Fostering perspective taking is a cornerstone of healthy peer interactions, classroom harmony, and long-term interpersonal growth in elementary-aged students. With early learners, foundational skills such as seeing situations from another person’s point of view are directly linked to more advanced cognitive and social development.

Download Poster and Lesson Plan

The ‘Understanding Others’ Point of View’ printable goal poster offers a visual, no-prep tool designed specifically to help children in elementary grades begin and practice the important process of perspective taking—a crucial subskill of situational awareness. This article provides a step-by-step guide for using this PDF resource to increase perspective-taking abilities in your students, from initial introduction to classroom carryover.

What Is Perspective Taking?

Perspective taking is the ability to recognize and understand that others may have thoughts, feelings, or beliefs that differ from one’s own. For elementary students, this involves noticing how another person might feel or react in a particular situation, and being able to guess or consider those feelings or opinions.

Perspective taking is the building block for more advanced skills, such as empathy, conflict resolution, and effective communication. While younger students often see the world only from their own viewpoint, structured guidance helps them gradually understand diversity in thoughts and feelings. Developing this awareness helps children interact more thoughtfully and adaptively during peer interactions, group work, and problem-solving scenarios.

In practice, perspective taking might appear as:

• A student recognizing that a peer who was left out at recess may feel sad, even if the student feels happy about their own play experience.
• Noticing that a friend may not want to play the same game, and asking for their preference.
• Understanding that different classroom rules are needed for different activities based on how others might feel or what they need to focus on.

Having a visual reference, such as the ‘Understanding Others’ Point of View’ poster, can be an anchor for children learning this skill. It makes the abstract idea of perspective concrete and approachable, supporting repeated practice across settings.

Why Teach Perspective Taking?

Supporting perspective taking in elementary grades promotes a positive trajectory in academic and social development. Explicitly teaching this skill leads to numerous benefits:

• Healthier peer relationships and fewer conflicts
• Improved group work and cooperation during academic activities
• Greater classroom inclusion and reduced isolation
• Enhanced problem-solving and negotiation skills
• Early empathy development, serving as a foundation for emotional growth
• Increased ability to interpret classroom or playground dynamics more accurately
• Reduced misunderstandings and improved self-advocacy

Because so much of school, especially in the early years, involves collaborative tasks and peer-to-peer interaction, students who can take another’s perspective are better equipped to adapt, compromise, and relate in healthy ways. This in turn improves not only individual well-being but the climate and culture of the entire classroom.

Lesson Plan: Using Understanding Others’ Point of View Poster

This no-prep PDF poster serves as a visual anchor for discussion, guided practice, and ongoing reference. Here’s how to introduce and extend its use with elementary students:

Step 1: Download and Print the Poster

Start by accessing the poster at this link. Print enough copies for your classroom (one large display for group instruction, and optionally, individual copies for students or small group spaces). Laminate if possible for durability.

Step 2: Introduce the Concept in Context

Gather students and begin a discussion about how people might think, feel, or react differently to the same situation. Use concrete and relatable examples, such as disagreements over playground games or feeling left out during group work. Introduce the poster and review each section together.

Read aloud the statements on the poster. For example: “I can guess how someone might feel in a situation, even if it’s different from how I feel.” Pause after each statement, asking students for examples from their own experience. Invite children to draw connections between these statements and the feelings of classmates or family members in recent situations.

Step 3: Group Practice With Short Scenarios

Use brief, everyday scenarios to model how to use the poster as a thinking tool. For example:

• “Imagine that today on the playground, some friends start a game, but one person is left out. How might that person feel? What clues can we use to guess their feelings?”
• “If you really want to be line leader but someone else is chosen, what might you feel? What might the other person feel?”

Refer back to specific phrases or questions from the poster throughout the discussion. This reinforces that the poster is not just a decoration but an active help for thinking through new or tricky situations.

Step 4: Encourage Peer Sharing

Invite students to share times when they noticed someone else feeling differently than themselves. Use a think-pair-share format or whole-group circle discussion. As students share, point to particular parts of the poster and prompt them to use the language included to explain their thinking. For example, “Can you tell us how you guessed how your friend was feeling?” or “What clues did you notice?”

This dialog builds understanding and confidence as children see that their classmates also work through these skills. It also normalizes the process of thinking about others’ perspectives, making it part of everyday conversation.

Step 5: Visual Placement and Ongoing Reference

Display the poster in a location where students can easily see and use it. Near the classroom meeting spot, centers, or behavioral reflection areas are all good choices. Refer to it during conflicts, group work, or when processing playground or lunchroom incidents. Encourage students to check the poster independently before asking for adult help with peer misunderstandings.

Provide photocopies for students who might benefit from having an individual reference in their folders, lockers, or take-home materials. Send a copy home with a brief message for families about the classroom focus on perspective taking.

Step 6: Targeted Extension Activities

For students requiring more intensive guidance, adapt the poster for role-play or journaling. Create simple scripts where students respond to a situation first from their own view, then using perspective taking skills referenced on the poster. Alternatively, task students with drawing two faces and writing what each person might be thinking or feeling in a shared situation, using the poster as a guide.

Supporting Perspective Taking After the Activity

Once the poster is introduced and incorporated into daily routines, there are numerous ways to reinforce and extend learning:

• Praise and highlight moments when students spontaneously use perspective taking in class (“I noticed you asked Olivia how she felt when you both wanted the swing. That shows you are thinking about others.”)
• Link perspective taking praise or prompts to classroom agreements or rules (“Remember, one of our goals is to think about how others might feel. Let’s check the poster if we are not sure.”)
• Use the poster as a preventative measure, referring to it before transitions or potentially challenging events
• Continue using literature or video-based scenarios, pausing to have students identify and discuss multiple perspectives
• Encourage reflection after conflicts or misunderstandings, guiding students through the steps outlined on the poster (“Let’s use our poster to think through what happened. How might your classmate have felt?”)
• Invite students to create their own short examples or scenarios that exemplify perspective taking, posting them near the main poster

For students who require additional support, collaborate with school counselors, psychologists, or families to provide more repetition and practice opportunities at home or in other settings. Consistency across environments helps students internalize and generalize these skills.

Wrapping Up: Growing a Classroom Culture of Perspective Taking

Investing time in perspective taking instruction reaps benefits that extend well beyond one lesson or discussion. When students are routinely guided to think about what others might be thinking or feeling, they build habits of empathy, greater self-awareness, and stronger social problem solving. Visual tools like the ‘Understanding Others’ Point of View’ poster provide a concrete, consistent reminder and support for young learners working toward these goals.

By introducing the poster as a daily reference and integrating it into classroom routines, group work, and restorative conversations, educators and clinicians can help all students—regardless of their starting point—move toward more caring, thoughtful, and effective interactions every day. The poster provides the visual anchor, but it is the ongoing, supported use of this resource that cultivates a community where every student’s perspective is valued.

To download and print your own copy of the Understanding Others’ Point of View poster for elementary students, visit this link.