Professionals supporting bereaved children, including school counsellors, hospice staff, social workers and child therapists, may find this booklet useful when helping families talk honestly about death. It gives clear language for difficult conversations and outlines child bereavement activities that can be adapted for kids, teenagers and their adult caregivers.
In sessions, the booklet can be used to prepare caregivers for conversations with children, then to choose structured grief activities that match a child’s age, understanding and relationship with the person who died. It is especially suited to clinicians and practitioners working with bereaved children and families after illness, sudden death, suicide, homicide, stillbirth or accidents.
The early sections focus on what to ask before supporting a child, such as what they have already been told, the family’s cultural or religious approach to death, previous losses, coping patterns and the importance of the relationship. The guidance encourages adults to use simple, truthful explanations rather than vague phrases such as “passed away” or “gone”.
Practical wording is included for explaining different types of death, answering repeated questions, reassuring children that they are loved, and making clear that the death was not their fault. There is also detailed guidance on talking about sadness, what “dead” means, funerals, open caskets, burial and cremation in child-friendly language.
The activity framework covers processing the circumstances of the death, understanding grief and loss, recognising feelings and behaviours, practising coping skills, honouring memories and identifying support. Named exercises include All About Me, Timeline, Way-No Way, Feelings Body, Inside/Outside Feelings, Letting Go of Regrets, Memory Book or Box, Memory Candle and Who Helps Me.
Prepared by Providence Hospice of Seattle’s Safe Crossings Children and Teen Grief Support Program, it offers a practical grief counselling handout for professionals who need concrete prompts, bereavement activities and caregiver guidance in one place.
