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Games for Children That Are Grieving

Grief is difficult for anyone, but can be especially challenging for children. Children often don't have the words to express how they're feeling. It's up to the adults in a grieving child's life to find ways to help him deal with his sorrow and to answer questions he might not even realize he has. Simple games are one way grief counselors try to approach the topic of grief.

  1. How Are You Feeling?

    • You'll need 12 handmade cards to play "How Are You Feeling?" The 12 cards represent six particular emotions: happy, frightened, angry, sad, worried and tired. The easiest way to make the playing cards is to draw a simple face to represent the emotions on a piece of paper, copy them to make the matching cards and laminate them. Ask the child to mix the 12 cards up and to lay them face down on a table or the floor. Have her turn cards over one at a time and attempt to find the matching emotion. Once she's found a matching pair, ask the child to tell you if she's ever felt that feeling and what it was like.

    Mad Box Crush

    • "Mad Box Crush" can be played by a group of grieving children. Give each child a box, about the size of a cereal box. Ask the children to cut pictures from magazine or write down things that make them mad and to put those things into the box. Tape the boxes shut and pile them in two piles at one end of the room. Break the group into two teams and ask them to stand in a line behind a mark on the floor. On your "go," each team will send one person down to stomp on the boxes. That person will come back and the next person in line will have a chance to jump on the boxes. While it may feel like a race to crush boxes, this game is really a chance for children to destroy those things that hurt them and make them mad. As a group, discard or recycle the remnants.

    Roar Like a Lion

    • Create a soft landing spot out of gym mats, bean bags or another soft surface. Talk to the child about power and strength and how we have all felt like we were powerless at some point in our lives. Help the child onto a table or steady chair and let him jump off onto the soft surface. As he jumps, ask him to roar like a mighty lion or to yell in a powerful voice. This exercise is designed to help children take back some of the power they lost during a loved one's illness or death and is a good way to help them express their emotions.

    Fruit Ball

    • "Fruit Ball" is another way---albeit a messy one---for children to have fun while expressing their frustration and grief. Use slightly spoiled pieces of fruit as the "ball" in a traditionally played game of baseball. Rather than tagging each other out with a ball, they may tag a runner out with a peach or pear. Rather than throwing a baseball to the shortstop, they may throw a tomato. It's hard not to laugh when a tomato explodes in a player's hands.

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