Things You'll Need:
- Time
- Caring
- Cards
- Markers
- Special treats
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Step 1
When you hear of a sick child that your child knows from school, church or playgroups you first need to try to get a little bit more information. Check with the teacher to see if she knows how sick the child is, and if they are at home or in the hospital? Are they contagious? Once you know the scope of the illness you can help your child find the best way to reach out to them. If you are close to the family, you as the parent can call and get these questions answered through them and ask what you could do to help.
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Step 2
Talk to your child about the illness on terms that they can understand. If the illness is a mild one such as the flu, mono or a cold, you can explain that they are just not feeling very good right now. You may encourage your child to pray for their friend and ask them what they would like to do to help them feel better. If the illness is more serious in nature that may be requiring a hospital stay you may need to do some research. Children are naturally very inquisitive, and they will ask all kinds of questions. They will want to know what is wrong? Why? How long will they be there? You may need to read up on the condition or relate information you gained from your step one conversations, this way you will be prepared to answer their questions.
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Step 3
Here are some suggestions of things that you could encourage your children to do for sick friends: Make a homemade get well card and mail or deliver to the friend. Take the sick child a treat (with parent's permission) such as popsicles, ice cream, or soup. Create a get well basket for children with items such as coloring books, crayons, small toys and videos. Take balloons to the sick friend. Help make a meal or order a pizza for the sick family's dinner so that they can take care of their child without having to worry about a meal that night.
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Step 4
Whichever activity that your child chooses to do for their friend, make sure that they understand why they are doing it. They need to learn that these are unselfish acts and are being done to simply help another person feel better. Talk to your child after the activity is completed and ask them how it made them feel to do something nice for their sick friend. You may also ask them how they would feel to be the friend. You are teaching your child both sympathy and empathy by encouraging them to reach out for others. You may start to notice that eventually they will not need prompting from you, they will ask to do something for a sick friend, before you do. This is when you will know that the lesson has really taken hold.
