The Little Book of Lykke: Secrets of the World's Happiest People (The Happiness Institute Series)

by Meik Wiking

FIVE WAYS TO ENCOURAGE EMPATHY IN KIDS 1. WALK AND NARRATE: Go for a walk and look for someone in a gray jacket (or whatever you decide). Once you have identified such a person, spend the rest of the walk talking about what you imagine their life is like, based on how they look. 2. DRAW: Draw a face in the middle of a sheet of paper expressing joy, anger, sorrow, or some other emotion, then draw what would make the person feel like that. 3. PLAY: “Feeling of the Week”: Select a feeling, draw or write it on a Post-it, and stick it on the fridge. Then, all week, ask your child to point out this particular feeling when they spot it in themselves or in others. 4. GESTURES: Stand in front of a mirror. Put your arms behind your back and talk, then use your arms to make gestures expressing what you were saying. (This can also be played with two people, where one does the talking and the other the gestures.) 5. MUTE: Play one of your kids’ favorite films but with the sound off. Talk about the facial expressions you see, what they mean, and why the characters may feel this way.