I Wouldnt Want to Be a Kid Again
Without a dubiety, 2020 was a difficult year for all of us. For schoolhouse-aged children, navigating the COVID-19 pandemic safely likewise entailed adjusting to virtual learning and distancing from their friends. Only as many students render to the classroom — and as some enter a classroom for the first time — some other hurdle looms. Just like adults, kids will take to acquire to be around other people again, including peers with identities and experiences that differ from their own.
With this in mind, it'due south important to develop strategies to teach kids empathy and kindness early on, specially equally they begin to socialize in person again. Activities like function-playing and reading are simply a few ways to help students connect with their emotions too as the emotions of others. Hither, we've rounded upward a few smashing activities that teach empathy — for kids and adults.
Having story time with younger children or offering new reading material to older children tin can be a keen opportunity for children to learn empathy. If illustrations are used in the story, you can meet if younger kids can name the emotions of the characters' faces. Ask the children how these characters might be feeling and if they have ever felt the same way (scared, excited, etc.). Additionally, let them see that yous are concerned for or connected to the characters as well so they can run into that it's important to care for the well-beingness of others.
For kids who are older, teachers or parents can provide special questions or journal prompts to meliorate sympathize the characters in their books. The questions may ask scholars to imagine what the characters might feel when making different choices or in their current circumstances.
Older Children Tin Write Out Feelings in an Emotion Journal
An emotion journal is a groovy style for kids to begin to connect with their own feelings. Teachers and parents alike can incorporate journal fourth dimension at a sure signal in the 24-hour interval to permit them to write well-nigh their highs and lows.
Children tin share parts of their journal entries with their peers if they are comfortable. Ultimately, writing out their feelings (and maybe sharing them with others) allows them to learn to express themselves healthily. If kids discuss their feelings — or let them out in a healthy way — they tin begin to build empathy by relating to each other.
Random Acts of Kindness or Volunteering Will Encourage Kids to Show Empathy
Doing random acts of kindness or taking part in a volunteer experience volition assist kids learn to think most other people'southward feelings, and perhaps put them ahead of their ain. Teachers or parents can create a jar or nautical chart where a student can runway ane act of kindness completed during the week.
It'south also great for children to discuss how being kind makes people feel expert as opposed to bullying or mean acts that make people feel bad. Their behavior can be reinforced also by talking about how volunteering or the human action of kindness made them feel equally well. Likely, they volition exist excited and happy that something they did helped someone else.
Children Can Create 'Feelings Collages' to Learn Emotions
For younger kids, especially those who are shy and quiet, creating a "feelings collage" will aid them express their emotions. With this unique collage, they can learn to read faces, trunk linguistic communication, and the emotions of others as well.
Children can cutting and glue pictures from magazines onto poster boards or structure paper. These pictures would have people expressing any kind of feeling (happiness, sadness, fear, etc.). Kids could even label the images they mucilage with a feeling word, and, later on, share with their peers if desired. The collages can be used at school or home to practice identifying and labeling feelings. If they want to actually get creative, kids tin try their paw at creating drawings of different people with various emotions.
Imaginative Roleplay Helps Students See Emotions in Real Life
Roleplaying allows kids to meet circumstances from a completely dissimilar perspective than their own. Teachers or parents can encourage children to step into the shoes of someone different from them, asking them well-nigh different scenarios like, What if yous were at a new school without whatsoever friends? or If you saw someone getting bullied, what would y'all practise — and how would you experience?
While watching someone deed out a "part," other kids could chime in about the faces or torso linguistic communication of the person. This allows them to learn to read people better, which can be a major pro in the future as an adult. Roleplaying like this really helps put circumstances into perspective and fifty-fifty helps alter behaviors. Plus, younger kids love to play pretend, so it's a win-win!
Teachers and Parents Should Model Empathy to Kids
You've certainly heard of the maxim, "Do as I say, not as I do." That will certainly not help teach empathy. While kids may pick up some good habits that are taught past parents, teachers, and other say-so figures, children model what they run across, fifty-fifty if the adult isn't enlightened that they're being observed. Kids are ever paying attention, and so it'due south of import to model empathetic behavior every bit much equally possible.
For example, teachers should exist mindful of their interactions with other adults whether in-person or on screen. Parents should exist careful not to snap at or belittle each other or their children at dwelling. While trying to completely avert conflict is impossible, how we speak to and treat each other matters.
Resources Links:
- "Developing Empathy: 8 Strategies & Worksheets for Condign More than Empathetic" via Positive Psychology
- "20+ Strategies for Pedagogy Empathy" via Pathway 2 Progress
- "Empathy Activities" via Education Development Eye
- "5 Activities for Building Empathy in Your Students" via Brookes Weblog
Source: https://www.symptomfind.com/health/activities-that-teach-empathy?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740013%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex
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