How to instil empathy in young children

Empathy is something that many believe is innate or picked up over time. It is the ability to be able to imagine how someone else is feeling in specific situations and show care towards them. The good news is that empathy is something that can indeed be taught to little ones. Here is some advice from a private school in Belgravia on how to teach empathy to kids.

Be a role model yourself

One of the greatest ways to teach your child anything, is to provide them with the best example possible – seeing you practise what you preach. When you have strong and respectful relationships with others around you and interact with them in kind and caring ways, your child will easily pick up the basic traits of being empathetic. 

Empathise with your child and talk about feelings

If you notice that your child is feeling upset or scared about something, flag it up with them and reassure them that they will be okay and you are there to support them. Talking about their feelings as well as the feelings of others is crucial when it comes to teaching them about empathy. This is because children will need to understand how to respond to others from as young as nursery-going age. 

Validate your child’s feelings

Sometimes when your child is upset or hurt, you will rush to their side and do your best to recover the situation to save them from experiencing pain. However, as sad as it sounds, these feelings are part of life and something they need to experience in order to cope and understand. Validating a child’s difficult feelings helps them understand how to handle them. Telling them that it is okay to feel angry and to take some time out is the best approach to helping your child learn how to deal with big emotions and empathise with others when they are also dealing with difficult feelings.