Empathy is a skill we can practice and get better at. It means imagining how someone else feels and responding in a caring way. As picture book author Anna Dewdney put it, “Empathy is an understanding that other people have feelings, and that those feelings count.” Practicing empathy helps us learn how to engage with the people around us while building social problem solving skills.
When kids take care of living things, such as babies, animals, or plants, they are developing their empathy skills. Empathy is a key skill for many careers where people care for living things. Click the link for more ways to help your child strengthen their empathy skills.