Happiness Advice from the Kids in Our Life
As adults, we want the feeling of excitement, joy and euphoria whenever possible.
I wanted to take a look at happiness from the perspective of some extremely important people in our lives – our kids.
Do you remember that feeling as a child? The excitement of an ice cream cone on a hot summer day, that carefree feeling of riding your bike down the street with the breeze blowing in your hair – but mostly that simple contentment with life.
Being a kid can still be complex, but children tend to think differently than adults and they interpret happiness in a very direct and simple form.
Today I’m excited to share with you some wise words from some extremely wise children. Get ready for it!
Happiness Advice From the Kids in Our Life
For this fun exercise, I worked with other bloggers and requested that they ask these 2 questions to their kids:
1. What does happiness mean to you, or what does it feel like?
2. What advice would you give to adults on how to be happy?
13 children contributed to this article, including my 11 year old son. We will start off with him…
Nicholas – Age 11
What does happiness mean to you, what does it feel like?
Having a great time. Playing with your friends and spending time with family. You feel warm and tingly inside.
What advice would you give adults on how to be happy?
- “Spend time with your loved ones, people that make you feel happy and are kind to you.”
- “If you’re having an off day – try doing things you like to do and don’t think about the bad. Focus on the positive, not the negative.”
- “If you feel unhappy, go to someone you trust and share it with them. Think back to when you felt happy and don’t focus on the bad memories.”
Zoey – Age 6, Daughter of Corey @ The Nostalgia Diaries
What does happiness mean to you, what does it feel like?
“Happiness feels like love to me.”
What advice would you give adults on how to be happy?
“Since happiness is love, I bet if you love a little more, you’ll be happier, too.”
Dominic – Age 5, Son of Kristen @ Shifting Roots
What does happiness mean to you, what does it feel like?
“Happiness is inside of you.”
Petunia (Age 11), Iris (Age 8), Violet (Age 6) – Daughters of Terryn @ Just a Simple Home
What does happiness mean to you, what does it feel like?
- “Happiness feels like a bubble of excitement spreading throughout your body.” (Petunia, 11)
- “Happiness feels like a ball of sunshine in your belly.” (Iris, 8)
- “Happiness feels like giving.” (Violet, 6)
What advice would you give adults on how to be happy?
- “Think of all your blessings instead of concentrating on what is going wrong.” (Petunia, 11)
- “Have lots of special family moments and cherish them.” (Iris, 8)
- “Give lots of hugs.” (Violet, 6)
Maya (Age 10), Ava (Age 8), Luca (Age 3) Daughters & Son of Michelle
What does happiness mean to you, what does it feel like?
- “Dancing, singing and having fun.” (Maya, 10)
- “Spending time with my family and going to the beach.” (Ava, 8)
- “Nachos.” (Luca, 3)
What advice would you give adults on how to be happy?
- “Always think of the positive side of things – never negative. And if you’re having a bad day remember that you can do it.” (Maya, 10)
- “Give a gift to others. It makes you feel happy for giving and it makes others feel happy for their gift.” (Ava, 8)
- “Get a balloon and hold it. It’s so much fun!” (Luca, 3)
Sara – Age 4, Daughter of Molly
What does happiness mean to you, what does it feel like?
“Happiness is being happy. It feels like being excited!”
What advice would you give adults on how to be happy?
“If an adult needs to be happy you should tickle them!”
Happiness Advice from the Kids in our Lives... 'If an adult needs to be happy you should tickle them!' - Sara, Age 4 #wisewords #happiness Share on XRuan (Age 10), Oliver (Age 7) – Sons of Yvette
What does happiness mean to you, what does it feel like?
“Happiness is doing the stuff I love.” (Ruan)
What advice would you give adults on how to be happy?
“Do nice things and give each other hugs. And do things you love.” (Oliver)
Everleigh – Age 5, Daughter of Brook
What does happiness mean to you, what does it feel like?
“Happiness feels good. Like eating a giant, GIANT piece of cake.”
What advice would you give adults on how to be happy?
“Exercise and make birthday cakes.”
Final Thoughts
I’m certain that the above words of wisdom brought a smile to your face and I encourage you to go back and read this advice again. It’s extremely accurate and overall says this.
- Do things that feel good.
- Be open to giving and receiving affection.
- Follow your passions.
- Be grateful for what you have.
- Surround yourself with people that care about you.
- Give and receive love.
- Communicate and share.
- Focus on the positive.
- If you’re looking for happiness, look within.
It’s no surprise that the beautiful children in our lives are so insightful about what it takes to be happy and feel happy.
What advice does your child have on how to be happy?
Join the fun and share in the comments section below…
If you’d like to bring some happiness to someone’s day – please share this!
Happiness Advice From the Kids in Our Lives. 13 children share their advice on how to be happy. #wisewords #happiness Share on X
What an awesome perspective! I loved it!
These really did put a smile on my face 🙂 I love Luca’s answer on happiness feels like Nachos lol! Lovely post! Definitely sharing this on my facebook page xx
Yes! His answer is SO good (literally)!!! Thanks so much Christine.
We so over-complicate life…these answers are profound, yet so simple. Thanks for the reminder – I shared this with my Facebook and Twitter mama communities. <3
Hi Ashley! I completely agree. Us adults can learn so much from kids and we do tend to over complicate things. Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Thanks for sharing Sarah’s tip on happiness, Yolanda!! I smiled the entire time i was reading this.
Hi Diana – Glad you enjoyed!
omg i loveeee this post!!! I love how kids simplify everything and it all just makes SO much sense!! I totally agree with the girl that said it’s to love more! so so so beautiful!!
Thanks Rachel! I’m just amazed at some of these answers. It just shows we all need to look to little people for words of wisdom at times!!
I absolutely adore the innocence of children. Beautiful.
Yes! So very true Renee.
These are such beautiful words! kids do say the most amazing things ever. I love the one of happiness is in you. It truly is, we just need to dig deeper!
These (and all) kids are amazing! This little project I did, just reminded me to ask kids more important questions. They’ll probably nail them all!
This is really sweet! I love kids perspective on life. Adult complicat everything way too much. We should more time to listen to kids wisdow.
So true! We should listen to kids more. I think we’d all be surprised at their advice most of the time 🙂 Thanks for the note Emmanuelle!
Stoppp, these made me feel all the feels! <3
Ha!! That was the plan 🙂
Adorable, out of the mouths of babes to remind us how to chill and not be so hard on ourselves. Happiness is really simple. Love the article
That’s what I took away from them too – happiness is simple. We do over complicate things way too much as adults.
This is so sweet and uplifting. Little ones are full of wisdom ♡. Thanks for the smile! And the remibder that happiness is truly not as difficult to create as we may think 😊
Hi Sara! Really happy you enjoyed this post.
“Happiness feels good. Like eating a giant, GIANT piece of cake.” – this 5 yo nailed it! If we really listen, kids do say a lot of things that make complete sense. Thanks for sharing.
Ha! I love that one too 🙂
Omg I love this! What a perfect read to start my day!
Oh good! Thanks Jamie 🙂
This is awesome, and perfect. I’m going to try this with my almost 3 year old and see what he says. Love it, thanks!
Hi Cassie. I’d love to know what your 3 year old says 🙂 Feel free to let me know!
I love this! Kids never really over think things. We certainly can learn from them! ❤️
We sure can! They are wise little souls.
when you think of happiness from a kid’s point of view, you will be more happier. love it
Good point! That’s so true.
I love this post so much! ♥ Kids are great masters, we should learn from their life philosophy indeed
They really are. I’m always amazed by kids and their simple/beautiful thought process.
So lovely. Just reading those answers is enough to make you feel warm, happy and generally fuzzy. Thanks for writing and sharing this with us all. Feel like I should go and make a cake now!
Hi Sara! I know. I keep going back and reading them lol Yes, let’s make and EAT cake!!
Hey there, I really loved this post. I smiled the entire time i was reading this. These mommas are doing an amazing job raising these little ones.
Crown Yourself Momma dot com
Hey Jessica! Thanks 🙂 These mamas really are doing a good job for sure. Such sweet little people with deep thoughts.
Low key obsessed with this. Tweeted, facebooked. All the things.
Hey Becca! That’s amazing. Thanks!
I absolutely love this!! If these kids don’t put everything in perspective I don’t know what will.
I know. Sometimes I feel silly for being so complicated, so their advice really does out things into perspective.
Such a cute post. It’s amazing how wise children can be. I loved how one of the children included exercise. Those endorphins really do make us feel happier. I hope as that’s why children love running so much.
I think I’m going to see what pearls of wisdom my boys have to share too.
Cherie | My Mama Musings
Hi Cherie! Yes, let me know what your boys say. I’m sure they have some additional wise/sweet advice to share.
I LOVE everything about this!! While it made me all warm and fuzzy inside, I like the way Lucas thinks…nachos!!
lol I loved that one too. Nachos can be pure happiness at times!!
Oh my goodness!! I love this post so much!! Such wise words from such little people.
Thanks Danielle 🙂 Yep, they are truly wise little beings.
LOVE Zoey’s answer! That is so sweet! <3
I know! I think she gets a lot of her wisdom from her mom too!
I honestly don’t think I could love this anymore. This was such a brilliant idea and I absolutely love all the responses. I’m sharing everywhere I can! Thanks for the smile and warm fuzzies this morning.
Thanks so much Laura! Really happy you love it and that it put a smile to your face 🙂
I love this so much!!! Thanks for sharing this, I feel happier just reading it.
Oh, I’m glad you love it Emily!
Oh, this is so wonderful and cute! I love it! Such wisdom from such a young age.
Hey Melanie – thanks 🙂 Yes, they sure were wise and offered such good tips.
Kids have soooo much positive energy in their love. It just makes my day to just listen to anything my son says. We indeed have so much to learn from them. 😊
So true. I think this post taught me to listen more to kids and really think about what they say. We sure can learn a lot.
I hope my kids are this emotionally intelligent when they come to this age and beyond! Beautiful 💙
I’m sure they will be. I think all kids have something truly special to share with adults 🙂
Wow I absolutely absolutely LOVE this. This is the cutest thing and I love how you put it together. It really just made my day. My 3 year old is sitting next to me so I asked him and he said “taking a bath” hahaha
Oh, I’m so happy to hear you love it! Your little guy sounds like he likes a bit of comfort!! So sweet 🙂
Thanks Sigoni! Taking a bath makes me happy too!! You have a smart boy there 🙂
What a lovely idea for a post. Truly words of wisdom from the little people.
Thanks so much Nadene 🙂 So true!
What a lovely post. Kids have really got it sorted. As adults, we think we know more but we also overcomplicate and miss the simple things.
Thanks Wendy. We certainly are all guilty of overcomplicating things. Those kids are the smart ones when it comes to feelings!
Such profound messages from such young ages! Well Done Yolanda!
They are certainly smart kids with a lot to share 🙂
Oh my CUTENESS!! Thanks for sharing Sarah’s tip on happiness, Yolanda!! Such wise kids.
My favorite has to be “happiness is like eating s giant piece of cake.” Nailed it 🙂
I also love how the advice on how to be happy (after eating the giant piece of cake) is to exercise and make cake!! lol
Hi Molly! Thanks for participating and so happy with Sara’s feedback! What a cutie.
This is beautiful, Yolanda! I smiled while reading the entire post, so you – and the words of these kids – certainly brought me happiness this afternoon. Big takeaways for me were:
“If you feel unhappy, go to someone you trust and share it with them. Think back to when you felt happy and don’t focus on the bad memories.”
“Since happiness is love, I bet if you love a little more, you’ll be happier, too.”
Kids are so wise. <3
Thanks so much Paula! So happy you came across this and that it made you smile! Kids are truly so wise. Thanks for the feedback 🙂