Today I watch my child accidentally step on our dog’s tail
We just recently got this dog and she’s only about four months old
Little puppy how old in pain and my son didn’t even notice
This was the first moment that I realized that like everything else…
I need to teach my kids to be empathetic
Is empathy for kids even a thing if it isn’t natural?
But I don’t remember learning how to treat others with empathy so I had no idea where to start when teaching my own kids
But one of my big goals and my homeschooling journey is the equipment kids with all the skills they need to be amazing adults
So I needed to learn how to teach empathy for kids to begin to understand
What Does Empathy Look Like For Kids?
Empathy is being able to know how someone else is feeling
From a development standpoint, this begins around the age of 2
Starting to learn empathy is more difficult before they are developmentally able to understand it
Empathy has two parts
- Making an effort to understand other people
- Sharing an emotion with other people
This could be your child running up to you and giving you a hug when you look sad
Or laughing and having fun because you are laughing and having fun
An example of empathy for kids is if maybe your child is excited because their friend is excited to get a new toy
They are not getting anything but they are sharing that emotion with their friend
Another part of the city is making an effort to understand other people
Or ”putting yourself in someone else’s shoes”
This could be an introduction to good Sherry habit
Understanding that your friends will be upset if you take the toy from their hands
And then not doing it because you don’t want to make them upset
What are the best ways to start teaching empathy for kids is by understanding every little way that they can practice empathy
Empathy vs Sympathy
Sometimes empathy and sympathy are mixed up
Empathy is when you are looking at a situation from someone else’s point of view
You are sharing their emotions and you’re sharing how they feel or would feel in that moment
Sympathy is understanding something from your perspective
That is when you feel bad that someone is going through a bad time but you don’t necessarily share the emotion
Sympathy is great but ever see is a much deeper skill and should be the ultimate goal
The Importance of Empathy in Child Development
My story is just one example of why empathy for kids is so important in child development
I have twin 3-year-olds
They are constantly mean to each other
They are not usually mean to the dogs on purpose, but they still need to pay attention to the world around them
Stepping on the dog’s tail doesn’t hurt less when it’s an accident
Empathy is also important in any relationship
Doesn’t matter if it’s family friends or strangers
No one wants to be around someone that is constantly hurting them and not caring about them
Empathy also encourages tolerance and acceptance of others which is very important in our world
Empathy for kids is important because:
- It can help build a connection with others
- Regulates emotions, and
- Promote helpful behaviors
Empathy for kids could also prevent bullying, help them make friends, and help them receive help from others
Empathy is one of the most important pieces of Social Development which is why it is so important for development in general
How Do You Explain Empathy To a Child?
Like many complex ideas, Explaining empathy for kids could be complicated
Thankfully, we don’t need to explain it
We can say that empathy is when you’re able to share and understand the emotions and feelings of other people
Defining empathy is not the important part
Practicing empathy for kids is the important part
Teaching Empathy To Kids
Empathy is a skill
I like any skill, it can be taught and practiced
Cognitive abilities in life experiences develop over time
The most efficient strategies to use depend on your child’s age, But I’m going to focus on the preschool years
When kids are under 5 years old, describing and labeling is the most important
First, help kids to understand what emotions are for themselves
When they’re screaming and angry…
Label it
Tell them that you see that they’re angry
When they are having fun…
Label it
Tell them that you see that they are happy and having fun
Just like learning any other part of language, kids will learn when you repeat those words and labels to them
Over and over again
Reading is another great way to teach empathy for kids
There is a story for every emotion, and there are emotions and stories that don’t even talk about emotions
Children are also very curious about the world around them
Talk about what you are seeing when you go out
Do you see another child angry at the grocery store?
Talk about it
Label it
Maybe make a game about what they think that child is angry about
There are opportunities all the time to work on empathy for kids
The first step is just paying attention to the opportunities that come up every day
Empathy Activities For Kids
One of the main things that kids do is watch how you present yourself in life
Whether you like it or not they are going to monkey see monkey do everything you do
Especially if you make a big deal out of it
That is why kids tend to copy curse words more than regular language
You put a lot more emotion and do that curse word when you stub your toe!
Take advantage of kids constantly Watching You by making a point the model empathy every chance you get
Another empathy for kids activity is coloring pages
The more they can interact with the emotions here are their labels and understand what they look like,
The easier empathy will come to them
Empathy cannot be a once in a while saying if you want your kids to learn
They need to interact with the concept over and over again in many different forms
This is one of my favorites!
Have your kids help out at home and in the community
If it’s time for you to start cleaning up, have them help you
If there is a need in the community, get your family involved in meeting that need
And every time they are successful
Praise it
Empathy for kids to be something that they strive for because they know it’s something they should be proud of
And it’s something that you will be proud of them when they do
Empathy Books For Kids
The nice thing about using books to teach empathy for kids
Is that you can actually use any book
If you’re teaching little ones, make sure there are a lot of pictures
The pictures will be more important than the actual story unless the story is about a 50 specifically
If you’re using just any book, look at the pictures
And ask your child a lot of questions
Ask them how they think that characters feeling
Ask them why they think that
And ask why they are feeling that
What happened to them
Just asked a lot of questions about those pictures
If you want a book specifically about empathy for kids…
here are some examples:
- You, Me, And Empathy
- The Invisible Boy
- All Are Welcome
- Little Blue Truck
- Be Kind
- I Am Enough
- Kindness Rocks
- THE RABBIT LISTENED
- EMPATHY IS YOUR SUPERPOWER: A BOOK ABOUT UNDERSTANDING THE FEELINGS OF OTHERS
- INSPIRE KINDNESS: A RHYMING READ ALOUD STORYBOOK FOR KIDS ABOUT KINDNESS AND EMPATHY
- THOSE SHOES
- BEING KIND: LESSON ON KINDNESS, EMPATHY, AND INCLUSION
One of my favorite thing to do is to take my kids to the library to pick out some books
And I read those books every night before bed
If they have a specific favorite, I may buy it
But we try to utilize the library as much as possible
Don’t Make Empathy for Kids Stressful
It is very important for kids to learn empathy and practice it
But it’s also very important not to make it become a stress
If you are stressing too much about how to teach empathy for kids, then it becomes less fun for both of you
You will have a harder time implementing any strategy, and your kids will resist as much as possible
Make it fun and enjoyable, just like all other learning!
Empathy should be positive in their mind
I always encourage lungs to make learning fun because there is no better motivation
Making baby steps forward is better than trying to make big steps and stumbling
I am curious, what is your favorite way to teach empathy for kids?
Let me know in the comments!
