Before your child can talk about his problems and feelings, he needs an emotional vocabulary. Simply teaching your child how to label what he is feeling will empower him to talk about his feelings, which will lead to solutions. Here are 10 emotions your child can add to his emotional word bank.

1. Joy. Most kids know what it feels like to be happy, which comes from external circumstances like receiving a toys at a birthday party.  But it’s important kids understand the difference between joy and happiness because it gives them something very distinctive to strive for.  While happiness is influenced by external circumstances, joy comes when you have accepted who you are and are at peace with who you are. Therefore joy is therefore cultivated internally and while happiness is experienced externally.

2. Love. Love is something you feel when someone means very much to you and you like that person very much. Because love indicates a strong feeling of like, many people say they love objects as well, like a blanket or a lovey. It’s very possible, however, to love someone even when you don’t like them from time to time. You can often tell how much you love someone by what you’re willing to do for them and what you’re willing to share with them. That is why love is often more than a feeling.  Love is an act.

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