What these games build

Perspective-taking means working out what someone else knows, wants or feels. Empathy adds caring about it. In plain terms, children practise asking 'How would this look to them?' and 'What might help?'

Using made-up characters keeps it safe. Children can discuss a puppet who was left out without anyone in the room feeling blamed.

Game 1: Whose Shoes?

Players: 4-30 in small groups, ages 6-11. Time: 15-20 minutes. Materials: three or four paper cut-out shoes per group, each labelled with a character (for example: the new pupil, the teacher, the child who lost the race, the dog).

The adult reads a short invented scene, such as a class sports day where it starts raining. Each child takes a shoe and says one sentence in role: what their character notices, wants and feels. Then everyone swaps shoes and repeats with a different character.

• Easier (ages 5-6): use two characters only and ask just 'How do they feel?'

• Harder (ages 9-11): ask each character to say what they do not know that another character does.

• Close by asking which character was hardest to imagine and why.

Game 2: Same Picture, Two Stories

Players: pairs, ages 6-11. Time: 10-15 minutes. Materials: a set of picture cards showing everyday scenes (a spilled drink, a child alone on a bench, two children holding one toy); magazine cut-outs or simple drawings work.

Each pair gets one picture. One child tells what happened from the point of view of one person in it; the partner tells it from another person's view. They then agree on one kind action that would help both.

Easier: the adult suggests the two characters. Harder: add a third version from someone who arrived late and only saw the end.

Tips for adults

Praise careful guesses rather than neat answers. When children disagree about a character's feelings, treat that as useful: it shows that people read situations differently. Avoid turning the games into lessons about specific children's behaviour.

Picture books are a useful source of scenes, because children already know the characters and can compare how different characters would tell the same page. Families can play Whose Shoes? with a favourite story at bedtime, asking a child to retell one moment as the villain, the sidekick or a character in the background. In class, a short weekly slot of ten minutes is enough to keep the habit going. Over time, children begin to ask the perspective questions themselves, without prompting. Keep a small bank of scenarios ready so the games can start quickly and do not drift towards real events in the room.

Key points

• Use puppets, stories and pictures so no real child is under discussion.

• Ask what a character knows, wants and feels.

• Welcome different interpretations of the same scene.

• End with one kind action children could take.

Ready-made resources

Printable session plans and materials for this topic are available from EduTrend Contents: G4C-130 Feelings & Friends Games.

Photos: saeed karimi, Ruslan Horovyi / Unsplash