Grief is Unique: Helpful Activities for Grieving Kids

Everyone experiences and expresses loss and grief in their own ways.

Grief is Unique Helpful Activites for Grieving Kids sad child

Loss is when something or someone important to you is gone, and things won’t be the same as they were before. Grief is the emotional response we have to a loss. While loss is about what is gone, grief is about how you feel because of that loss. Everyone experiences and expresses loss and grief in their own ways.

There are many types of loss we may experience in life, including the death of a loved one, the death of a pet, divorce, a relationship ending, moving, or our health declining. Grief looks and feels differently for everyone. There is no timeline for how long someone may grieve, and everyone processes their grief in unique ways.

Kids are not immune to grief. Even though they are young and may not understand all the nuances, they still feel the pain of loss. It can be hard for them to verbalize what they are feeling. It is important to validate those emotions and try to help them process their grief.

Here are some helpful activities for grieving kids that you can do with a child or group of children to allow them to remember, reflect, and find shared experiences with peers in their loss journeys.

Create a tangible representation of their loss

Ask them to draw a picture of a person or object that represents a loss they are grieving. Once they have completed their drawing, allow them to share their images and talk about their loss, if desired. You can also have them complete this processing activity by handing out modeling clay or playdough so they can create a tangible object that represents whatever loss they’ve experienced.

Use Grief Connection Cards

Copy and cut out the Grief Connection Cards from 30-Minute Groups: Grief for kids to discuss. Read the cards aloud or pass out the cards to read during your discussion. Some examples include:
   When I first heard about my loss, I…
The hardest part about my grief is…
Something I’ve always wondered after my loss is…

Create an acronym to memorialize their loss

Have children write the name of a loved one or a word that describes their relationship with that person/place/thing vertically down the left side of a piece of paper. Next to each letter, have them write descriptive words to memorialize their loved one using each letter of the word as the first letter. For example:
   Dedicated
   Adventure-loving
   Dreamer

Share about the person they lost with another

If working with a group, divide students into pairs. Have them share the name of who they lost, their relationship to that person/place/thing, and one thing they loved most about them.

We hope that these activities are helpful for kids who are struggling with grief.

Written by Makenzie Perkins.

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