Children learn about love through their experiences with family and friends. They exist largely on the receiving end and the concept of giving and receiving love can be very abstract.
Parents need to model kindness, caring and patience for their children to understand the qualities of love. Patience does not come naturally to children and parents can help by encouraging this by example and talk about not trying to seek instant self-gratification by modeling with their own actions when opportune situations, such as waiting in line or in traffic arise. Patience leads to self-control and better decision making.
One of the ways to teach kindness is to ask your child to be a noticer for the day. This will entail noticing
if someone looks sad and approaching them and asking if they need help or noticing if someone is sitting by themselves and go sit with them. Noticing others helps children not be as self-absorbed. Being self-absorbed can lead to depression and anxiety.
There are many activities and ideas to help parents teach their children about the meaning of love. One site I recommend is www.momentsaday.com/activities-to-teach-children-about-love/ The ideas and activities are hands-on and are suitable for the whole family.
There are many books such as, The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein, that can teach through the magic of storytelling the idea of selflessness. The aforementioned link has a list of books for children that cover these concepts beautifully.
And for Valentine’s Day, The Day It Rained Hearts, by, Felicia Bond, is a personal favorite.
Christina Miller, Owner/Head of School Millhopper Montessori School. Located at 8505 NW 39th Ave, Gainesville, Florida. (352) 375-6773. https://www.millhopper.com/