Empathy is trying to understand the experiences, thoughts, feelings, and motivations of another person. The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others is a valuable trait to everyone in our society, and especially for entrepreneurial thinking individuals!
Employing empathy allows entrepreneurs to step into the shoes of another so they can address their wants or needs by creating innovative solutions.
It’s not always easy to empathize with others, but the great news is, it’s a skill that can be practiced.
This activity asks students to be mindful and “walk in the shoes” of someone they know by considering what makes that person happy and encourages them to take empathy to action.
Activity: Empathy Coupons
- Download the Empathy Coupons activity and Empathy Certificate!
- Have students think about the people in their family, their teachers, and friends. Ask if they know what kinds of things make them happy? Maybe their brother or sister likes when they play games with them. Maybe their mom or dad likes when they are nice to their brothers or sisters.
- Explain that they’re going to make a list of the people they care about and then create coupons to give them. These coupons will be actions the students promise to do for those people. These actions show that they understand the person and what makes them feel good.
- Students should now fill in each coupon, cut it out, and give it to the person. Don’t forget to tell students that they need to follow through with their promise!
