8 Empathy Activities for Kids to Practise at Home

Empathy activities for kids help children consider another person’s experience and choose a caring response. You can practise during stories, family tasks and ordinary disagreements. Begin with curiosity about what the other person might need.

For example, a friend sitting alone might feel lonely, need a break or simply enjoy what they are doing. Your child can learn to check: “Would you like some company?”

What is the difference between empathy and kindness?

Empathy means trying to understand another person’s experience. Kindness is how we act. A child can understand a sibling’s disappointment and offer company while keeping a toy they are still using.

Harvard’s Making Caring Common project recommends modelling empathy and creating opportunities to consider other perspectives. Try one of these activities together.

Eight empathy activities for kids

1) Pause at a decision in a story

Choose a familiar book. Before a character responds to a problem, ask, “What might they want someone to understand?”

Invite more than one answer. A character who walks away might be angry, embarrassed or unsure what to say. Look for story clues, then ask how another character could check.

2) Design a welcome for an imaginary newcomer

Imagine someone is joining a club your child knows well. Ask what the newcomer would need to find out: where to put a bag, how the rules work or who to ask for help.

Make a short welcome plan or draw a sign. Practise one invitation: “You can sit here if you want.”

3) Ask before helping

Use a pretend situation: you are sorting cards and drop some on the floor. Invite your child to offer help.

Practise asking what would be useful and listening to the answer. In a second round, say, “Thanks, I’d like to do this part myself.” Discuss how respecting that request can also be caring.

4) Try the same problem from two positions

Draw a shared bedroom or play area with two children who want different things. One wants quiet to read. The other wants to play music.

Give each child a sentence explaining what matters to them. Consider headphones, different rooms or separate times. Which option takes both needs into account?

5) Notice the work behind an everyday task

Pick something your family uses, such as a packed lunch, clean sports kit or a repaired toy. Ask what someone had to do to make it available.

Offer a specific thank-you or help with one part next time. Keep the focus on noticing someone’s effort.

6) Make a useful offer

Ask a family member what would make a small task easier. They might want help matching socks, carrying light items or collecting craft materials.

Let your child choose a suitable contribution, then ask whether it helped. Their offer should respond to what the person actually needs.

7) Practise repair with a fictional accident

Tell a short invented story: one child accidentally tears another child’s drawing. Ask what each person might need next.

Discuss an apology and an offer to repair the paper. The other child may still be upset and need time.

8) Listen to a different preference

Choose a low-stakes question, such as which game to play or what makes a good rainy day. Each person gives an answer and explains why.

Ask your child to describe one reason behind someone else’s choice. They can understand it while keeping their own preference.

Adapt the activity to your child

For younger children, use toys, pictures and short scenes. Older children can choose a dilemma from a favourite story. Adjust the questions to your child’s understanding.

Accept different ways of showing care. A child may communicate concern through a practical action, a written note or quiet company. Eye contact and physical affection are not requirements for empathy.

Kindness includes respecting boundaries

Help your child practise both offering care and saying no. They can decline a hug, ask someone to stop teasing or keep a possession they are using.

Try, “I can see you want it. I’m still using it. You can have a turn when I finish.” For more practice with these conversations, see our guide to building social skills in kids.

If someone is repeatedly unkind or unsafe, involve an adult. Understanding another person’s feelings does not require accepting mistreatment.

What if my child acts unkindly?

Address the behaviour, keep everyone safe and help your child repair the harm. Say what happened: “You laughed when he dropped his project.” Model an apology and a helpful action.

If your child turns the incident into “I’m a bad person,” our negative self-talk guide can help you separate responsibility for an action from a global judgment about the child.

Start with one everyday opportunity

Try one activity this week. The Brain Boosters Social Skills Set offers affirmation-and-action prompts around kindness and communication for ages 5–12.