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By: Carol McGarrahan, Associate Editor, Carolina Parent

Smile and the world smiles back at you, the saying goes, and now a growing body of research supports the theory that positive attitudes and behaviors not only improve your sense of satisfaction with the world, but also have concrete and measurable effects on your health and well-being. And the good news: You don’t have to be a born optimist to reap these benefits.

Happiness traits are now known to be a scientifically identifiable set of skills that you can learn and, more importantly, teach your children. And isn’t that what most parents want for their children? For them to be happy and able to cope with life’s challenges?

Experts say anyone, young or old, can learn these skills, and they have compiled solid research about what makes happy people — happy. Even small changes in everyday life can have a huge impact. Something as simple as practicing gratitude each day in your family can increase your children’s happiness by 25 percent, according to studies by Robert Emmons, author of the book, Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier.

When sociologist Christine Carter became a mother, she grew interested in how she could create a home environment that encouraged “happiness habits” in herself and her children.

As a sociologist, I deeply believe that happiness is a set of social skills that we learn, and I wanted to go about learning those skills so I could know what they were and teach them to my own children,” explains Carter, who is the executive director of the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley

Not only can happiness be learned, it also can have profoundly positive effects on health by boosting your immune system, lowering blood pressure and reducing your risk of heart attack.
Laughter is good medicine because it generates positive emotions, notes a report in the 2004 Journal of Personality: “Examining the Benefits of Positive Emotions on Coping and Health,” which was co-authored by Barbara Fredrickson, Ph.D., Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology in the UNC College of Arts and Sciences. The article also notes self-reported improvements in immune system functioning in people with more positive habits. Fredrickson recently co-authored another study in the June issue of the journal Emotion that showed people who enjoy small moments of positive emotions throughout each day increase their resilience against challenges.

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This article explains perfectly the basis of the Kids Can Do Anything Character Education Programs.  To provide children with the knowledge that playing and laughter will not only provide physical benefits like a stronger immune system, but also increase one’s ability to cope with adversity and build solid interpersonal relationships, will be a gift to them that will last a lifetime.  Giving kids the opportunity to mindfully experience gratitude and forgiveness instantly boosts their level of emotional intelligence, in addition to multiple other benefits like help them build their self-confidence, empathy and self-esteem.