Teaching Your Toddler Compassion

My cousin brought his daughter over to my house for Easter and the whole day I had to make sure she wasn't harming my cat. Some parents have yet to teach their children the importance of compassion. He kept repeating, "Be nice!" but it didn't keep her from trying to pull the cat's tail. After discussing the issue with him, we found a few steps that helped him teach his toddler this important lesson.

Show Affection

Hug your toddler and express your love for your child. Making them feel comfortable and loved will make them want to show their love for other people or animals.

Sharing is Caring

Show your child that is fun to share their toys. Tell them the importance of sharing and show them an example. Share something of yours with them. Share a cookie or a game with them so that they get the first hand effect of how good it feels to have someone share with you.

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Are you a compassionate person? If you are acting rude in front of your child, then they will pick up your habits. Your child will try to imitate what is around them during this critical developmental stage in their life.

Take a Trip

Take a trip to the zoo or watch nature shows that show people acting kind to animals. Try to get your child to show kindness to animals and small creatures. Teach them that it is not okay to hit or throw things at animals because it can hurt them. We had his daughter pet a cat and kept saying encouraging words like "nice" and "soft" or "gentle." We also showed her how it made the cat happy because she was being nice to the cat.

Volunteer

Have your toddler pick toys they don't want anymore and set them aside. Take your child to a donation center and have them help you put them in a donation bin. You can tell them about how it will help out other kids who don't have toys.

Older siblings can also help with volunteer projects. Older siblings can help make teddy bears for sick children in the hospital and the young ones can help stuff them. Going to the hospital together as a family to deliver the bears shows your kindness for your community.

Read Moral Tales

Try to incorporate stories about heroes or famous compassionate people during story time. Reading stories with good morals will help your child develop values.

Teach Diversity

We live in a diverse world and showing your child how to be friendly to everyone will help your toddler be compassionate to other students once they start school.

Learning From Siblings

Toddlers learn a lot from their siblings. Most of them want to be just like their older sibling. When a sibling gets sick they can help nurse each other to health. They can give their sibling a blanket or make lunch for them.

During the times they don't get along, make sure they know how to say sorry. An apology from parents also means a lot. Parents can be wrong too.