by Mya Kagan (whyzz writer) >> more about the author

Smiling, frowning, looking surprised, scared, angry, excited (and so on!) are all different types of facial expressions. Facial expressions are the ways we move the muscles in our faces to express a feeling by raising or lowering our eyebrows, parting our lips into a smile, and more!

Because humans have the most muscles in our faces, we are able to make a lot more facial expressions than most other animals. Some animals can make expressions like smiles and frowns (think, for example, about monkeys) while others (like hamsters or fish) cannot make as many.

But remember: even though they might not express happiness through smiles like we do, lots of scientists believe that animals are still able to feel happiness, which they might just express another way, like through a contented “meow” or a wagging tail!





Happy Faces!

Have you ever been to a costume party where people wore masks over their faces? If so, did you find it hard to tell what everyone was thinking or feeling when you weren't able to see their facial expressions?

Using some paper, crayons, and string, cut out a few masks to make for yourself! Maybe a grown-up can help you find a pattern to trace, or maybe you want to invent your own!

What kinds of faces do you want to draw on your masks? Will you have a happy mask and a sad mask? Maybe one of your masks is confused, or scared. You could even have a mask that looks sleepy!

Think about the different ways you masks can show all of these feelings. Do the eyebrows change a lot? What about noses? Lips? Cheeks??