Empathy & Kindness for 5-Year-Old Children: Try-It-Together Challenge

If you want a low-pressure way to work on empathy & kindness for 5 year old children, this activity gives you a concrete place to start. This try-it-together challenge activity keeps empathy & kindness concrete and low-pressure, giving a 5-year-old child a chance to explore the idea through real play and conversation. Use the try-it-together challenge idea to create one calm, realistic moment connected to empathy & kindness: model simple words or actions, acknowledge the social or emotional cue, and let your child participate without requiring a particular response. Treat that as the starting idea, not a script you have to follow perfectly—adapt the pace, materials, and number of turns to your child’s interest.

Quick Activity

For this version, keep only what you need for one clear example. Use the try-it-together challenge idea to create one calm, realistic moment connected to empathy & kindness: model simple words or actions, acknowledge the social or emotional cue, and let your child participate without requiring a particular response. Spend roughly 7-12 minutes noticing, trying, and repeating. The activity is designed to support noticing how another person may feel and practicing small caring actions without pressuring your child to perform.

Related Resources

Looking for more ways to support empathy & kindness beyond this activity? Explore Books for books and stories that reinforce the learning idea through shared reading, conversation, and repeated exposure. For guided local or online learning opportunities, browse Early Learning & Preschool to find early-learning and preschool classes, programs, activities, businesses, or events where children can get guided practice with this learning area.

What This Practices

The value is not in completing the activity perfectly. It is in giving your child repeated chances to notice the same idea in a meaningful setting. Each turn lets you model noticing how another person may feel and practicing small caring actions, then pause long enough for your child to respond in their own way. The focus is not on speed or correctness; it is on giving your child a useful experience with empathy & kindness that is easy to repeat.

What You Need

large paper and jumbo age-appropriate drawing or art materials

How to Do It

Use the try-it-together challenge idea to create one familiar, low-pressure situation connected to empathy & kindness.
Describe what is happening before asking a question. Name the feeling, social cue, relationship, or problem in calm, concrete language.
Model one useful phrase or action, then give space for planning, comparing, explaining, creating, testing, retelling, building, drawing, or teaching the idea back to you. Watching quietly can be a valid first step.
Replay the moment once with a small change so your child sees another possible response or outcome.
End with connection rather than correction. Notice effort, a feeling, a choice, a kind action, or a moment of trying again.

What to Say

Keep your language short and connected to what is happening. You do not need to use every phrase below; choose a few that sound natural in your family.

“Let’s check on our friend.”
“How do you think they feel?”
“They look sad.”
“What might help?”
“That was kind.”
“You brought it to them.”

What to Notice

There is no single response you need to see for the activity to be worthwhile. Look for small signs that your child is engaged with the idea.

If interest fades, stop and try again another time; short positive experiences are easier to repeat.
Your child may show interest through planning, explaining evidence, revising an idea, creating a new example, or using the skill independently in play.
Watching the modeled language or staying near you during the interaction can be meaningful participation, especially before a child is ready to use the words.

Make It Easier

Shorten the activity, model more, and ask for less. Return to a concrete example and complete the first step together before inviting your child to continue.

Try This Next

Keep the successful part the same and change only one thing. Let your child extend the idea independently, invent a new example, compare two approaches, or explain how the activity works.

Use It in Everyday Life

The easiest way to keep learning useful is to let the same idea show up in ordinary moments. Try one of these simple extensions:

Model the exact words you hope your child can eventually use while accepting gestures, partial attempts, and silence.
Name empathy & kindness moments when they happen naturally, without requiring your child to explain or perform a particular response.
Use toys and stories to replay a difficult or interesting social moment later when everyone is calm.

Keep Learning

This is one practical way to revisit empathy & kindness for 5 year old children through short, playful practice. Within Social, Emotional & Relationships, related ideas to explore next include Social Problem Solving, Confidence & Trying, and Friendship & Play With Others. You do not need to work on them all at once; choose the one that naturally connects with what your child enjoyed today. Follow your child’s interest, keep the tone warm and low-pressure, and stop while the activity still feels successful.