Children and Grief--Helping a Child through the Grieving Process

Helping Children Cope with Grief
Children, like adults, experience grief in many different ways, and each has his or her own pace of recovery. There are things that you can do to help a child through the grief process. (full article)

Infants through Adolescents--How Children Cope
Children of different ages have very different reactions to grief. Yvonne Butler Clark's It's Okay to Cry takes a look at each. (full article)

Infants and Toddlers and Grief
Children younger than four can sense that something is wrong as they experience the grief of their primary caretaker. The absence of the mother may cause a clear biological reaction. (full article)

Kids Talk Back--What Children Say about Funerals
These kids' comments were made by children attending Karen Nilsen's STAR class. See what goes through a child's mind, or share your own child's comments. (full article)

Four-to Six-Year-Olds and Grief
Bereaved children between four and six have a limited and literal understanding of death. For a child in this age range, death may be explained in physical terms. (full article)

Memories--An Activity to Help Children through Grief
Children may experience joy and laughter from remembering and sharing specific details about their loved one. (full article)

Seven-to Eleven-Year-Olds and Grief
Children ages seven to eleven are still primarily oriented to the family, and although they've begun to relate to and gain self-identity through their peers, play is still a mode of self-expression. (full article)

Explaining Cremation to a Child
When a deceased family member or friend is cremated or already has been cremated, your child may want to know what cremation is. (full article)

Adolescents 12-17 and Grief
To the emotionally healthy adolescent, death is foreign; it's something they simply do not want to think about. Sometimes self-destructive behavior says "I'm not afraid of death." (full article)

Talking to a Child about Funerals and Death
The days surrounding a death can be a confusing and disorienting time fory
oung children. Children's grief expert and STAR class founder Karen Nilsen talks about how to answer questions and help your child cope. (full article)

Helping Children Cope With Balloon Messages
Melissa Hunter, creator of Heavenly Helium, describes how sending balloons to a departed family member helped her children start communicating and healing. (full article)