Empathy Day was founded in 2017 as part of Empathy Lab UK’s mission to inspire the rising generation and to drive a new empathy movement. This year, Empathy Day is on 10 June.
Empathy is a vital human force which has come into sharp focus during the COVID-19 pandemic and we’ve never needed it more. Empathy Day aims to help everyone understand and experience the transformational power of empathy through stories.
The day focuses on using books to step into someone else’s shoes. Scientists say that we can train our brain with stories – the more you empathise with characters, the more you understand other people’s feelings.
To Find out more: https://www.empathylab.uk/empathyday-2021
EmpathyLab has produced a Read for Empathy Book Collection, with accompanying Read for Empathy Book Guides, annually since 2017.
Our guides are for both parents and teachers, and are split between primary (4-11 year olds) and secondary (11-16 year olds), chosen by a panel of judges. Our judges are always a group of national experts and grassroots practitioners from schools, public libraries and organisations including Amnesty, the School Library Association and the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education.
The 2021 Empathy Day Book list:
https://www.empathylab.uk/2021-read-for-empathy-collections
You can find the books lists from 2017-2020 here:
https://www.empathylab.uk/previous-collections
Empathy Shorts
The first collection of Empathy Shorts was written especially for Empathy Lab, to make sure every child had access to an empathy-boosting story on Empathy Day 2020.
Empathy Lab are delighted to add twelve brand new stories to the collection for 2021, each one a unique take on seeing life from another’s perspective.
Enjoy reading them on your own, or share with your family and friends.
Find them online: https://www.empathylab.uk/empathy-shorts
Free Resources for Empathy Day 2021
Family Activity Pack
Ten brilliant empathy-boosting things for the whole family to do at home. You can do the activities in any order and you don’t need specific books to take part. Drawing and craft materials are helpful, but all the activities can be done with just scrap paper and a pen.
Download it here: https://www.empathylab.uk/family-activities-pack
Empathy Glasses
Empathy Glasses help you focus on imagining the feelings of the characters your are reading about.
Empathy Walk
On Empathy Day 2021 we want everyone to walk in someone else’s shoes.
Taking an Empathy Walk gives us all the opportunity to think about our communities in a very different way.
Take a short walk around your local area. As you walk, use your empathy to imagine yourself in the shoes of the people and situations you see. Maybe a homeless person, an argument, a family having fun. Notice your feelings – puzzled, glad, angry, worried?
Note down what you see and feel, talking together as you go.
When you return, use your reflections to draw a map or some pictures of what you have seen/felt. Or record a short film about your walk.
Find out more: https://www.empathylab.uk/empathy-walk
Empathy Resolution Poster
The last call to action on Empathy Day is ACT. We’re inviting everyone to put their feelings of empathy into concrete action and make an Empathy Resolution.
Bath and North East Somerset Libraries Blog 