Empathy gives us an indication of right and wrong and how to deal with social situations. It’s therefore important for children to develop socially. To be able to practise empathy, your child will need to have an awareness of the different emotions. This is what we call emotional intelligence. If you’d like tips on how to teach your child empathy, take a look at the tips below from one of the UK’s top boarding schools.

Emotions

A good place to start would be their own emotions. Talk to your child about how they feel and the characteristics of the different emotions. This will help them in building their emotional intelligence and being able to understand how others’ feel. They might be able to recognise their own responses to certain emotions in other people, and therefore react accordingly.

Share Examples of Emotions

You can also highlight emotions them when you see them. Explain to your child why their friend might have been crying at school, or why their older sibling is feeling nervous about their exams. It will help them in understanding and remember the kind of body language or behaviour that we display when feeling a certain emotion.

Question Them

To get them in the habit of thinking about others, ask your child questions about the effects of their words and how they think those around them feel by pointing to the different emotions. For instance, you could say something like “how do you think you made your friend feel when you snatched that toy from them?”.

Set a Good Example

To teach children empathy, it’s important that you're empathetic too. You set an example for your child as their parent so you will need to be mindful of how you interact with them and those around you. Start by verbalising consideration for others’ feelings and provide examples of how to be empathetic.

TV Shows

Children’s TV shows can also be educational. They expose them to various social situations and what body language looks like. Lessons are also taught in a fun and engaging way, so they’re easy to follow and learn from.

We hope this gave you some ideas and that you enjoyed reading!

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.