What are cheeks?

Cheeks are the soft parts of your face that help you smile, laugh, and even blush.

Cheeks are like the cushions on a chair, they’re there to make things more comfortable when you use them. When you eat something sweet or sour, your cheeks help you hold it in so you can taste it better. They also move when you talk or make faces.

Your cheeks are made of skin and muscle underneath. These muscles stretch and contract like the sides of a balloon, when you smile, they puff out a little, and when you frown, they pull in. You can feel them moving if you put your hand on your face while you laugh or talk.

Just like people have cheeks, animals do too! A dog’s cheeks help it chew its food, and a cat’s cheeks puff out when it's happy. Even a rubber ball has something like cheeks, they squish and bounce back, just like yours do every time you laugh or eat a big bite of ice cream.