Empathy Scenarios for Kids

How well do your students empathize with others? Are they able to identify others’ feelings and respond appropriately? When given different situations, children are provided with opportunities to think about real-life examples, enabling them to imagine how others feel. This is a great way for them to broaden their understanding of emotions and develop a greater sense of compassion and care for others. They’ll learn to step into someone else’s shoes and see the world from their perspective, which will help them grow into thoughtful and empathetic individuals.

Try Out an Empathy Game!

If you are looking for a fun way for students to practice empathizing with others, you have come to the right place! Teach Starter has created a social emotional learning game for your first and second-grade students to help them think of what they might do in certain situations.

This game comes with a printable game board, number cube, game pieces and 36 playing cards. To play the game, students will:

• Roll the number cube and move forward that number of spaces.
• Read the directions on the space and move accordingly.  
• If the player lands on a “Pick a card” space, they will choose a card and complete the prompt. 
• The player who gets to the finish line first wins!

Students will practice responding to questions and prompts such as:

• Describe a way to show empathy when someone is crying.
• What can you say to someone that is frustrated?
• How can we stand up for others who are mistreated?

Download and Print Your Empathy Game

If you are ready for your students to use this empathy board game in your classroom, head on over to the green download button and choose from the quick-print color or black and white PDF option or the editable Google Slides file. If choosing the Google Slides document, please note that you will first be prompted to make a copy of the resource to your personal drive before accessing it.

Print the gameboard and cards on cardstock and laminate them for durability. This will allow you to use this game over and over for years to come!

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher in Michigan and a Teach Starter Collaborator. 

More Resources for Your Empathy Lessons!

Don’t stop there! We’ve got more empathy-related activities and resources that cut down on lesson planning time:  

teaching resource

Emotions Worksheet Pack

Help students understand different emotions with this set of five emotions worksheets.

teaching resource

Caring for Others – Printable Empathy Book

Unlock the magic of empathy by giving your students a mini-book about how to connect, understand and make a difference through the simple act of caring.

teaching resource

Piecing Together Emotions – Puzzle Activity

Guide your students to identify the feelings and emotions of others with this social emotional learning puzzle activity.