12 Ways to Teach Kids About Compassion + GIVEAWAY

Disclosure: I am part of the PTPA Brand Ambassador Program with Harvest Time and I received compensation as a part of my affiliation with this group.  The opinions on this blog are my own.  Please see my disclosure policy.

Do You Have Compassionate Kids?

Honestly… it’s only been very recently that I’ve been concerned with teaching my kids principles of life.  I guess I’ve always just assumed that they would learn by example.  We would address principles like honesty, courage, and compassion as these issues arose in our everyday life.  And that if I led a “good life,” they would follow suit.  (Or maybe it’s because I’ve been so distracted with just getting through each day – changing diapers, potty training, and dealing with picky eating and special needs instead!)  But now as my kids are growing up (yes, 2, 5, and 7 years old is TOTALLY growing up), I am seeing the importance of specifically addressing and working on these principles that will guide them.  To give them a better foundation while they are young.  Since I believe it’s one of the most important principles, I decided to start with compassion.  Here are some fun ways to get kids learning about compassion that I’ve found in my research…

12 Ways to Teach Kids Compassion

• Play an Emotions Game – Help your children understand emotions with a DIY Emotions Matching Game.
• Role Playing – Give kids scenarios that they can act out to see how they might use compassion in their everyday lives.  Here are some ideas from Meaningful Mama.
• Make an “I Will…” Board – Write out some “I Will…” statements for your family on your dry erase board.  Or make a special board just for them.
• Let the Kids Pick a Charity – Have the kids help choose a different charity for your family to support each month.  Here is a list of kid-friendly charities to choose from.
• Visit & Give to the Elderly and/or Disabled – Let your kids experience people of other generations and abilities.  Maybe bake some cookies for the elderly at your local nursing home.
• Do a Kindness Challenge – Make a plan to do some kindness for others.  Find inspiration from the 14 Days of Loving-Kindness Challenge at The Good Long Road.
• Organize a Kids Event for Charity – Have the kids help organize a fun event to raise money for their favorite charity.  Check out this cool Santa Letter Writing Party idea from East Coast Mommy!
• Try Some Modified Activities – Help your children better understand those who are disabled by having them try some modified activities like painting with just their mouths, exploring braille, or wearing earplugs to simulate deafness.
• Participate in a Food Drive – Talk with your kids about hunger, and let them help collect dry and canned goods for your local food bank.
• Donate Clothes, Toys, and Books – Have the kids regularly go through their toys, books, and clothes to donate their unused/unwanted ones to those in need.
• Pick Another Family Service Project – Check out the blog Pennies of Time for lots of great (and easy!) service projects you can do with your kids.
• Read a Children’s Book! – Harvest Time Partners’ The Principles of Our World is a series of children’s books each focusing on a different important life principle.  They have a book specifically about the Principle of Compassion that we love.

More About The Principles of Our World: Compassion Book:

Sure I talk to my kids about helping others, but I was actually surprised to learn that my kids had no idea what the word compassion meant.  And ya know, like many abstract terms, it’s a hard word to define for a kid.  So I was happy to refer to a children’s book for help.  Plus it makes it more fun for the kids, too!

I thought breakfast would be a great time to read our Principles of Our World books.  The kids love being read to while they eat and wait for the school bus in the morning.  And I think it’s a great way to start their day on a positive note.  We decided to start with the Principle of Compassion.

The kids love the way that “Compassion” is personified in a kid-friendly character that the children in the book can call on in difficult social situations.  I love that it includes a “What Would YOU Do?” page with real-life scenarios to get the kids thinking about how they could use compassion in their daily lives.

The book makes the principles of compassion so much easier to explain and for them to understand.  And the kids are actually really excited to go on to the other books in the series.  Here we come honesty, courage, teamwork, and sacrifice!

Win a Set of Principles of Our World Books!

So tell me; how do you teach your kids life principles like compassion?  Have you found any tricks that make it easy or fun? 

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Disclosure: I am part of the PTPA Brand Ambassador Program with Harvest Time and I received compensation as a part of my affiliation with this group.  The opinions on this blog are my own.  Please see my disclosure policy.