Sit with your toddler on the rug and spread out eight to 10 circles with faces drawn on them. Help your toddler sort the faces into two piles: sad and happy. Talk with your toddler about what being happy feels like and ask your toddler what makes him feel happy. If your toddler can't come up with any ideas, suggest situations such as playing with friends or eating an ice cream cone and ask your toddler whether he feels happy or sad when doing the activity. Talk about sad feelings in a similar way.
Practice scientific observation skills with your toddler. Start by discussing good feelings. Ask your toddler to practice smiling and laughing, reinforcing that doing so expresses being happy. Play music and dance around or do some jumping jacks. Talk to your toddler about how the exercise makes him feel. Jumping and dancing can make you feel excited and energized. If your toddler speaks well, encourage him to share how the exercise makes him feel. You could also say "Your cheeks are pink and you are smiling; do you feel happy?"
Help your toddler identify feelings and build vocabulary and classification skills. Sit in front of a mirror with your toddler. Hold up a picture of a child looking surprised. Tell him this is a "surprised face" and have him practice copying this face in the mirror. Ask him when he might feel surprised. Repeat this activity using different pictures showing emotions such as happy, silly, angry and sad.
Create a set of eight to 10 cards showing four or five emotions, making two of each emotion. Help your toddler match the emotions. For more advanced toddlers, turn the cards over and play a game of memory with the cards. Or, create a pattern of sad and happy faces using face stickers. Give your toddler his own stickers and have him copy the pattern you made.