Empathy is the power to understand and share the emotions, feelings, and viewpoints of others. This is a life skill that in turn develops other social skills in your kids. And the best thing is, this life skill is easy to teach and develop. Teaching empathy to kids makes them kind and practice compassion towards others. It also helps them become self-aware and be in touch with their emotions. 

Why is Teaching Empathy to Children Essential?

1. Empathy helps your children develop their social skills.

2. Empathy helps your children better manage their emotions and feelings. 

2. Empathy makes your children kind, well-adjusted, and pro-social. They work well with others and build strong bonds.

3. Teaching empathy to kids makes them calmer, happy, and mentally strong. 

4. People who lack empathy have poor social skills. They are also prone to antisocial conduct and have mental health issues. 

Ways of Teaching Empathy to Kids

The below tips will help you in teaching empathy to your kids or students.  

1. To See the Other Side

Teach your kids to see the point of view of others and understand the other side. Ask them to look at both sides of the coin. Both sides have different faces but together they make a single coin. The same is the case with number 6/9, they look different on opposite sides. Other optical illusions also help in teaching empathy. Next, ask your kids to apply this concept to other human beings. This can be about liking different games, candies, and then emotions. Maybe their friend is angry because he/she is hurt or annoyed. Ask your kids to imagine what went wrong, that made their friends behave this way. Your kids will learn to deduce the answers and also develop their empathy muscles. 

2. Seize Every Moment

Look out for moments to teach your children about empathy and kindness. These can be watching someone help others or you doing the deeds yourself. Make full use of these situations as they work as practical examples for teaching empathy. This helps you guide your children and not preach and talk down to them. 

3. Teaching Empathy as a Value

Teach empathy as a value that is constant. It does not matter if the other person is different or similar to us. This helps your children remove self-interest while helping others and develop true empathy. This allows them to practice empathy without being partial. It’s the “Zen state” of empathy that helps your children treat all as equals. 

4. Yoga and Mindfulness

Yoga and mindfulness help a lot in teaching empathy to kids. With yoga and mindfulness, your kids learn to be in touch with their emotions. They develop a positive outlook and treat the whole world as one big family. Yoga teaches your kids to have compassion towards all. This includes compassion for self, towards nature, and all others in between. 

5. Do-Overs and Pretend Play 

Kids being kids, tend to make mistakes. Despite teaching empathy, there will be times when they will behave badly. Do not lose your patience, but help your kids rectify their mistakes. These can be done through “do-overs” like saying sorry and making genuine amends. You can also role-play with your kids to avoid these mistakes from happening. Imagine different social situations and assign roles to your kids. Quiz them on how they will act in situations when others need help or sympathy. Then guide them in taking the right decisions with empathy and kindness.

6. Teaching Empathy through Emotions

Teach your kids all about emotions and feelings. When your kids learn more about emotions, they are better able to point these out in others. They comprehend what others are feeling, and learn to manage their responses. Your kids learn to understand what others are going through and develop their empathy skills.

7. Model Empathy for Teaching Empathy

Parents and teachers are the first role models for their kids or students. We have said it before, and will never get tired of saying it again. Nurture your kids and model empathy and compassion for them. They will follow your example and develop empathy and kindness themselves. It is the easiest way of teaching empathy and also the hardest. Easiest as you have only to model the right conduct and be sincere. Hardest since being good all the time takes much effort. But trust us, the results will be great, both for you and your kids. 

Final Thoughts

So, these are some of the ways of teaching empathy to kids. But keep in mind that teaching empathy takes more effort on your part. Your children will learn empathy only when they have seen it themselves. So, practice empathy towards your children to teach them the same.

Empathy is the power to understand and share the emotions, feelings, and viewpoints of others. This is a life skill that in turn develops other social skills in your kids. And the best thing is, this life skill is easy to teach and develop. Teaching empathy to kids makes them kind and practice compassion towards others. It also helps them become self-aware and be in touch with their emotions. 

Why is Teaching Empathy to Children Essential?

1. Empathy helps your children develop their social skills.

2. Empathy helps your children better manage their emotions and feelings. 

2. Empathy makes your children kind, well-adjusted, and pro-social. They work well with others and build strong bonds.

3. Teaching empathy to kids makes them calmer, happy, and mentally strong. 

4. People who lack empathy have poor social skills. They are also prone to antisocial conduct and have mental health issues. 

Ways of Teaching Empathy to Kids

The below tips will help you in teaching empathy to your kids or students.  

1. To See the Other Side

Teach your kids to see the point of view of others and understand the other side. Ask them to look at both sides of the coin. Both sides have different faces but together they make a single coin. The same is the case with number 6/9, they look different on opposite sides. Other optical illusions also help in teaching empathy. Next, ask your kids to apply this concept to other human beings. This can be about liking different games, candies, and then emotions. Maybe their friend is angry because he/she is hurt or annoyed. Ask your kids to imagine what went wrong, that made their friends behave this way. Your kids will learn to deduce the answers and also develop their empathy muscles. 

2. Seize Every Moment

Look out for moments to teach your children about empathy and kindness. These can be watching someone help others or you doing the deeds yourself. Make full use of these situations as they work as practical examples for teaching empathy. This helps you guide your children and not preach and talk down to them. 

3. Teaching Empathy as a Value

Teach empathy as a value that is constant. It does not matter if the other person is different or similar to us. This helps your children remove self-interest while helping others and develop true empathy. This allows them to practice empathy without being partial. It’s the “Zen state” of empathy that helps your children treat all as equals. 

4. Yoga and Mindfulness

Yoga and mindfulness help a lot in teaching empathy to kids. With yoga and mindfulness, your kids learn to be in touch with their emotions. They develop a positive outlook and treat the whole world as one big family. Yoga teaches your kids to have compassion towards all. This includes compassion for self, towards nature, and all others in between. 

5. Do-Overs and Pretend Play 

Kids being kids, tend to make mistakes. Despite teaching empathy, there will be times when they will behave badly. Do not lose your patience, but help your kids rectify their mistakes. These can be done through “do-overs” like saying sorry and making genuine amends. You can also role-play with your kids to avoid these mistakes from happening. Imagine different social situations and assign roles to your kids. Quiz them on how they will act in situations when others need help or sympathy. Then guide them in taking the right decisions with empathy and kindness.

6. Teaching Empathy through Emotions

Teach your kids all about emotions and feelings. When your kids learn more about emotions, they are better able to point these out in others. They comprehend what others are feeling, and learn to manage their responses. Your kids learn to understand what others are going through and develop their empathy skills.

7. Model Empathy for Teaching Empathy

Parents and teachers are the first role models for their kids or students. We have said it before, and will never get tired of saying it again. Nurture your kids and model empathy and compassion for them. They will follow your example and develop empathy and kindness themselves. It is the easiest way of teaching empathy and also the hardest. Easiest as you have only to model the right conduct and be sincere. Hardest since being good all the time takes much effort. But trust us, the results will be great, both for you and your kids. 

Final Thoughts

So, these are some of the ways of teaching empathy to kids. But keep in mind that teaching empathy takes more effort on your part. Your children will learn empathy only when they have seen it themselves. So, practice empathy towards your children to teach them the same.