Cultivating Empathy in Kids: A Yoga & Kindness Class Plan

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, and it is one of the most important qualities we can nurture in young people. 

Research suggests that while human beings have an innate capacity for empathy, it is also a skill that can, and must, be developed through practice and positive guidance. For instance, studies have shown that babies as young as six months old can display empathetic responses, such as reacting to another infant’s cry. Yet, without encouragement and example, these early sparks of understanding may fade rather than flourish.

In today’s world, the importance of teaching empathy has never been clearer. According to a University of Michigan study, college students’ self-reported empathy has declined by roughly 40% over the past three decades. This decrease is reflected in our everyday lives, where misunderstandings, bullying, and emotional isolation can sometimes feel all too common.

 

We all really do care, but in this 21st century, we are often too, busy, too distracted and too overwhelmed to take the time to show this loving kindness to others and to the world.

 

Encouraging children to step into others’ shoes, listen carefully, and respond with kindness can help counter these trends, improving not only their relationships but also their academic and emotional well-being.

Fostering empathy helps young people grow into compassionate leaders and supportive friends. Research from the Making Caring Common project at Harvard shows that when children learn to value empathy, they are more likely to stand up against bullying, resolve conflicts peacefully, and form stronger connections in their communities. 

Empathy also drives collaboration and innovation, qualities our world needs to navigate future challenges successfully.

By introducing empathy through engaging activities, such as the yoga-inspired games and storytelling below, we give children a chance to experience the positive impact their words, gestures, and actions can have on others. We show them that understanding and caring are not passive traits, but active choices. The practice of empathy can transform a group of individuals into a caring community, shaping future generations who value compassion just as much as strength or achievement.

In short, empathy is a gift that keeps on giving; promoting healthier friendships, stronger teams, and kinder societies. As we guide young people to recognise and appreciate the feelings of those around them, we inspire them to carry these lessons forward, making empathy not just a natural response, but a purposeful way of living.

This class is designed as a 90-minute class. If you have a shorter time frame you might need to skip a couple of activities.

 

To Bring:

• Cut out paper hearts, one for each child

• Tape or Band-Aids

• More paper, lots of it

• Writing utensils

• Blindfolds

• Print or write “labels” (see below)

• Print or write “Scenes From A Hat” (see below)

• A Hat :-)

I Care About Sun Dance

 

Stand in a circle. You can start by saying “I care about _______ (animals/the environment/my mum/my friends…)” and do a yoga pose. The pose will then pass in the circle with everyone doing the pose one after the other in a giant Mexican Wave until it returns to you.

Then the next person in the circle will do another pose and say “I care about _______” and will pass that pose around the circle.

Repeat until everyone had a turn leading a pose and declaring what they care about. You can even go around the circle a few times if the group is not too big.

To connect even more to our feelings and to our theme of empathy you can also before starting, invite participants to close their eyes, breathe, and think about why they care about what they’re about to share. Encourage them to connect with the feeling behind “I care about…” rather than just naming something. 

After passing the pose around, ask everyone to reflect briefly on how it felt to share something meaningful, and how it felt to support others by repeating their poses and statements. This helps them recognise that caring is a form of empathy.

5 Minutes

We Are Paper People Yoga Story

Invent a yoga story with lots of characters, animals and objects, doing the poses as the appear.

You can either invent the whole story on your own or pass the storytelling leadership around the circle and co-create it with the children.

Before you start telling the yoga story, cut out paper hearts for each child, plus one extra that you put to the side to use later. Tell them to pay attention to whether the characters in story we are creating are using kind words or mean words.

As you tell the story, every time a character says something mean, have the kids wrinkle up their piece of their paper heart to represent how mean words impact others. Whenever a character says something kind and loving, have the kids smooth out the paper heart and try to repair it.

At the end of the story, try and spread out the paper heart as much as possible and fix it either using tape or Band-Aids. Then, compare the paper heart that was set aside to all to the wrinkled ones while we were storytelling and notice how different they are.

I love using this intervention with children to help them visually see the impact that words can have on others. This is the perfect way to show that it can still have a lasting effect even when you say sorry and apologise for your mean comments and mean behaviours.

It can help establish a community of kindness. I know teachers who have hung the wrinkled hearts up in the classroom as a reminder all year to use kind words with one another.

To bring out our theme of empathy even more, during the storytelling, pause occasionally and ask: “How might these characters feel?” When the mean words arise and hearts are crumpled, ask the children to put themselves in the character’s place -“How would you feel if someone said that to you?” 

When kind words appear and hearts are smoothed, invite them to notice the relief or comfort they would feel receiving kindness. After the story, discuss how empathy means understanding that words and actions leave lasting impressions on others.

10 Minutes

 

Snowball Fight

 

Each person writes a fun fact about themselves AND a favourite yoga pose on a piece of paper, crumples it into a ball, and participates in a “snowball fight” by throwing the paper balls around the room. 

Afterwards, everyone picks up a snowball, does the pose mentioned, reads the fact aloud, and tries to guess who it belongs to.

After everyone reads the fun fact and does the pose, encourage participants to guess whose snowball they picked up, but also ask them to reflect on what it might feel like to share personal facts with others. How does it feel when someone takes an interest in something unique to you? 

Emphasise that truly seeing one another, as individuals with special traits, is an empathetic act.

5 Minutes

 

Emotion Statues

Have everyone stand in a circle. One participant steps into the centre and chooses an emotion (e.g., joy, sadness, worry) and silently expresses it through a yoga-related “statue” pose (like a modified Warrior or Child’s pose that conveys the feeling). The rest of the group copies that pose, trying to really feel and understand the emotion embodied in it.

Ask, “How did it feel to express or copy this emotion physically?” and “What clues helped you guess how they were feeling?” This activity encourages children to pay attention to non-verbal cues and acknowledge that feelings can be communicated, understood, and validated through body language as well as words.

5 Minutes

 

Mirroring Compassion Poses

Have participants pair up and stand facing each other. One person begins by choosing a simple yoga pose (e.g., Tree Pose) while the other person mirrors their posture as closely as possible. After holding the pose, the roles switch.

Encourage the “follower” to pay close attention to their partner’s body language, breath, and subtle adjustments, aiming to capture not just the shape of the pose, but the calmness or strength the leader is displaying. After a few rounds, discuss how mirroring someone’s posture and energy can build empathy by allowing us to “step into their shoes,” and notice how they might feel in that moment.

5 Minutes

Supportive Partner Tree

Divide participants into pairs. Have them stand side-by-side and attempt a Partner Tree Pose by bringing the insides of their arms together and helping each other balance. Encourage them to softly communicate what they need—maybe a steadier hand, a gentler grip, or a slower approach.

After holding the pose, ask, “What helped you find balance together?” and “How did it feel to rely on someone else for support?” Emphasise that empathy can be felt physically—when we steady each other, we learn what it means to support and be supported.

If you have time, you can try the same with a more advanced or acrobatic pose that is more challenging than Tree Pose.

5 Minutes

 

Exquisite Yoga Character

Participants take turns drawing sections of a character on a piece of paper, folding it to conceal their contribution except for a small portion to guide the next artist. 

Once everyone has contributed, unfold the paper to reveal the surprising, collaborative artwork and try to see if you can do what has been drawn as a yoga pose… Even a partner or group pose! Hilarity will absolutely ensue!

When revealing the collaborative artwork, encourage participants to appreciate each unique contribution and consider how each part represents a piece of someone’s imagination. Ask, “What might have inspired each part?” 

When trying the silly yoga pose together, invite them to support one another’s creativity rather than judge it, fostering a sense of acceptance and understanding, a core facet of empathy.

5 Minutes

 

Draw My Life

Participants take turns drawing a timeline of their lives on a large sheet of paper or whiteboard, highlighting significant events and experiences. 

Afterwards, they share their drawings with the group presenting it with yoga poses to match (think Child Pose for when they were in their mum’s womb, Happy Baby pose for when they were a baby, poses for the places they visited and the things they have learned and done etc), offering insights into their journeys and fostering connection through storytelling.

As each participant shares their life timeline and matches it with yoga poses, the group can practice empathetic listening; quietly, supportively, and non-judgmentally. 

Afterwards, discuss how seeing someone’s personal journey can deepen understanding. Ask questions like, “How did hearing about their experiences and seeing their chosen poses help you feel more connected to them?”

10-20 Minutes

 

Blindfolded Drawing

In this game, participants split into pairs. One person is blindfolded and given a pen and paper, while the other describes an object or scene that the blindfolded person must draw without seeing. When the drawing is done, the blindfolded person does a yoga pose foe what they think they have drawn.

Take the blindfold off, check your drawing and compare it with what the artist intended.

Switch roles of course.

Highlight the importance of clear communication, listening, and patience. After the reveal, ask the pair how it felt to trust someone else’s guidance without seeing. 

Emphasise that empathy often involves guiding others gently and understanding their perspective. 

Ask the describer, “How did you know what to say so your partner wouldn’t feel frustrated?” and the drawer, “How did it feel relying entirely on someone’s verbal cues?” This draws attention to the empathetic act of meeting people where they are.

This activity also increases communication and active listening skills.

5 Minutes

Empathy Charades

Make labels for the kids to stick on their foreheads. 

The labels can have on them:

1. Agree with everything I say

2. Help me with everything

3. Ignore me

4. Disagree with me

5. Hug Me

6. Compliment me constantly

7. Speak to me as if I were a small child

8. Act like I’m not very smart

9. Treat me like I’m famous

10. Only respond in questions

11. Laugh at everything I say

12. Talk over me constantly

13. Pretend you’re afraid of me

14. Apologise to me repeatedly

15. Encourage me to share more

Those are instructions on how to treat that one person. 

Make up a story or have discussion topics and pair them or place them in small groups. 

After a few minutes pause and have each student try to guess which label they had on their heads and discuss how they felt about the experience and how we often, even unconsciously, place labels on people around us.

After the guessing, go deeper: “How did it feel to be treated in these ways? Did you feel seen, understood, or respected?” 

Connect these feelings to everyday life, noting how we often put ‘labels’ on people and interact according to our assumptions. This drives home that empathy involves looking beyond stereotypes and default behaviours to truly acknowledge another person’s humanity.

10 Minutes

Different, Yet Same

Create groups of five (more or less) people and give each group two sheets of paper. 

On one sheet, ask the the group to list something the entire group has in common, other than traits they can see, such as all having hair. 

On the other sheet of paper, ask the group to list at least two unique qualities of each person in the group. Again, it should not be something that is obvious or that everyone can see, but a characteristic. 

When identifying shared traits and unique qualities, guide the group to notice how these discoveries deepen their understanding of one another. Ask questions like, “How did finding a commonality make you feel closer?” and “How does knowing someone’s unique traits help you appreciate who they truly are?” 

Emphasise that empathy means valuing both the ways we connect and the ways we differ.

This activity creates respect as people realise their commonalities, learn something new about each other and focus on their uniqueness.

5 Minutes

 

Kindness & Gratitude Circle

Choose one child to sit in the middle with their eyes closed.  If they can't sit for long, ask them to be in child's pose or just lie flat on their back, but with eyes closed.

Give paper and pens to others in the circle and give them about a minute to write something nice about the person in the circle, or to draw them a kind picture, give them a yoga pose to do that you think they will enjoy… Whatever they think this person might like.

Everyone puts their pieces of paper in the middle next to the child in the middle of the circle. 

The child in the middle opens their eyes and reads all the messages, looks at all the drawings, does all the yoga poses… They get to keep them and take them home.

Do this for everyone in the class, finally, if there is time, you take the spot in the middle too.

Encourage students to consider what it’s like to be the person in the middle receiving kind words and drawings. Ask, “How do you think they feel right now?” and when it’s their turn in the center, invite them to reflect on how supportive it felt. This keeps empathy at the heart of the activity, showing that understanding how others feel can guide our actions and cultivate a caring community.

10-20 Minutes

 

Scenes From a Hat

During each round, players draw random “scenes” from slips of paper in a hat and act them out together in an improvisational skit. The result is often unpredictable hilarity as the group members collectively think of creative ideas to bring the scenes to life. 

Scenes from a Hat encourages collaboration and participants to think outside the box. But to keep it in line with our Empathy theme, instruct players that their goal isn’t just to be funny, but also to “tune in” to their partners’ emotional cues. They should respond as if they truly care about how the other person is feeling—validating emotions, offering support, or showing compassion.

Encourage participants to incorporate body language, breathing, and mindful silence into their scenes. For example, a warm smile, a gentle nod, or a supportive hand gesture.

After each scene, invite the group to pause for a short discussion. What emotions surfaced, and how did the players respond compassionately? This reflection makes the empathetic aspect more explicit.

Ask participants to include simple yoga elements such as calming breaths, grounding postures, or encouraging affirmations. This reminds everyone that empathy involves staying present and centered.

Possible Scenes to Put in the Hat (All with an Empathy/Yoga Twist):

1. “A Yoga Instructor Encouraging a Student Who Feels Self-Conscious”:

A student is nervous about their first class. The instructor and classmates gently reassure them, helping them find confidence in their practice.

2. “Two Friends Before a Big Challenge”:

One friend is scared to try a difficult yoga pose; the other helps them through breathing exercises and words of support, acknowledging their anxiety.

3. “Reaching Out to a Newcomer”:

A newcomer enters a yoga class feeling out of place. Others welcome them warmly, asking how they feel and what they need to feel comfortable.

4. “Comforting a Partner Who Has Fallen Out of a Pose”:

Someone loses balance and feels embarrassed. Their partner responds by laughing kindly with them (not at them), then helps them reset with a calming breath.

5. “Encouraging Someone Who Has Had a Bad Day”:

A group of yogis notices a friend entering class in low spirits. They take turns offering empathetic gestures—maybe a soft smile, gentle advice, or a supportive pat on the shoulder—to show understanding.

6. “Supporting a Peer Who Struggles with Meditation”:

A participant shares they find it hard to stay still and quiet. Others respond by suggesting visualization techniques, affirming their feelings, and reassuring them that it’s okay to find their own pace.

7. “Comforting Someone Facing Fear of Judgment”:

A classmate worries everyone is watching them mess up a pose. Their partner and others remind them that yoga is about personal growth, not perfection, and that everyone feels self-conscious sometimes.

8. “Helping a Friend Who Has Just Received Difficult News”:

Bring an emotionally charged situation into the yoga studio setting. Players offer empathetic listening, calming breaths, and perhaps even a gentle group hug—reflecting yoga’s nurturing community aspect.

9. “Reassuring Someone About Body Image in Class”:

A participant feels insecure about their body in certain poses. Others respond by emphasizing acceptance, self-love, and celebrating what the body can do, not how it looks.

10. “Team Building Before a Group Yoga Retreat”:

A group is about to travel together for a yoga retreat. One member is anxious about sharing space with people they don’t know well. Others respond by welcoming their concerns, validating their feelings, and collectively brainstorming small steps to ease the worry.

Each of these scenes encourages participants to demonstrate empathy, understanding, and compassion—qualities central to both yoga practice and human connection.

10-20 Minutes

 

Breathing Buddies

 

Ask participants to form pairs and sit back-to-back in a comfortable seated position. Instruct them to breathe naturally and feel their partner’s breath through their back. After a few breaths, invite one partner to slightly slow and deepen their breathing, while the other tries to match and synchronize with them.

After a few minutes, switch roles. Discuss how tuning in to each other’s breath can cultivate empathy by promoting attunement, understanding, and a sense of shared calmness. Emphasise that empathy often begins with quiet, gentle listening, just as they listened to each other’s breath.

5 Minutes

Kindness Mantra Circle

 

Everyone sits in a circle. Ask participants to take a moment to think of a kind phrase or short mantra they’d like to share, such as “You are worthy,” “I believe in you,” or “We support each other.” One by one, they say their mantra out loud to the group and then choose a simple yoga pose or mudra (hand gesture) to accompany it.

After all have shared, reflect on how it felt to receive and give encouraging words. Remind them that empathy isn’t just about understanding another’s feelings, but also about uplifting each other with positivity and respect.

5 Minutes

 

Music To Match