Hug Day

National Hug Day or National Hugging Day is an annual holiday created by Rev. Kevin Zaborney. It occurs on January 21 and is officially recognized by the United States Patent and Trademark Office,but is not a public holiday. The holiday was founded on January 21, 1986 in Caro, Michigan, and has since spread to multiple different countries. The purpose for the holiday is to help everyone show more emotion in public. There is only one way you are supposed to celebrate the holiday, offer a hug to anyone and everyone you want. While National Hug Day and the Free Hugs Campaign share many similarities, there is not actual association between the two. Whether you hug a family member or a stranger, the mental and physical health benefits are the same.

Vocabulary: Children need to understand what they are feeling. There are a range of books you can use to help with a child's emotional vocabulary. My favorite is "Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day," by Jamie Lee Curtis.

In order to teach emotions, one effective tool is to help them by labeling how they feel. When a child cries, tell the child you know he or she is feeling sad; when someone takes away a toy, say you bet he or she feels angry. This way, your child will begin to associate feelings with the words that define them.

Put a Face On It
Children need to learn to relate facial expressions with emotions.
Help children with this skill by calling out emotions during morning meeting and asking children to make faces that go with those emotions. You may also ask them to draw those emotions on paper or to point to a photo of someone experiencing that emotion (from a selection you will provide). When you watch a movie together or read a story, you might pause and ask how a character is feeling and how your child knows that.

Own Your Emotions:
Help children identify how they feel by letting them express it regularly.

• When they walk into the classroom every morning, have them put their name next to their emotion on an emotions board.


• On a sheet of poster board, put names and facial expressions of several common emotions.


• Kids can have their names on cardboard with velcro or written on a clothespin. Their task is to identify how they feel and put their name next to that emotion. They can always change their name position as their emotions change.

When conflicts arise among children, ask them to explain how they feel to the other child or children. Teach children that if someone is sad we should not laugh at them; if someone is angry, we should try to understand why. Help them learn to positively express themselves without physical violence or negative reactions.

Ask “How do you feel when…” questions:

• You just found out that your grandparents are coming today and bringing you a very special surprise.


• You dropped a big object on your foot.


• Your little brother/sister broke a tower you just finished making.


• You picked up all of your toys without being asked.


• A group of friends won't let you play with them.


• A friend calls and invites you to come over and play.


• Some people you don't know are coming over today for supper.

Each question may have more than one answer. Have the child explain why they chose each emotion.