Perspective Taking SEL Activity | Empathy Discussion Game Middle School
A Mile in Their Boots is a printable storytelling game that helps kids ages 10 and up practice empathy, perspective-taking, and emotional literacy (without worksheets, lectures, or screens).Players draw a role card (The Protector, The Doubter, The Peacemaker, and nine others), step into a morally complex fantasy scenario, and inhabit that perspective for about ten minutes. Then they step back out and talk as themselves. The whole thing takes 20–40 minutes and requires no experience from the facilitator.The fantasy setting is intentional. Distance is a feature — it lets kids engage with hard emotional content without the social risk of talking about themselves directly. And then, quietly, they do anyway.What's included: — 30 Scene Cards across 6 thematic clusters — 12 Perspective Role Cards — 1 Facilitator Guide with a five-phase scene structure — 26-page printable PDF, print-and-play readyWorks well for middle school advisory periods, school counselor small groups, families with kids ages 10–14, and youth groups.Designed by Mark Ezra Stokes · markezrastokes.com
