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Empathy Explorers

Lesson Plan

Empathy Explorers Lesson Plan

Students will learn to recognize others’ emotions and practice caring responses through story, visuals, and role-play to build empathy.

Early empathy fosters social-emotional growth, kindness, and positive peer relationships. Teaching empathy in Pre-K supports self-regulation and inclusive classroom culture.

Audience

Pre-Kindergarten

Time

10 minutes

Approach

Story, visuals, and role-play practice empathy.

Materials

Emotion Picture Cards, Emotion Felt Board, The Color Monster Storybook, and Safety Bear Plush Toy

Prep

Prepare Materials

5 minutes

Step 1

Direct Instruction

2 minutes

  • Gather children on the rug and show The Color Monster Storybook
  • Read pages highlighting feelings (happy, sad, angry, scared)
  • Define empathy: “Feeling with someone when they’re happy or sad”
  • Differentiate: Use gestures and point to each emotion picture for ELLs and visual learners

Step 2

Guided Practice

4 minutes

  • Display Emotion Picture Cards one at a time
  • Ask: “How do you think this person feels?” Have children name the emotion
  • Model empathic response: “I see you’re sad. I can give you a hug.” Place matching felt piece on Emotion Felt Board
  • Invite volunteers to suggest caring responses and add their felt pieces
  • IEP/504 support: Seat students near teacher; prompt with sentence starters

Step 3

Independent Practice

3 minutes

  • Give each child a moment with the Safety Bear Plush Toy
  • Prompt: “Your bear looks scared. What can you do to help?”
  • Children practice saying: “It’s okay, I’m here” or offer a pretend hug
  • Circulate to encourage quieter students and provide verbal cues
  • ELL support: Provide simple sentence frames on a card

Step 4

Closure & Reflection

1 minute

  • Gather in circle and have children share one way they showed empathy today
  • Reinforce: “You helped someone feel better—that’s empathy!”
  • Encourage daily practice and praise each effort
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Slide Deck

Empathy Explorers!

Let’s learn to understand feelings!

Welcome the students and introduce the lesson. Gather children on the rug. Say: “Today we are Empathy Explorers! We will learn how to feel with our friends.” Show excitement and point to the title slide.

Feelings with Color Monster

[Image: The Color Monster Storybook]

Hold up The Color Monster Storybook. Read pages showing different colored emotions. Ask children to name each feeling as you turn the pages. Emphasize the words: happy, sad, angry, scared.

What Is Empathy?

“Feeling with someone when they are happy or sad”

Define empathy in simple words. Say: “Empathy means feeling with someone. If they are sad, you feel a bit sad too because you care.” Use gestures to point to heart. Pause and let children repeat.

How Do They Feel?

[Image: Emotion Picture Card]

Show an Emotion Picture Card on screen or hold up a large card. Ask: “How do you think this person feels?” Call on volunteers. After they name the feeling, ask: “What can we do to help?”

Show You Care

[Image: Safety Bear Plush Toy]

Bring out the Safety Bear Plush Toy. Model: “Oh, Bear looks scared. I can say, ‘I’m here. It’s okay.’” Invite children to come up, hold the bear, and practice caring words or a pretend hug.

Great Job, Explorers!

You helped someone feel better!

Gather in a circle. Invite each child to share one way they showed empathy today (“I gave a hug,” “I said it’s okay”). Praise their efforts: “Great job helping others feel better!”

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