How to Teach Empathy to Preschool Children
Empathy is an important skill in human interaction. Empathy is what allows you to understand and share feelings with the people around you. For instance, if your friend's pet dies, her sadness is something you can grasp and possibly feel. In order to help your child develop into an emotionally mature adult, it is important to begin building empathetic behaviors at a young age.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Talk about feelings with your child. Ask your child how he feels about certain things and link his responses to certain feelings. For instance, if your child laughs when you ask how they feel, you can say, "Oh, you feel very happy!" You can also share your feelings with your child to build his listening skills.
-
2
Use your feelings to help with other lessons. As an example, if your child pulls your dog's tail, instead of simply telling him that behavior is wrong, explain to him that it makes the dog feel sad. Associating emotions with behavior is important for young children.
-
-
3
Praise your child when he behaves in a supportive or empathetic manner. If you see your child say or do something nice, tell him why it was a good thing to do.
-
4
Work on your preschooler's manners. Manners are one of the easiest ways to identify signs of respect and empathy toward others. Your child may not grasp the complexities of human emotion at such a young age, but building good habits now will help him out in the end.
-
5
Identify your child's emotions. For example, if your child cries when his grandparents leave, you can say, "You feel sad because you miss your grandparents." Help your child to put words to important emotions.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Remember that preschool children are by nature self-centered and may not always seem empathetic. If you work with them on empathy and emotions, they will have a much easier time of empathizing once they reach a more mature age.
