Lesson plan: Someone Else’s Shoes
SUMMARY
This lesson focuses on developing children’s empathy. They are encouraged to put themselves in other people’s shoes and think about what makes people happy. They watch a video about Alana, a seven-year-old girl with painful chronic eczema, and find out how she is being helped by a project funded by BBC Children in Need. They then go on to learn how they can make a real difference to other children’s lives in the UK by taking part in the Big BBC Children in Need Spotacular.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Children will:
/ Develop empathy/ Recognise how people show their feelings
/ Know that BBC Children in Need supports disadvantaged children throughout the UK
RESOURCES
/ PowerPoint: Someone Else’s Shoes/ Video: Alana’s Story (you can either play this direct from the Someone Else’s Shoes PowerPoint presentation, or find it at .
/ Activity Sheet: Pudsey’s Paw Prints (photocopied onto card – one copy for each child)
/ Video: Big Spotacular Introduction (you can either play this direct from the Someone Else’s Shoes PowerPoint presentation, or find it at .
ACTIVITIES
Use the PowerPoint presentation Someone Else’s Shoes to support these activities.
Starter
Start the lesson by showing children the slide ‘Other People’s Shoes’. Can they match the shoes to their owners? What would happen if the ballet dancer wore the boots, or the firefighter wore the flip flops? Encourage them to talk about how they would feel if they had the wrong shoes on. What would it feel like to go swimming in wellies? Walk to nursery/school in slippers?
You could give a practical demonstration of ‘walking in someone else’s shoes’. Try on someone else’s shoes and describe what it feels like to wear and walk in them.
Show children the slide with the phrase ‘Walking in someone else’s shoes’. Ask them to share ideas about what this might mean. (Think about how someone else feels.)
Explain to children that we are all different and have different feelings in different situations. For example, one child might think a TV programme’s exciting, while their friend finds it scary. Help them to come up with other examples of times when they feel different to their friends.
Move on to focus on what makes them feel happy. Working in pairs, ask children to choose and talk about one thing each that they like to do and that makes them happy. If they are able, they could create freeze frames to reflect the activities.
Alana’s Story video
Tell children that they are going to watch a film about a little girl called Alana. Dancing, gymnastics and karate are some of the things that make her happy.
Show the video Alana’s Story (you can either play this direct from the Someone Else’s Shoes PowerPoint presentation, or find it at .
Give children an opportunity to share their thoughts and ask any questions about Alana’s story. Take into account the feelings of anyone who may be particularly sensitive to the issues covered by the film.
Main activity
Give each child the activity sheet Pudsey’s Paw Prints, photocopied onto card.
/ In the left paw print, ask children to draw pictures or write words to describe how they think Alana felt before she was supported by BBC Children in Need./ In the right paw print, ask them to describe how they think Alana felt after being helped by BBC Children in Need.
Ask children to share their Pudsey’s Paw Prints artwork and encourage them to talk about what they have drawn/written and why.
Why not use the artwork to create a ‘floor display’ in your school/nursery?
The Big Spotacular
Show children the video Big Spotacular Introduction (you can either play this direct from the Someone Else’s Shoes PowerPoint presentation, or find it at This explains the background to the school’s upcoming fundraising activities and how, by taking part, they can make a real difference to other children’s lives throughout the UK.
Once they have watched the film, ask children to call out a word or perform an action to share how they’re feeling about taking part in the Big BBC Children in Need Spotacular.
Talk with the class about possible fundraising activities (you will find loads of ideas at bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/schools/resources. Do children have their own ideas?
Plenary
Recap on what children have learned in this lesson about feelings and how people show them.
Ask them to perform actions or gestures that people use when they feel happy (e.g. smiling, laughing, clapping, jumping for joy, thumbs up). Then ask them to do the same but for feeling sad (e.g. head down, frown, head in hands, crying, thumbs down).
In pairs, ask children to explain to their partner how the Big BBC Children in Need Spotacular will help to make children like Alana’s lives better.
CURRICULUM LINKS
England / Northern IrelandEYFS
- Personal, social and emotional development
- Communication and language
- Understanding the world
- Expressive arts and design
- PSHE (Personal, social, health
& economic) - Art and design
- PDMU (Personal development
& mutual understanding) - Language and literacy
- The world around us
- The arts
- PDMU
- Art and design