A Feelings Walk
Take a walk around the neighborhood or at a local park. Be on the lookout for how people are feeling. Watch for facial expressions and body language. Talk through your observations about how they’re feeling with your child. See if they agree! Then, ask some questions like: What might that person want? What might that person need?
Reel Sympathy
Schedule a family movie night so that you can specifically watch for feelings and emotions. Let everybody know that you’d like them to point out how the characters in the show are feeling and that there will be periodic pauses to discuss Empathy. As emotions are identified, invite one another to empathize by sharing about a time they felt that way or imagining how they might be feeling and what they might want or need at that moment.
Our Emotions Pizza
As a family, draw a large circle on a piece of paper and then divide it into segments like a pizza. In each slice of pizza (towards the center of the circle), write different emotions, especially trickier ones to navigate such as frustration, loneliness, anxiety, boredom, sadness, anger, etc.. Then, in the middle of each slice, draw a picture of what each emotion might look like for a family member. Clenched hands? Hair twirling? Crying? Finally, on the outside of the wheel write down tools or strategies that each member may use when feeling that emotion such as wrestling with a pillow, listening to happy music, asking for a hug, laying under a pile of blankets, taking deep breaths, drinking water, etc..
Now when you practice Empathy and notice another member of the family feeling a strong feeling, you “give them a slice” and recommend tools to help them take care of themselves!
