Toddlers love to play games, which can be used to your advantage in teaching about empathy. Role playing with your toddler helps him learn to recognize visible and verbal signals for how someone is feeling and translate them into the actual feeling. Toddlers are familiar with a wide range of motions, including happiness, excitement, anger and frustration. However, they don't realize that other people feel the same things. Make a face that corresponds with a particular motion and repeat the word for the emotion. Giving verbal cues, such as grunting for frustration, laughing for happiness and yelling in anger, shows your toddler the sound cues for emotions. The more your toddler is exposed to these expressions of emotion, the more he can associate them with his own feelings.
Even though many toddlers do not have a large spoken vocabulary, they often understand a much larger number of words. When your child is experiencing a particular emotion, talk to her about it. Explain to her what she is feeling and why. For instance, if she is frustrated with a toy that is not working, say "I know that your toy isn't doing what you want it to and you are frustrated." Then offer a different toy that is less frustrating for her while telling her, "Maybe this one will make you happier." Toddlers learn by example. Show her that you care about how she is feeling so she will learn to exhibit signs of empathy toward others.
If you already read to your toddler on a regular basis, you can use that time to also teach about empathy. Choose books with characters that experience a wide range of emotions. Picture books work even better. Read the story and as you read about characters who are experiencing a strong emotion, stop and talk about it with your toddler. Point to the way the character looks in pictures and explain how you can tell what he is feeling. For instance, if the character is frowning, point to it and say, "This character is sad because he is frowning. See how his face looks sad?" Relating to the characters helps develop empathy.
If you have a pet in your home, you can use that pet to help your toddler develop empathy and learn to be compassionate to others. As soon as your child is able to understand, encourage her to pet your dog or cat nicely. Praise her for treating your pet well and redirect bad treatment by showing her how to treat the pet properly. When it is time to feed your pet, tell your child that the animal is hungry so it is time to feed it. Allow her to help you feed the animal if she can. Caring for a pet shows her how to care about others.
Play dates bring toddlers together so they can work on their social skills. These play dates offer an excellent opportunity to work on empathy. While toddlers don't really play together, but rather play next to each other, you can use the other child's emotions to teach empathy to your child. If the other child gets hurt and cries, tell your child that his friend is hurt and sad. Ask your child to give him a hug to help him feel better. If the other child is excited about accomplishing a task, encourage your child to clap for him. Helping him learn to react to someone else's emotions encourages the development of empathy.