10 Kindness Games to Teach Empathy

 Teaching kindness and empathy doesn’t have to feel like a long drawn out lesson. It  can be playful and engaging, through games using what you already have at home or in the classroom.

Whether you’re a parent, teacher, auntie, or uncle, you’ll appreciate our FREE “30 Days of Playful Kindness” printable. It is a no prep calendar of fun, simple acts of kindness and empathy for young children. These low-prep kindness activities for kids are perfect for helping children ages 3–8 build emotional intelligence. Something that’s sadly missing in nurturing children today.

Here are 10 simple and fun empathy-building games you can easily weave into your routine today.

Builds: Emotional awareness and perspective-taking
What you need: Emotion cards or facial expression pictures (or just your imagination!)
How to play: One child acts out a feeling (like sad, excited, or nervous), and the others guess. Then, talk briefly about a time they’ve felt that way or a time they made someone else feel that way.
Why it works: Kids practice recognizing emotions in themselves and others. This is an essential empathy skill.

Builds: Noticing and choosing kindness
What you need: An action list (or verbal instructions)
How to play: Direct kids to “find” or perform acts of kindness around the home, classroom, or playground (e.g., share a toy, help clean up, issue a compliment).
Why it works: It turns kindness into a fun act and helps kids identify daily opportunities to show concern for others.

Builds: Connection and positive social interaction.
What you need: Kind words.
How to play: One child gives a compliment to another. The receiver says “thank you” and then gives a compliment to the next person. Keep it going in a circle until complete.
Why it works: Shows the power of positive words, as children recognize how they and others feel after hearing kindness.

Builds: Moral reasoning and empathetic decision-making.
What you need: Scenario cards (or your own storytelling prompts).
How to play: Suggest simple scenarios such as: “What would you do if your friend dropped their popsicle?” Allow kids to act it out or talk it through.
Why it works: Helps kids practice putting themselves in similar situations as others.

Builds: Awareness, connection, and quick-kindness thoughts.
What you need: Music player and space to spread out. 
How to play: Dance to music. When the music stops, call out a kind action (give someone a “high five”, pretend to hold the door open for someone, give a compliment). Kids do it quickly before the music resumes.
Why it works: Heightens energy to practicing kind behaviors.

Builds: Active listening and emotional attunement
What you need: A mirror or another person.
How to play: One child makes a facial expression in front of a mirror, or in front of another person, while that person mimics the expression. Talk about what the face might be feeling.
Why it works: Helps improve the notification and interpretation of others’ emotions.

Builds: Peer relationships.
What you need: A soft ball
How to play: Each child tosses the ball to another. Before tossing, the child says something kind about the person they’re passing it to.
Why it works: It promotes recognition of good character in others, and expressing it aloud.

Builds: Perspective shifts and emotional reasoning.
What you need: A short story or picture book.
How to play: After sharing the story, ask:  What would you feel or do differently if you were (name a character in the story)?”, “Why do you think (name a character) felt (feel in the blank)?”
Why it works: It provides a real life approach to empathy by providing opportunities for kids to mentally switch roles.

Builds: Teamwork
What you need: Random household or classroom items.
How to play: Teams complete a simple task-assembly style (ig. packing grooming backpacks or lunches for those in need). Increase the joy and energy by having the kids perform the task as quickly as possible while helping one another.
Why it works: It reinforces the joy of helping and creates a team mindset.

Builds: Initiatives to be kind
What you need: Kindness Coupons
How to play: Give each child a number of  “kindness coupons” they can use on that day. Coupons labeled: “I’ll help with dinner,” “I’ll let someone go first,” or “I’ll share my toy.” The kids can pick which coupon they want to use. Designate a jar for placing the coupons. 
Why it works: It empowers kids to initiate their own kind actions.

We don’t have to force empathy. Children learn best through play and when empathy is practiced in playful ways, it is adopted organically. These kindness games teach social-emotional skills in a joyful and natural way.

If you’re trying to raise kind, emotionally intelligent kids, without yelling and lecturing, these games are a great place to start.

Grab our FREE printable: “30 Days of Kindness”: A no-prep calendar of fun, simple acts of kindness and empathy for young children.

If you have ideas on how to raise kind and emotionally intelligent kids, please share with the community. We would love to hear from you.