Empathy

What does empathy mean to you?

It's when you understand how someone else feels
Maybe it's like having a superpower to feel what others feel?
How do you show someone you care about their feelings?

When someone around you is really happy and laughing, what happens to you?

Do you start smiling too?
Does their happiness make you feel good inside?
Can happy feelings jump from person to person?

When your friend is sad, how do you know and what do you do?

Do you look at their face or listen to their voice?
Maybe they're crying, or sitting alone, or looking down?
What do you do - give them a hug, ask what's wrong, or play with them?

Do you think animals have empathy like people do?

Does your pet try to comfort you when you're sad?
Do animals take care of each other?
What would a caring dog or cat do?

And do you think robots can have empathy?

Can a robot understand when you're sad?
What would a robot need to have feelings like us?
Would a caring robot give hugs or say nice things?

If you had a superpower to make everyone feel better, what would you do?

Would you give everyone magic hugs?
Would you make everyone laugh?
How would you spread kindness everywhere?

What helps you when you feel sad? What can others do to help you?

Hugs, talking to someone, or cuddling a pet or toy can help you feel better.

What has made you sad recently? What happened to this feeling afterwards? Ask the group for help if you’re unsure.

Feelings, like sadness, don’t last forever. They can fade away like sugar dissolving in tea.

As a group, find two characters on the board who look sad and two who look happy. Describe how they look.

What are emotions? Name some emotions you know.

Emotions are how we react to situations, like joy, sadness, fear, or anger. You may feel them in your whole body or only in a certain part. They help us understand the world.

Pick silently a character on the board and act out their feelings. Let the group guess what feelings they have and which character it is!

Pay attention to their expressions and body language.

Tell us about a character from a book or movie you'd love to be friends with. The group can add their ideas too.

Think about what makes them fun, kind, or interesting.

Describe how the character closest to your Pawn on the board might be feeling.

Think about their face, body language, or what’s happening around them.

Pool floors may be slippery. How can you help younger kids stay safe?

You can remind them to walk slowly.

Make a face that looks like you’re worrying about your friend, then a face that looks like you don’t care. Ask the group to describe how your expression changed.

Focus on your eyebrows, mouth, and overall expression.

Name a water animal. If you were one of them, what would make you happy?

Imagine what they like to do in the water, like swimming or playing.

Strike a flamingo pose! Everyone in the group stands on one leg, places the other leg on their knee, and takes three deep breaths.

Balancing can help you feel calm and focused.

Make a sad face. Let the player sitting next to you copy your expression.

Talk about how it feels to understand someone else’s emotions.

What would you do if you and your friend wanted to do different things in the pool?

You might take turns or combine both ideas into one fun game.

How can we tell that somebody is feeling sad?

Look at their face, body language, or listen to their voice.