Help Kids Be Relational Thermostats
“He made me feel bad!” wailed my son after telling me how a friend chose a different playmate at recess. “He…
MorePosts tagged: Empathy
Living Black History Projects
It’s Black History Month once again in the U.S., when teachers and group leaders plan lessons celebrating African…
MoreGuided Meditation: Housing Insecurity
Before the pandemic, churches in my city would take turns providing overnight accommodations for persons without…
MoreGuided Meditation: Healthcare Access
When I was growing up, money was tight. My mom took my siblings and me to the city health clinic for our childhood…
MoreGuided Meditation: Immigration
A few years ago, our family collected household items to help Afghan refugees relocating to our hometown. A local…
MoreGuided Meditation: Food Insecurity
“Mom, I’m hungry, and there’s nothing to eat!” my 10 year old wailed while staring into a well-stocked…
MoreKindness Trees
“No, no, no!” said the preschool teacher as she rushed over to a child threatening to hit a playmate. “It’s not…
MoreKindness Projects
My children's elementary school had a student committee that planned service projects for every grade. Kids from…
MoreNational Coming Out Day
My sister was 18 when she came out. It was a chaotic time in my family of origin, with lots of tears, threats of…
MoreResisting Bias with Brian the Brave
Children begin learning about differences at a young age. Figuring out how to categorize things is one of the ways they…
MoreAcknowledging Hurt & Making Amends
Yom Kippur, the annual Jewish Day of Atonement, begins the evening of Sunday, September 24. It is a time for deep…
MoreHow Curiosity Enhances Relationships
My daughter and her best friend met in 2nd grade. Their first weeks together were spent asking each other questions:…
MoreCounting Kindness with Kids
Countless families and children become refugees when extreme poverty or violence force them to leave their homes. The…
MoreDreaming with Dreamers
Dreamers, by Yuyi Morales, follows a mother and her young child as they immigrate to the United States and begin to…
MoreMovement Meditation: Empathy
Children don’t always get along. Like adults, they get angry with siblings and friends. They feel resentment and…
MoreExploring The Coquíes Still Sing
I grew up in Oklahoma, where tornadoes are a common summer occurrence. My family would huddle in the basement as sirens…
MoreExploring The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess
Fairy tales can play a powerful role in children’s lives. Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen has morphed into…
MoreExploring Every Little Kindness with Kids
Sometimes a story doesn’t need words to be powerful. That’s the case with Marta Bartolj’s Every Little Kindness,…
MoreMovement Meditation: Empowerment
Being a small person in a big world can be overwhelming at times. Children may feel overshadowed by the adults around…
MoreExploring Elemental with Kids
A few days ago, one of my children wanted breakfast for dinner, while another preferred Indian. The first argued that…
MoreGoing on a Rainforest Adventure with Forest
Brendan Kearney’s Forest is part of a series that chronicles the adventures of fisher Finn and his dog, Skip. In this…
MoreNot-So-Random Acts of Kindness
Walking through the farmer’s market last weekend, I overheard a conversation between a coffee vendor and a customer.…
MoreExploring Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 with Kids
Marvel’s newest release, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3, focuses on Rocket’s origin story as Groot, Mantis, Drax,…
MoreCelebrating AANHPI Heritage Month
Just a few weeks after cherry blossoms peak in the U.S. capital, Americans begin a month-long celebration of Asian…
MoreCelebrating Eid al Fitr
After 30 days of fasting, Muslim worldwide mark the end of Ramadan with Eid al Fitr, literally a festival of breaking…
MoreAddressing Empathy Deficits
“Jamal is icky. He walks with a limp and talks funny.” “Suzanne is so stupid! She looks weird, too.” Such…
MorePromoting Restorative Justice
My son’s Montessori school had a ‘peace table’ where children could go to work out disagreements. On it were a…
MoreSpiritual Themes in The Door of No Return
Lessons about slavery in the United States typically begin with life on a plantation in the American South. This…
MoreAvatar Spirituality
Avatar: The Way of Water continues the story of Jake, Neytiri, and their children. For many years, they have lived…
MoreEncouraging Empathy When It’s Hard
Holiday shows play on our sense of connection to beloved characters. Kids who have been left out or bullied know how…
MoreExploring Emotions with The Coat
Hand-me-downs can be a dreaded necessity or longed-for acquisition. I remember being crestfallen when a neighbor passed…
MoreWakanda Spirituality
How do you create a Black Panther sequel without the Black Panther? Chadwick Boseman’s death made it difficult for my…
MoreEncouraging Children to Lead
“Mom, I saw some people asking for money by the off ramp. They didn’t have any coats and it’s pretty cold…
MoreCreating A Culture Of Caring
In 3rd and 4th grade, I participated in an afterschool Kids Club organized by a neighborhood grandmother. I would walk…
MoreReexamining Humility as a Spiritual Virtue
Growing up, I was frequently told that good girls should be humble. I was expected to hide my intelligence and avoid…
MoreModeling Gratitude
“Thank you.” Two simple words we teach children when they’re small and hope they will use often. Giving thanks…
MoreEmoji Spirituality
Kids love emojis. As fun visual substitutes for words, they help children share how they’re feeling and communicate…
MoreReading A Duet for Home
What can children do about a situation that seems unfair or unjust? How can they be allies? These are two of the…
MoreThe Spiritual Effects of Nature
My children loved going for walks when they were little. They would point out flowers, watch a caterpillar inch its way…
MoreReplacing Hurtful Words with Kindness
“Losers! Losers!” shouted a kid on the opposing soccer team. My fifth grader and her teammates were headed to the…
MoreUsing Story Circles to Build Empathy
Sorting through a box of old school papers, I found a story one of my children wrote in 2nd grade. Her teacher had…
MoreSpiritual Brain Power
When my eldest child was three, she shocked our neighbor by explaining in detail how a refrigerator works. Amber loved…
MoreEncouraging Active Empathy
My daughter came home talking about a new girl in her class. Since being the new kid can be challenging, I want my…
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