I have the privilege today of concluding a 5 part series entitled “How to Cultivate Empathy in  your Child’s Heart”. Four inspiring bloggers have written posts each day this week on the topic. Each shares their unique perspective and method to exploring empathy with children. Links to their articles are at the end of this post.

At the moment, my children could use a little help on matters pertaining to empathy. So I took 3 circumstances that our family has recently encountered, and we decided to switch places through role play.

• We’re going to walk in their shoes.
• We’re going to record the difficulties, frustrations, and emotions associated with each situation.
• Most importantly we want to learn how to respond to our empathy.   How are we going to act differently in the future because of it?

role play #1  –  A Broken Arm

We took some Pre-Wrap that my daughter uses to make headbands and made some casts securing their arms against their waist. The day continued as usual.

Difficulties and Frustrations with a Broken Arm: (in their words…)

• Tough getting dressed
• Even tougher brushing my hair & putting it in a ponytail
• Only having one hand to play video games
• Carrying heavy things like the laundry basket
• Not being able to swim with the other kids.
• Impossible to tie my shoes
• It wasn’t comfortable

What I’ll do next time a friend has a broken arm: I’ll…(kid’s words)

• Help them carry their books and backpack at school
• If we are at the pool, play a game with them that isn’t in the water.
• Open their door or tie their shoes
• Braid their hair for them.
• Say sorry their arm is itchy and you hope they feel better

role play #2  – Being Blind (or physically impaired) 

They took turns covering each others eyes with a scarf. We headed to Target to get school supplies.

Difficulties of a physical impairment like being blind:

• People stared at us.
• You have to ask for a lot of help
• I didn’t know what my brothers were laughing at, and I thought it was me.
• I felt like nobody wanted to play with me.
• It was hard to find the school supplies I needed.

Even with limited vision, she was still able to swat her brothers.

What I’ll do next time I’m with a friend that is physically impaired

• I won’t stare even if they don’t see me. I’ll smile instead.
• I will ask them if they want to play with me because they are a lot of games they can still play.
• I’ll ask them if they need help finding something or getting somewhere.
• If something is funny, I’ll explain what it is, so they don’t think they are being laughed at.

role play #3 No food for Dinner

My youngest swapped out our 3rd role play activity to ‘Having nothing to eat for dinner’. I thought it was an interesting suggestion since so many children in our country experience hunger on a daily basis. That said, only my youngest participated in this one.

Difficulties with having No Dinner:

• I’m starving all the time
• I’m staring at other people’s food, wishing it was mine
• My tummy is making noises

Next time I see somebody who is hungry, I’ll…

• Definitely give them some of my food.
• Say a prayer that God will provide food and make their tummy not hurt.
• Be nice to them because they are probably grouchy.

I participated in this series on empathy because dear friends have walked alongside me through trials, not their own. Their ability to empathize with my various circumstances was seen through overflowing compassion upon me. My soul was ministered to. I want my children to have that type of heart…one that not only finds a way to relate to another, but then responds to it with encouragement, hope or a simple hug.

Check our the other articles in this 5 part series “How to Cultivate Empathy in your Child’s Heart”:

• Day 1 “10+ Ways To Use Emotion Cards To Help Your Child Develop Empathy” at Moments A Day
• Day 2 “Toilet Roll Empathy Dolls With Free Printable” at The Craft Train
• Day 3 “Foster Empathy In Your Kids Through Service” at Pennies of Time
• Day 4 “Exploring Empathy Through Art” at Artchoo
• Day 5 “Teaching Empathy Through Role Play” at The House of Hendrix

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