Reading or listening to stories that highlight characters’ emotions provides a rich context for children to practice emotional perspective-taking. This activity encourages children to notice and name how characters feel, why they might feel that way, and what might help them. Using classic children’s books, the teacher leads discussions and activities that explore the emotions, thoughts, and motivations of the characters, helping children step into the characters’ shoes and reflect on how they would feel in similar situations.

Skill focus

Primary Skill Focus

• Empathy (emotional and cognitive)

Complementary/Secondary Skill Focus

• Emotional awareness, regulation and communication

Age group	Student number	Duration
6-10 years old	Whole class	45-60 minutes

Proposed step by step implementation of the learning activity

1. Prepare the Material: The teacher selects one or more passages from classic or age-appropriate children’s literature, focusing on scenes where characters experience strong emotions or face moral dilemmas. The passage can be a full scene or short excerpts depending on time and age.
2. Read Aloud: The teacher reads the chosen text aloud to the class, using expressive tone and pacing. They pause at key moments—such as a character making a tough decision, experiencing a loss, or expressing joy or anger.
3. Guided Reflection Questions: After each pause, the teacher asks questions like:

• What is the character feeling right now?
• What made them feel that way?
• Have you ever felt something similar?
• If you were in their shoes, how would you react?
• What could the character do next?

4. Pair or Small Group Activities: Children break into pairs or small groups to:

• Act out short scenes, experimenting with different emotional responses or outcomes.
• Create “emotion maps” showing how the character’s feelings evolve through the story, using drawings, symbols, or colour coding (e.g., red for anger, blue for sadness, yellow for joy).

5. Sharing and Class Discussion: Groups share their interpretations or creative outputs with the class. The teacher facilitates a closing discussion, comparing different emotional journeys and encouraging students to reflect on how stories help us understand others’ feelings.