What is empathy?

Empathy is when you feel what someone else feels, like you're wearing their shoes for a while.

Imagine you have a best friend who just dropped their favorite toy on the floor, it breaks into pieces! You see them sad, and suddenly, you feel sad too. That’s empathy. It's like you’re sharing their feelings, even though the toy is only broken for them.

Sometimes, empathy happens without words. If your little brother is crying because he fell down, you might run over to give him a hug, that’s how you show you understand how he feels.

Other times, it's like when you're playing with blocks and someone else gets frustrated too. You both feel the same way, and that makes you closer.

Empathy isn’t about being perfect, it’s just about trying to get what other people are going through, even if it's not exactly the same as what you’re feeling.