7 Fun Perspective-Taking Games and Activities for Kids

If you’ve even been cloud-watching with your child, you’ll know that no two people see the exact same image. You might see a duck while your child sees a rabbit. Perspective-taking activities can help your child make sure they aren’t missing out on the whole picture.

Introducing perspective-taking activities can help your child see all sides of the picture. We’ve gathered the most imaginative and giggle-inducing activities that turn this complex activity into simple, creative play.

What is Perspective-Taking?

Perspective-taking is a social-cognitive ability that entails considering and understanding another person’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences from their point of view. These views may oppose what a child knows and comprehends.

For children to master perspective-taking, they must step out of their own views and try to understand the other person’s motivations, knowledge, and background. It differs from empathy, which is the emotional process of feeling what someone else is feeling.

Perspective-taking happens every day. Your child might observe perspective-taking when exploring food preferences, wanting to change the rules of a game halfway through, or choosing a birthday present for a friend.

Benefits of Teaching Perspective-Taking Early

Research suggests that children can start learning about perspective-taking as early as two years old [*]. The earlier children learn about perspective-taking, the better they’ll interact with others. Here are some other advantages of teaching perspective-taking early.

Builds emotional intelligence and kindness

When children consider other people’s viewpoints, they practice empathy. As they step into someone else’s shoes, they learn to understand other people’s feelings and respond with kindness and compassion.

Helps children handle disagreements better

Children who can understand what other people are thinking and feeling are more likely to avoid misunderstandings. Perspective-taking makes children better listeners who can understand the underlying meaning in other people’s words and express their own needs more effectively.

Strengthens friendships and teamwork

When children make an effort to see things from their friends’ perspectives, it demonstrates that they value their thoughts and feelings. Even though they may disagree with what their friend is saying, the effort to listen validates the friendship.

Considering multiple perspectives also increases a child’s ability to problem-solve within a team setting [*].

Encourages respect for differences

Perspective-taking requires that children occasionally challenge their own beliefs. When they learn about others’ viewpoints, they are less likely to rely on stereotypes and internal biases. Children are more likely to question their assumptions and make more well-informed social decisions.

Children can learn to be more tolerant and accept differences by thinking before they act and avoiding quick judgment.

7 Fun Perspective-Taking Games and Activities for Kids

Here are some games and activities you can consider to help your child practice seeing the world from another’s point of view.

1. “Walk in Their Shoes” Game

Children take on another person’s role—for example, a classmate, storybook character, or family member. They’ll describe their daily routine, likes, dislikes, and ambitions.

As your child takes on different roles, they’ll understand that other people have different thoughts and feelings. By walking in another person’s shoes, they’ll learn to become more empathetic about what other people go through.

Steps:

1. Pick someone for your child to roleplay as, such as a friend, their favorite character, or someone else they know.
2. Ask your child to pretend to be that person and give them a specific scenario to roleplay.
3. Prompt your child with different scenarios. Ask, “If you were in this situation, how would you feel?” Listen and discuss together. Then, swap roles.

2. “Guess the Feeling” Game

One fun and simple way to practice recognizing and labeling emotions is through the “Guess the Feeling” game. Each player will act out different emotions while the others guess what it is.

Identifying feelings is the foundation of empathy. The game trains children to notice and understand facial cues and body language. It also builds emotional vocabulary.

Steps:

1. Prepare emotion cues using pictures or flashcards.
2. Each person will draw a card and act out the emotion without using words. The rest of the group will guess the word.
3. After guessing, discuss why someone might feel that way. For example, if your child draws the word “sad” or “disappointed,” brainstorm scenarios in which someone might feel those emotions.

3. “This” or “That” Game

This Would You Rather-type game explores different perspectives by asking a child to choose between two options. For example, they might have to decide between two flavors of ice cream. The other players must guess what option your child will pick and explain their reasons.

This simple game reiterates that people have preferences. When children play this game, they learn to predict someone else’s behavior or preferences based on how well they know them. It helps them build awareness of individuality.

Steps:

1. Prepare simple, age-appropriate options, such as pizza or pasta, a book or a movie, a day at the park or a day at the pool, etc. 
2. Choose a child to play first, and have the rest of the group guess what they will choose. Encourage them to use clues. For example, “They just joined the swim team at school, so they might choose a day at the pool!”
3. Reveal and explain the choice. Rotate players.

4. Journaling

Journaling for managing stress is a great way to encourage kids to reflect on their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. To exercise perspective-taking, you can ask your child to journal from someone else’s view.

When children compose a journal entry as someone else, they consciously study that person’s thoughts and emotions. It prompts them to consider what another person might want or need.

Steps:

1. Provide your child with a journal and writing tools. Decide on who the journal entry will be written from. It could be a sibling, a cartoon character, or someone they know from school.
2. Provide a prompt. For example, they might imagine they are a classmate starting their first day of school. Ask them to write about how their day went.
3. When your child is done writing or drawing, share and reflect. Ask thoughtful questions like, “Why was that your favorite part of the day?”

5. Story Swap

Children take one experience and tell the story from different perspectives. Use a familiar story, such as a favorite fairy tale, and ask them to re-tell it from the perspective of the villain or another character.

Every story has a character with different thoughts and feelings. Retelling stories from various viewpoints can give children a deeper understanding of each character’s motives. Discussing different sides teaches children that there isn’t one “right” way to approach things.

Steps:

1. Pick a familiar story or event your child experienced recently. Have an adult narrate the story simply.
2. Swap roles and ask your child to retell the same story from another character’s/person’s perspective.
3. Compare perspectives and discuss similarities and differences. Encourage your child to understand each character’s emotions and reasoning.

6. Role-Play Scenarios

Children won’t always know how to act when they experience something new—this is where role-playing can come in handy. Using real-life scenarios helps prepare children for real-world encounters.

Acting out scenarios helps children learn to sympathize with others. It also helps them improve their conflict resolution skills.

Steps:

1. Prepare simple scenarios, such as arguing with a friend, forgetting to do homework, or not wanting to do the chores.
2. Assign roles and act out the scene with your child. Encourage using body language and dialogue.
3. Debrief what your child experienced and how they felt.
4. Swap roles and re-act the scene.

7. Perspective Charades

Similar to the Guess the Feeling game, this one involves acting out a specific scenario. However, instead of acting out an emotion, your child will act out a scenario, such as winning a race or watching a sad movie. Everyone else has to guess what the actor is feeling in the moment.

Acting out a situation encourages kids to imagine the facial expressions and body language they might portray when experiencing different things.

Steps:

1. Prepare scenarios, such as being the last one picked for a sports team, receiving a surprise gift, or seeing a friend eating alone.
2. Act out the scene using gestures, facial expressions, and movements. The rest of the group tries to guess what the scene or feeling is.
3. Reveal and discuss the scene. Consider how different situations can affect people's feelings.

Tips for Parents and Teachers

The key to reinforcing empathy and social awareness in children is to be specific and focus on their efforts or positive actions. Here are some ways you can encourage perspective-taking.

Model empathy

Modeling empathy means demonstrating compassionate behavior in your child’s daily life. You can validate your child’s feelings directly and remind them that your home is a safe space for self-expression.

You can also find teachable moments by pointing out people in need and encouraging your child to volunteer their help. For example, if you see a neighbor struggling to carry their groceries inside, you might encourage your child to offer a hand.

Praise perspective-taking moments

Praise can go a long way for a child’s self-esteem. The key is to be specific and focus on your child’s efforts to be compassionate and empathetic. For example, you might say, “I know you and your brother wanted to play with the same toy at the same time, but you did a great job suggesting that you take turns!”

Keep it playful

Teaching perspective-taking doesn’t have to be boring. Keep things fun and playful by introducing games or conversation starters. Make it light and frequent by incorporating perspective-taking into daily conversations—label emotions you notice on television shows and practice self-correction.

The Bottom Line

One of the best ways to build your child’s perspective-taking muscle is through play. Keeping things light makes this essential social-emotional lesson stick.

Discover more helpful exercises in our collection of social skills worksheets. Find activities that can help your child become a better friend and collaborator.

Sources:

1. Moll H, Meltzoff AN. “How Does It Look? Level 2 Perspective-Taking at 36 Months of Age.” Child Development, 2011.
2. Taylor T, Edwards TL. “What Can We Learn by Treating Perspective Taking as Problem Solving?” Perspectives on Behavior Science, 2021.