What Does Love Mean? How 4-8 Year-Old Kids Describe Love

This wonderful capture of kids responding to the question, “What does love mean?” reminds us that they are magnifying and mirroring those around them. They are watching, and they are listening. From their parents, grandparents, schoolmates, elderly neighbors, and more, they see and say what they see and hear about what love means. Love shows up in many ways: When “Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken;” when grandfather paints grandmother’s toenails “even when his hands got arthritis too;” or when a 4-year-old sits on an elderly neighbor’s lap, saying nothing, because it simply “helped him cry.” And Nikka, age 6, provides this sage advice: "If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate."