March 20th is the United Nations International Day of Happiness. The purpose of this annual event is to promote happiness as a universal goal and aspiration in the lives of human beings around the world.

Here are three ways you can celebrate and promote the International Day of Happiness:

Happier

Encourage yourself and others to do something for your own happiness - make time to do something you really enjoy, get moving outside, learn something new or write down three things you’re grateful for.

Kinder

Do something for someone else - donate to a food bank or charity, text or call someone to tell them what you appreciate about them, volunteer in your local community.

Together

Share the International Day of Happiness with others and help more people get involved in the day and thinking about ways to promote happiness and mental health.

Links to resources: For some inspirational ideas for things you can do on the day, you can visit the International Day of Happiness website here.

You can read more about the event and share some fun facts about happiness on the National Today website here.

You can also find lots of resources and downloads on the Action for Happiness website, including the ‘Keys to Happier Living: Toolkit for Schools’ (one for ages 5-7 and one for ages 7-11).

Another useful website for older children called Happy Planet Index can be found here. The happy planet index is a 'global measure of sustainable well-being' developed by New Economics Foundation which ranks countries based on "how many long and happy lives each produces per unit of environmental output".