Reading through the children’s classic “The Ugly Duckling” helps children understand how damaging the words of others can be. The children join the duckling on his quest for acceptance and see the pain he suffers through his eyes. This helps the children understand how hurtful their words are when they bully others. Ask the children specific questions about the duckling’s early life and how the taunting of others made him feel. This prompts children to consider the feelings of the duck and take an active role in understanding the book.
Sometimes a child can’t really empathize with someone until he takes a walk in his shoes. Performing a skit of an average day can help children understand the feelings of others. For example, have one of your students write a script about something that happened recently that left him feeling emotional (either happy, sad, angry or scared). Provide other students with the script and assign them roles. Ask them to act out the situation. After they finish, ask the children how they felt after performing the skit. Taking an active role when trying to understand a situation can help children better empathize with each other.
Part of being empathetic is the ability to recognize the emotional cues of others. Sometimes it’s simple to tell when people are upset because they are crying, but other times the physical cues are much more subtle. Show pictures to your students of people in all sorts of emotional states. Some should be easier to recognize than others. Ask the children to identify the feelings of the person in the picture. Afterwards, put each picture on the projector and explain the correct answer. Show the children the subtle facial signs that allow you to determine the mood set in the picture.
A child can sometimes feel isolated, feeling as if he is the only one in the world who feels a certain way. Showing him that other people share his concerns, hopes and ideas makes him feel less isolated while helping him understand the reach of empathy. Have all your students write their biggest fears down as well as some of the things that make them happy. Ask the children to stand up one at a time and share their writings. Before you move to the next student, ask all sitting children to raise their hands when their classmate mentions something he’s afraid of or something that makes him happy. For example, if he mentions that he’s afraid of spiders, everyone else in the class afraid of spiders should raise their hands.