Teaching a child empathy, that is, knowing how to put himself in the place of the other and feel their emotions, can be achieved by playing. Try to tell her the story of “Little Red Riding Hood” … but in reverse! The effect is very powerful! Surely one of the purposes of any parent is for their child to be a good person . That is to say, that he is a generous, respectful and kind being, which will also make him always feel good about himself, in peace and in harmony.
To achieve this, from a young age, one of the first things that parents should do is educate the child in empathy , that is, we should instill, encourage and reinforce the child’s ability to put himself in the place of the other . By teaching children to put themselves in the shoes of other people, they will understand what it feels like to be treated in a certain way and will help them to stop judging people based on their first impression and even to be able to change opinion. How can children be taught empathy ? Of many! The first of them, without a doubt, is being us an authentic example of it.
But we can also transform this learning into a game. If we play with the child to stop interpreting his own role to interpret that of the other, we will be able to awaken his emotions and, in this way, he will learn much more than reading any book or listening to a sermon. For example, especially for children who are already a little older, you can use the game of turning the “Story upside down” . It is about telling the child a children’s story, but from another point of view, turning it around and explaining it backwards. To give you an idea, below, we offer you the children’s story of Little Red Riding Hood , but from the point of view of the wolf, which was written in its day by Lief Fearn. How things change depending on the way you look at them!
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The tale of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf
The forest was my home. I lived there and took care of him. I was trying to keep it nice and clean. On a sunny day, while I was removing the trash that a caravan had left behind, I heard footsteps. I jumped up and hid behind a tree and saw a little girl coming down the path, carrying a basket with her.
I asked him: I also asked him where he was going and more like that.
She told me that she was going to see her grandmother to bring her food. Deep down, she seemed quite honest to me, but she was in my woods, she certainly looked strange in that weird hood. So I decided to show her how dangerous it was to cross the forest alone and dressed that way. I let her go her way, but I went ahead of her grandmother’s house. When I saw that kind old lady, I explained my concern to her and she agreed that her granddaughter needs a lesson right away. We arranged for granny to hide under the bed until I called her.
When the little girl arrived, I invited her into the sleeping room; I had gone to bed dressed in my grandmother’s clothes. The girl, all white and red, came in and said something unpleasant about my big ears. They had insulted me other times and then I made an effort and suggested that my big ears served me, and a lot, to hear better. She made another comment about my bulging eyes again. You can imagine how I began to feel for that unpleasant girl. And, since it was already normal for me to turn the other cheek, I told her that my bulging eyes helped me to see her better.
The next insult hurt me deeply. Indeed, my problem is that I have very large teeth and she made an offensive remark about them. I know I would have had to control myself, but I jumped out of bed and told him, growling, that they were going to help me eat it better. Let’s be serious: no wolf would eat a girl and everyone knows it. But the little girl started running around the house like crazy, screaming and I following her to reassure her.
I took off my grandmother’s clothes and it was even worse. Suddenly, the door of the house was opened and a huge ranger with an ax appeared. I looked into his eyes and soon realized that I had gotten into trouble. Behind me, there was an open window and I ran away without a second thought. I would like to tell how the whole story ended, but that grandmother never told my side. Before long, the word spread that I was a very mean and unfriendly guy, and everyone started avoiding me. I have not heard from the girl, who wore that ridiculous red hood, but after that day I could no longer be happy.
