How to use specific activities to help a child grieve

Grief is a difficult process, and knowing how to help a grieving child through that process is even more challenging. Often people avoid talking about death with children, fearing it will make their grief worse. However, activities for children that memorialize their lost loved one or engage the child in conversations about the deceased facilitate the bereavement process.

Things You'll Need

• Photographs
• Paper/notebook
• Pencils
• Crayons/markers
• Empty box

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Instructions

• 1

  Make a memory book/scrapbook. Use any type of notebook or scrapbook or fasten together several sheets of paper. Write down happy memories or stories about the deceased. Include photographs or drawn pictures. Allow the child to choose how to style the book and what to include.

• 2

  Gather movie or sporting event tickets, photographs, poems, cards, or letters and place in a memory box. The child may include a CD that she used to listen to with the deceased or a video tape from a favorite vacation. Anything that reminds the child of their lost loved one can be included.

• 3

  Make an anagram. Vertically write the letters of the deceased's name and ask the child to use the letters to spell words that remind the child of him. For example, "Dad" could be written as "D - devoted, A - always there, D - dog-lover."

• 4

  Help the child host a memorial service. Involve any family or friends the child wants to participate. Let her choose how to arrange the service. Sing or play a song. Allow the child to read a story or poem or say good-bye to the deceased in a way that is comfortable for her.