Children's Day is celebrated in India to raise awareness about the rights, education, and welfare of children. It is celebrated on 14 November every year on the birthday of the first prime minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, who was known to have been fond of children. On this day, many educational and motivational programs for children are held all over India.Some schools in India give leave to their students on Children's Day while private schools organize a fair for their students.

On 5 November 1948, the first Children's Day was observed as "Flower Day" by the predecessor of Indian Council of Child Welfare (ICCW) to collect funds for United Nations Appeal for Children (UNAC) through the sale of "flower tokens". On 30 July 1949, "Children's Day" was widely celebrated and publicised through radio, articles, cinema, etc.

In 1951, V. M. Kulkarni, a United Nations Social Welfare Fellow, while carrying out a study on the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents in the UK, realized that there was no system to look after underprivileged children of India. Inspired by the Flag Day observed in England on the birthday of Queen Elizabeth II to raise money for "Save the Child Fund", Kulkarni presented a report recommending that Pandit Nehru's birthday could be marked as Flag Day for collecting funds for NGOs working for child welfare in India. When Nehru's consent was sought, he was at first embarrassed but then conceded reluctantly. While Nehru's birthday (14 November) had publicly been celebrated all over India and among overseas Indians, since the 1940s, with public meetings being organised to pay tribute to him and games for children being held; it was only in 1954 that the day was first celebrated as "Children's Day".More than 50,000 schoolchildren attended the celebrations in National Stadium in Delhi. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in Children's Day celebrations, 14 November 1957 On November 14, 1957, a number of white pigeons were released during the function in the National Stadium. One of the pigeons came back and sat on Nehru's head. In 1957, 14 November was officially declared Children's Day in India by a special government edict. The Government of India's Department of Posts and Telegraphs issued first day covers and three commemorative stamps on the occasion of Bal Din ("Children's Day").

Jawaharlal Nehru was affectionately called Chacha Nehru ("Uncle Nehru") by children, and their faith in him was a constant source of happiness for him. As the Prime Minister, Nehru wanted to "create an atmosphere in the country where the attention is constantly focused on children and their welfare".He had also established Children's Film Society India in 1955 so that Indian children could see themselves represented.

Regarding Nehru's concern for children and their welfare, M. O. Mathai wrote in his book My Days With Nehru (1979), "Nehru saw in their innocent faces and sparkling eyes the future of India. He was convinced that no amount of money spent on children and their mothers was too much, and that it was a sound investment for the future."When asked by Ram Narayan Chaudhary in an interview in 1958, if he was fond of children because the future of the country depended on the children, Nehru had replied, "I have always felt that the children of today will make the India of tomorrow, and, the way we bring them up will determine the future of the country."