How To Teach Empathy

Teaching empathy to children is an essential aspect of their social and emotional development. As adults, we can lead by example by demonstrating kindness, understanding and compassion in our interactions. Children are observant and learn from what they see, so modeling empathetic behavior is a powerful way to teach them this valuable skill!

Looking for some ways to teach empathy to your students? Check out some of our suggestions below!

• Open discussions about feelings and emotions are crucial. Encouraging students to express their own emotions and ask questions about how others might feel in various situations can help them develop empathy. You can use books, movies, and real-life scenarios to explore a diverse range of emotions.
• Active listening is another skill that can be nurtured. Teaching students to listen attentively and ask questions that help them understand how the speaker feels is a great way to foster reflection and empathy.
• Perspective-taking is also a valuable skill that can be honed through role-playing and storytelling. Encouraging students to see situations from different perspectives can help them develop a deeper understanding of others’ experiences.
• Engaging in empathy-building games and activities, such as cooperative games, reading books with relatable characters or creating art projects that spark discussions about emotions, can make the learning process enjoyable and interactive. 

How to Use Our Empathy Task Cards

Teach Starter has created a set of 20 task cards to help students develop their sense of empathy. These task cards provide students with a short scenario and ask them a series of questions about empathy. These are perfect for adding to your social emotional learning curriculum!

These task cards could be used in a number of ways. You could:

• Display the task cards on your interactive whiteboard. Have the class read and discuss the scenarios, taking turns to share their ideas.
• Divide the class into groups, then give each group a different scenario. Have the groups read and discuss their scenario, then report back to the class.
• Provide individual students with a scenario. Have the students compose a written reflection about how they might act in the situation they have been given.

Easily Prepare This Walk in My Shoes Activity

If you are ready to use these task cards with your students, head on over to the green download button! Here, you will find the quick-print PDF version (in both color and black and white) as well as an editable Google Slides version. If selecting the Google Slides version, please note that you will first be prompted to make a copy of the resource to your personal drive before accessing it.

Want More SEL Activities?

If you are looking to add more social emotional learning activities to your teaching toolkit, check out some of our suggested resources below!

teaching resource

Printable Empathy Games

Spark empathy in young hearts! Download our set of printable empathy games specially crafted for 1st and 2nd grade students.

teaching resource

Empathy Poster Set

Enhance student understanding of empathy and why it is important with this set of 4 classroom posters.