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Empathy Explorers: A Kindness Quest

Lesson Plan

Empathy Explorers: A Kindness Quest Lesson Plan

Students will be able to identify and describe different emotions in themselves and others, and understand how showing empathy can help when someone is doing a task they don't prefer.

Developing empathy helps students understand and connect with their peers, fostering a more positive and supportive classroom environment. It also teaches them to consider others' feelings, especially when facing tasks they find challenging or unenjoyable, leading to increased cooperation and reduced resistance to unpreferred tasks.

Audience

Kindergarten Students

Time

30 minutes

Approach

Through interactive activities and discussion, students will explore emotions and practice empathy.

Materials

Small whiteboards or paper for each student, Dry-erase markers or crayons, Emotion Cards (happy, sad, angry, frustrated, excited, calm), Empathy Explorers Warm Up, Helping Hands Scenario Game, Empathy Discussion Prompts, and Empathy Cool Down

Prep

Prepare Materials

10 minutes

Step 1

Warm Up: How Do You Feel?

5 minutes

  1. Begin with the Empathy Explorers Warm Up.
    2. Ask students to show on their whiteboards or paper how they feel right now using a simple drawing or a word.
    3. Briefly discuss a few student responses, highlighting that everyone has different feelings.

Step 2

Introduction to Empathy

5 minutes

  1. Explain that empathy is about understanding how someone else is feeling, even if you don't feel the same way.
    2. "Sometimes, we might see a friend who is feeling sad because they have to clean up toys, and they really don't want to. Being empathetic means trying to understand why they feel sad and thinking about how we can help them."

Step 3

Game: Helping Hands Scenarios

10 minutes

  1. Lead the Helping Hands Scenario Game.
    2. Read a scenario to the students where a friend is struggling with an unpreferred task.
    3. Discuss: "How do you think our friend is feeling?" and "What could you say or do to show them you understand and help them?"

Step 4

Discussion: Sharing Feelings

5 minutes

  1. Transition to the Empathy Discussion Prompts.
    2. Use prompts like: "Tell me about a time you felt a certain way (e.g., happy, sad, frustrated). What made you feel that way?" and "What can you do when you see a friend who is feeling frustrated about doing something they don't want to do?"
    3. Emphasize that it's okay to feel different emotions, and it's kind to try and understand others.

Step 5

Cool Down: Empathy Pledge

5 minutes

  1. Conclude with the Empathy Cool Down.
    2. Have students draw a picture of themselves showing kindness or empathy to someone. Discuss their drawings.
    3. Lead a simple 'Empathy Pledge' together: "I will try to understand how my friends feel, and I will be kind."
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Slide Deck

Welcome, Empathy Explorers!

Today, we're going on a kindness quest to understand feelings!

Welcome students and introduce the day's topic: exploring feelings and kindness. Explain that this is a safe space to share.

How Do YOU Feel Today?

Draw how you feel right now! Happy? Sad? Excited? Tired?

Guide students through the warm-up activity mentioned in the lesson plan. Ask them to draw how they feel and discuss their responses. Connect it to different feelings.

What is Empathy?

Empathy means trying to understand how someone else is feeling, even if you feel differently.

Introduce the concept of empathy in simple terms. Use the example of a friend being sad about an unpreferred task. Emphasize understanding and helping.

Helping Hands Scenario Game!

Let's play a game!

  • Listen to a story about a friend.
  • How do you think they feel?
  • What can you say or do to help them?

Explain the rules for the Helping Hands Scenario Game. Read scenarios to the students and guide the discussion on how to show empathy and help.

Sharing Our Feelings

When have you felt happy, sad, or frustrated?

What can we do to help a friend who feels frustrated about a task?

Facilitate a discussion using the prompts from the lesson plan. Encourage students to share their own experiences and ideas for showing kindness.

Show Your Kindness!

Draw a picture of yourself showing kindness to someone!

Let's make an Empathy Pledge together:
"I will try to understand how my friends feel, and I will be kind."

Lead the cool-down activity. Have students draw their ideas of kindness and take the Empathy Pledge together.

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Warm Up

Empathy Explorers Warm Up: How Do You Feel?

Instructions:
1. Each explorer gets a small whiteboard or a piece of paper and a marker/crayon.
2. Think about how you are feeling right now. Are you happy, sad, excited, tired, or maybe a little bit sleepy?
3. Draw a picture of your face showing that feeling, or write one word to describe it.
4. Hold up your whiteboard/paper when you are done!

Share Time:
* Let's look at all the different feelings! Who would like to share their feeling and why they feel that way today?
* Teacher Note: Acknowledge and validate all feelings. Point out that it's normal to feel different ways, and we can still be kind to each other no matter how we feel.




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Game

Helping Hands Scenario Game: What Would You Do?

Instructions:

  1. We are going to think about our friends and how we can help them.
  2. The teacher will read a short story about a friend who is doing something they don't want to do, and is feeling frustrated or sad.


  3. After the story, we will talk about:
    • How do you think our friend is feeling?
    • What could you say or do to show them you understand?
    • How could you help your friend with the task, even if you don't like it either?

Scenario Cards (to be read by teacher):

--- CUT ALONG THE DOTTED LINE ---

Scenario 1: Block Cleanup Blues

*Lily loves building with blocks, but now it's time to clean up, and all the blocks are on the floor! She has a frown on her face and is moving very slowly. She says,

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Discussion

Empathy Explorers: Sharing Our Feelings Discussion

Instructions: Let's talk about our feelings and how we can be kind to others.

Discussion Prompts:

  1. Can you tell me about a time when you felt happy? What made you feel that way?






  2. Can you tell me about a time when you felt sad? What made you feel that way?






  3. Have you ever felt frustrated? Maybe when you had to clean up toys, or do something you didn't want to do? What did that feel like?






  4. When you see a friend who looks sad or frustrated, what can you do or say to help them feel better?






  5. Why is it important to try and understand how our friends are feeling, even if we feel differently?






Teacher Note: Encourage all students to share. Validate their feelings and reinforce the idea that understanding others helps us be kinder friends, especially when they are struggling with tasks they don't enjoy.

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Cool Down

Empathy Explorers: Show Your Kindness Cool Down

Instructions:

  1. On your paper or whiteboard, draw a picture of yourself showing kindness or empathy to someone else. You can draw yourself helping a friend who is sad, sharing with someone, or comforting someone who is frustrated.
  2. Think about what you learned today about understanding feelings and being kind.













Share and Pledge:

  • Who would like to share their drawing and tell us how they are showing kindness?

  • Let's make an Empathy Pledge together:

    "I will try to understand how my friends feel,

    and I will be kind.

    I will try to help my friends, especially when they need it most!"

Teacher Note: Reinforce the main takeaways about empathy and kindness. Thank students for their participation.

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