The School of Play Curriculum
Primary School Grade 5 & 6
Week Twenty Eight invites students into the emotional world of empathy, guided by the gentle wisdom of Neptune and its swirling, reflective skies. Through role-play, creative crafting, mindful movement, and expressive art, children learn how to imagine the feelings of others and respond with kindness. Walk in Their Space Boots helps students practise stepping into someone else’s perspective, learning to listen, understand, and offer caring words. Heart Glasses Craft encourages students to “see with kindness,” creating wearable symbols that remind them to look at others with empathy, softness, and imagination.
Mirror Me strengthens non-verbal empathy through focused, mindful movement, showing students that compassion isn’t always spoken; it can be felt through presence and attention. Caring Boots brings the week together by inviting students to reflect on the kind actions they can take and symbolise these through decorated “empathy boots.” Each activity builds social awareness, emotional depth, and compassionate thinking. This week teaches students, just like Neptune taught the Playful Astronaut, that empathy is a superpower, one that helps us understand others, respond gently, and make our classroom a kinder and more connected place.
Courses
Walk in Their Space Boots
Walk in Their Space Boots invites students to gently and playfully explore the world through someone else’s eyes. By stepping into different shoes, literally or imaginatively, children practise the powerful skill of empathy. They learn that everyone has different feelings, experiences, and challenges, and that understanding these helps us become kinder friends and classmates. As students role-play simple everyday scenarios, they practise naming emotions, expressing care, and responding with compassion. Just like Neptune, where feelings run deep beneath the swirling surface, this activity teaches children that emotions can be complex, and empathy helps us navigate them with sensitivity and understanding.
Through turn-taking, listening, and imaginative play, students experience how meaningful it is to be seen and supported by others. When they switch roles and respond to each other’s pretend situations with kindness, they strengthen social bonds and emotional literacy. Group reflection helps students connect the learning to real life, recognising moments when listening, helping, or offering comfort can make a big difference. Walk in Their Space Boots nurtures a classroom culture of care, showing students that empathy is not only about pretending, it’s about paying attention, being gentle, and understanding that everyone carries feelings that matter.
Respectful Relationships
1. Emotional Literacy
- Students recognise and label a wide range of emotions as they act out scenarios (e.g., nervous, sad, excited, disappointed).
- By imagining how another person feels, students deepen their understanding of emotional cues and causes.
- Sharing reflections helps students verbalise emotions and understand the emotional impact of experiences.
2. Personal Strengths
- Students practise strengths such as empathy, compassion, listening, and kindness.
- Taking on another person’s perspective builds emotional intelligence and social awareness.
- Reflecting on supportive responses helps students recognise their own interpersonal strengths.
3. Positive Coping
- Students learn how empathetic responses can help others cope with difficult emotions.
- The activity models healthy coping strategies such as talking, listening, offering comfort, and seeking support.
- Role-play gives students a safe space to practise how to respond calmly and kindly when someone is upset.
4. Problem-Solving
- Students practise perspective-taking, a key part of solving social problems and preventing conflicts.
- They learn to think from another’s point of view to understand what the person needs.
- Discussing supportive responses (“What could you say?” “How could you help?”) builds interpersonal problem-solving skills.
5. Stress Management
- The supportive, imaginative format reduces anxiety around discussing emotions and gives students a safe entry point.
- Empathy role-play teaches students to recognise stress signals in others and respond in calming ways.
- Reflecting on someone’s emotions promotes mindfulness and slows down reactive behaviour.
6. Gender and Identity
- Students are free to explore diverse scenarios that reflect varied experiences across backgrounds, cultures, and identities.
- The activity avoids stereotypes by focusing on feelings rather than roles or labels.
- Students learn that anyone, regardless of identity, experiences deep emotions, and empathy connects us all.
7. Positive Relationships
- The partner structure builds trust and encourages respectful communication.
- Students practise listening without interrupting, responding kindly, and acknowledging others’ feelings.
- Demonstrating empathy strengthens friendships and builds a more caring classroom environment.
8. Help-Seeking
- Students model and hear examples of supportive language that encourages help-seeking (“Can I help you?”, “I’m here if you need me”).
- They learn that expressing emotions is safe and that others can be trusted to respond with care.
- The discussion highlights who they can go to when experiencing strong emotions, friends, teachers, family members.
Heart Glasses Craft
Heart Glasses Craft gives students a tangible and imaginative way to explore empathy. By designing and decorating their own glasses with heart-shaped lenses, children learn that kindness begins with how we choose to see the world. Wearing their creations, students step into the role of caring astronauts who look beneath the surface, just like on Neptune, where deep swirling emotions remind us that everyone has feelings we may not always see. As they craft and personalise their glasses, students practise noticing what kindness looks like, sounds like, and feels like, strengthening both creativity and emotional understanding through play.
Once the glasses are complete, students bring empathy to life by wearing them and imagining how others might feel. Whether offering a gentle compliment, inviting someone to play, or simply noticing when a friend needs support, children learn that kindness grows when we look at others with open hearts. The activity encourages deep reflection and joyful role-play, turning empathy into something active and visible. Heart Glasses Craft helps build a classroom culture where students learn that understanding others starts with intention, choosing to see their world through kindness, compassion, and care.
Respectful Relationships
1. Emotional Literacy
- Students explore and express what kindness looks like, sounds like, and feels like.
- Decorating the glasses with caring symbols helps them reflect on emotions connected to empathy and compassion.
- Role-playing prompts students to name emotions they notice in others and describe how kindness can support those feelings.
2. Personal Strengths
- Empathy, kindness, creativity, and imagination are emphasised as strengths.
- Students identify personal values and strengths such as gentleness, helpfulness, and thoughtful communication.
- Sharing their glasses and explanations helps students express their identity through positive character traits.
3. Positive Coping
- Students practise responding to the emotions of others in supportive ways, a key coping and interpersonal skill.
- Wearing the glasses encourages mindful, calm thinking before reacting, especially when noticing someone who might feel sad or left out.
- The creative craft process provides a soothing, reflective activity that supports emotional regulation.
4. Problem-Solving
- Students practise social problem-solving by imagining scenarios and deciding how to respond with kindness.
- Role-play helps them consider different perspectives and choose empathetic actions.
- Making decisions about design, decoration, and use of the glasses builds planning and creative decision-making skills.
5. Stress Management
- Thinking about kindness and empathy encourages emotional safety and reduces social anxiety.
- When students practice noticing how others feel, they learn to respond gently, which can help de-escalate stressful peer interactions.
- The calm craft environment enhances mindfulness and reduces stress through focus and creativity.
6. Gender and Identity
- Students design unique glasses that reflect their personal style, feelings, and cultural influences.
- Empathy is framed as a universal skill, not tied to gender stereotypes.
- The activity values diverse emotional experiences and promotes inclusion.
7. Positive Relationships
- Students practise giving compliments, showing care, and connecting through positive interactions while wearing their glasses.
- The idea of “seeing the good in others” supports trust, understanding, and respectful friendships.
- Conversations about empathy create a more compassionate and emotionally safe class environment.
8. Help-Seeking
- Recognising emotions in others helps students identify when someone may need support or help.
- The activity models checking in on others and offering care, reinforcing that asking for help is a normal and kind behaviour.
- Students experience what it feels like to receive empathy from peers, strengthening help-seeking confidence.
Mirror Me
Mirror Me is a gentle, connection-building activity that invites students to slow down and truly notice one another. Working in pairs, children take turns leading simple movements while their partner mirrors them like a reflection. This quiet exchange encourages focus, presence, and non-verbal communication, helping students tune into the feelings and intentions behind someone else’s movements. The calm, steady rhythm of the activity reflects the soft blue atmosphere of Neptune, where the Playful Astronauts learn that empathy begins with paying attention to others with curiosity and care.
As students swap roles, they experience both leading and following, building trust and mutual respect. Every mirrored stretch, wave, or gentle expression strengthens awareness of others and fosters emotional understanding. The joy of Mirror Me lies in its simplicity, two students moving together, learning to support, match, and connect without words. It becomes a safe space for students to practise empathy through movement, reminding them that kindness often shows up in small, quiet moments of tuning in to the people around us.
Respectful Relationships
1. Emotional Literacy
- Students learn to recognise feelings expressed through body language, facial expressions, and movement.
- Mirroring helps them tune into non-verbal emotional cues, deepening understanding of how emotions can be shown without words.
- Reflection discussions help students put feelings into language, expanding their emotional vocabulary.
2. Personal Strengths
- Students identify strengths such as patience, gentleness, focus, and being a supportive partner.
- The activity reinforces self-awareness as students notice how their behaviour affects others.
- Taking turns leading builds confidence, while following builds humility and openness.
3. Positive Coping
- Slow, mindful movement encourages calm breathing and emotional regulation.
- Students practise managing frustration by moving gently, staying patient, and maintaining connection during challenging mirroring moments.
- The quiet, intentional pace provides a moment of mindfulness that supports well-being.
4. Problem-Solving
- Students adapt movements to ensure their partner can follow them, strengthening cooperative problem-solving.
- Mirroring requires real-time adjustments, encouraging flexible thinking and collaboration.
- Discussions after the activity encourage students to reflect on what made the mirroring easier or more difficult, promoting social problem-solving skills.
5. Stress Management
- The gentle pace and calm atmosphere help students lower tension and practise stillness.
- Being fully present in movement reduces mental overload and promotes relaxation.
- Non-verbal communication allows students to explore connection without pressure to speak, which supports emotional safety.
6. Gender and Identity
- All students participate equally in leading and following roles, promoting respect across genders.
- The activity reinforces that empathy and attunement are universal skills not linked to gender stereotypes.
- Students can express themselves through movement in unique ways that reflect their identity and comfort level.
7. Positive Relationships
- Students build trust through eye contact, coordinated movement, and mutual attention.
- Mirroring reinforces the idea that respectful relationships require awareness, sensitivity, and balance.
- Taking turns strengthens reciprocity, a key component of healthy friendships.
8. Help-Seeking
- The activity illustrates that noticing someone’s cues (even silent ones) is part of knowing when they may need support.
- Students practise checking in and adjusting their behaviour to help their partner succeed.
- Reflection time encourages students to verbalise when something felt challenging, an early step in expressing needs and seeking help.
Caring Boots
Caring Boots is a beautifully reflective activity that helps students understand empathy by imagining what it feels like to walk kindly through the world. By tracing and decorating the outlines of their own feet or shoes, students create their very own pair of ‘empathy boots’, boots that remind them to take caring steps each day. As they fill their boots with drawings or words that represent kind actions, children explore what it means to notice other people’s feelings, offer help, and move gently through shared spaces. Inspired by Neptune’s deep emotional wisdom, this activity invites students to slow down, think deeply, and recognise the powerful impact their choices can have on others.
Through discussion and sharing, students learn that empathy is something they can practise with every step: comforting a friend, sharing a toy, listening to someone who feels sad, or offering a smile. When their Caring Boots are displayed together, they create a collective ‘Walk of Kindness’ that celebrates empathy as a class value. Simple, creative, and meaningful, this activity helps children understand that caring for others is not only something we feel, but something we do, one thoughtful footstep at a time.
Respectful Relationships
1. Emotional Literacy
- Students identify emotions in themselves and others by thinking about caring actions that help people feel supported.
- Drawing or writing empathy-based actions builds emotional vocabulary and self-expression.
- Reflection questions help students connect emotions to real-life behaviours (e.g., “How does helping someone make them feel?”).
2. Personal Strengths
- Students recognise strengths such as kindness, patience, listening, helping, and compassion.
- Activity encourages them to see these strengths as part of who they are, qualities they “wear” in their Caring Boots.
- Builds confidence in using personal strengths to support others.
3. Positive Coping
- Thinking about empathy-based responses helps students understand how caring actions can help someone cope with difficult feelings.
- Students explore how supporting others (and being supported) helps emotional regulation.
- Encourages students to visualise caring actions they can take when situations feel challenging.
4. Problem-Solving
- Students imagine situations someone else may experience and brainstorm caring responses.
- Encourages perspective-taking: identifying what another person needs and thinking through respectful actions.
- Promotes flexible thinking and cooperative behaviours in social situations.
5. Stress Management
- Empathy-focused reflection helps students learn calming and supportive strategies for themselves and for others.
- Activities like listening, offering help, and sharing kindness are framed as ways to reduce stress within relationships.
- Crafting quietly can also contribute to a soothing, mindful classroom experience.
6. Gender and Identity
- Reinforces that caring actions are for everyone, regardless of gender.
- Students express empathy in their own creative style, supporting positive identity development.
- Activity validates that emotions and caring behaviours are universal human qualities.
7. Positive Relationships
- Students reflect on actions that strengthen relationships, such as helping, listening, and showing kindness.
- Sharing their Caring Boots encourages a classroom culture of empathy and mutual respect.
- The activity visually demonstrates how their “steps” contribute to a supportive community.
8. Help-Seeking
- By identifying ways to care for others, students also recognise when they might need help or support.
- Conversation around feelings and actions builds comfort in expressing needs.
- Encourages students to think about who they can go to in moments of sadness, worry, or uncertainty.
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