Make it a priority in your classroom to focus on empathy. The I Care Bag can be exactly what you need to provide your students with the tools to heal and show others we care. One of the goals of the I Care Bag is to develop sensitivities toward others, especially when they have been hurt. Begin by telegraphing to the entire class someone is hurting and needs our attention. You can do this by taking a doctor s hat out of the bag and wearing it, signaling to the class that someone needs our care. Find or purchase a duffle bag and make it into an “I Care Bag . Fill the bag with things that can comfort a child who needs to be comforted.

Contents of the Bag

1- Owie Zowie pillow

2- Band-Aids

3- Scotch Tape

4- soft blanket

5- Elmo doll

6- barf bag

7- spray water bottle

8- Kleenex

9- friendly puppet

10- Wet Wipes

Each day a child is assigned to be the “I Care Doctor . Their job is to notice when others are sad, distressed, unhappy, lonely, etc. They take the bag to the sad child and tell the child that they care. Then they offer suggestions from the bag that might help the child feel better. They stay with the child and serve him/her in a helpful way until the child feels better. They are responsible to repack the bag and to put it away.

– Gene Bedley