bodies and the people around us. It can make you feel better, make you more attractive, and you can make the world a better place just by smiling more often. Scientists are even finding that smiles lower blood pressure and boosts your immune system.
Do you want to put a smile on someone’s face today?
And because smiling is contagious, it probably won’t just be one person you make smile today. You can set off a smile chain reaction.
Here are 100 ways to turn to make someone smile from some of my favorite mom bloggers!
1. Send a loving text to your partner at work.
2. Compliment a friend or work colleague on their outfit.
3. Donate something to charity.
4. Take a friend out to lunch or pack them a treat to share.
5. Let someone know you miss them.
6. Buy the coffee for the person behind you at the coffee shop.
7. Hold a door open for someone walking behind you.
8. Hug your loved ones for no reason.
9. Leave a joke on a friend’s voicemail.
10. Send an actual card to a friend letting them you care.
11. Tag a friend on a cute or funny meme on social media.
12. Share your umbrella on a rainy day.
13. Ask a friend if they need anything while you’re out shopping.
14. When it’s raining, plan an indoor picnic with your children.
15. Leave a love letter or a dollar in your partner’s pockets.
16. Send someone an unusual and unexpected gift, cookie cakes forever.
17. Tell your child you’re proud of them.
18. Tell someone you thought about them the other day.
19. Cook a surprise meal for your partner one night, especially if they normally do the cooking.
20. Or if you are a bad cook, do the dishes.
From Mom Blogger & Parenting Influencer Amber Faust
21. Give your kids a list of things to search for and go on a scavenger hunt around the neighborhood.
22. Put away your phones and lean in to really listen to your partner, kids, or friend over a meal.
23. Check out a hilarious picture book from the library that your kids have never read, and read it in the silliest voice possible.
24. Tell a friend something small they did or said a long time ago that you still remember made you feel good.
25. Have a staring contest, and make silly faces at each other while you try not to blink.
26. Tell a mom you see out shopping with her kids that she’s doing an amazing job.
27. Surprise your kids by making faces or other silly shapes in their lunch.
28. Text a parental figure to let them know how important they are to you and tell them what positive qualities you inherited from them.
29. Have a popcorn fight with your kids, letting them make a mess by throwing popcorn at you.
30. Invite a friend to go on a small adventure with you, whether it’s to explore a new neighborhood, try a restaurant with a type of cuisine you don’t eat often, or do something touristy in your area.
From Childrens Book Blogger Lindsay Horeis
31. Crack a silly joke or terrible pun at dinner. The cheesier the better. Think dad jokes.
32. Send email updates on good things. Not just when a problem comes up with one of your school students or employees.
33. Reach out to someone you miss or haven’t heard from in years. Send a silly memory or just tell them that you were thinking of them.
34. Send your mom flowers for no reason at all.
35. Listen to someone anyone, don’t argue just listen completely.
36. Tip your server well.
37. Introduce yourself to your mail carrier.
38. Give thanks for everything, gratitude goes so far.
39. Smile at a stranger.
40. Donate books you’ve read at a local assisted living facility.
From Jenn, the teaching mom blogger behind Past Present Purple.
41. Tape change to a vending machine
42. Leave a box of popcorn on the DVD rental machine
43. Leave a note and a bottle of water in your mailbox for your mailman
44. Write encouraging notes and leave them on random cars in a parking lot
45. Tell a pregnant mama that she looks beautiful today
46. Offer to babysit for a single friend/neighbor (for free!)
47. Buy a dozen donuts and then hand them out on the sidewalk to strangers
48. Spend 10 minutes leaving positive comments on your friends’ social media posts
49. Compliment an employee to their boss when you receive good service
50. Let the person behind you in the grocery store check out line go before you.
From Kristyn Whitaker, the mom blogger behind Carolina Fireflies
60. Take a photo or video of another mom you know interacting with her kids and send it to het.
61. See someone snapping a shot of their family doing something fun? Offer to shoot a few shots for them so the whole family can get in.
62. Add money to an expired parking meter.
63. Leave a shining review for a business or specific employee when you get the service you expect.
64. Try to recreate an old photo with the same people.
65. Change the lyrics to a favorite song to make it apply to what you are doing. Kids find this really funny if they are familiar with the song.
66. Have a balancing contest.
67. Save funny memes and then text them to friends or family as they apply or whenever you think of them.
68. Make a sweet treat (or savory!) to share with your neighbors.
69. Have a garden? Share your extras with friends, family, neighbors or even strangers.
70. Look up the list of holidays for the day on the National Day page and celebrate.
From Blogger and Photographer MidKid Mama
71. Offer to babysit for a family that could use a night out.
72. Pay the check for another family at a restaurant.
73. When the painter, handyman, electrician is at your house, offer them a drink or snack.
74. Send a care package anonymously to a sick child.
75. Call and tell all of your family members how much they mean to you.
76. Let someone into your lane while you’re driving. It can unstress his or her day quite a bit.
77. Share a Spotify-playlist with the most inspiring and uplifting songs you know.
78. Leave a compliment on a strangers instagram photo.
79. Give a gift-card for takeout to a family you know.
80. Snap a pretty photo and text it to a friend.
From Maria, the mom blogger behind For Mommy’s Dragons.
81. Send someone who gave you a present (one that you really appreciate) a thank you text. Even if it was years ago.
82. Buy a gift card for a small amount and leave it in a library book.
83. Ask your librarian if you can pay someone’s fines, or donate to a fine forgiveness fund.
84. Make a double dinner, freeze half, and give to a friend.
85. Keep some Peanut or Gluten Free shelf stable snacks around (in the original packaging) so you can include folks with food restrictions.
86. Visit your neighbors with your kids and just say hello.
87. Take health snacks, like fresh fruit, to the er to share with the staff.
88. Before you donate clothes, wash, fold, and label good items. Bundle shoes in pairs with twist or zip ties.
89. If you hear a child doing a good job anywhere in public, compliment them on their behavior AND compliment their parent for doing a good job too.
90. Tell your friends that you appreciate them, and be specific. I appreciate ABC about you because XYZ..
From Mom Blogger Leah Frances Wade
91. Put a dollar bill in a RedBox DVD box.
92. Compliment someone’s outfit, especially women over 50.
93. Even if you don’t have kids in school, see if your grocery store, Target or Walmart, has donation programs and link your shopping.
94. Be kind to someone having a hard day. Sometimes just saying, “It looks like you are having a tough day, I’m sorry.”
95. On a small restaurant bill tip 50% or more.
96. Be someone’s laundry fairy. Call up a mom you know and offer to fold laundry, sounds weird, “Hey, I’ve got an hour to kill, and I’d love to come and fold your laundry. You don’t even have to hang out.”
97. Offer to play with a new Mom’s dog for an hour for a couple weeks. Big win on this one because it will make you smile too.
98. Show up at a parent’s house at bedtime. Offer to help put the kids to bed. Best case, send the primary caregiver away from the house for an hour or so.
99. Leave an empowering note in a dressing room. “Damn that outfit makes you look hot!”
100. Bring a bag of bagels to the nurses at the emergency room at your local hospital.
From Crystal the mom blogger from Not So SuperMom vs. Society.
