A Parent's Guide to Managing Childhood Grief: 100 Activities for Coping, Comforting, & Overcoming Sadness, Fear, & Loss

Help your child navigate feelings of sadness and loss with 100 unique, activity-based approaches that help them manage their childhood grief in a healthy and constructive way.

The loss of a loved one is a complex, confusing experience for a child to understand. Children may struggle to express, process, and manage their complicated and conflicting feelings, whether the loss is a parent, grandparent, sibling, or even a pet. So, what should you do to help your child process their sadness, loss, and frustration in a more healthy, positive way?

In A Parent's Guide to Managing Grief, you'll learn everything you need to know about how children grieve and what you can do to support them during their most difficult moments. From there, you'll find 100 activities that you can use in a group setting, activities that you (or another caregiver) can do alone with your child, and ways to make the most of virtual interactions to support a grieving child. Explore activities like:
-Making a scream box
-Playing with clay
-Feelings charades game
-Making a memory bracelet
-And many more!

It can feel difficult to connect with your child as you process your own complicated emotions surrounding loss. Use these activities to help bridge the gap between you and your child and to help you both find comfort in a difficult situation. You'll find all the tools you need to help your child (and even yourself) healthily process your grief and move towards happiness, understanding, and acceptance together.


About the Author
Katie Lear is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, Registered Drama Therapist, and Registered Play Therapist based in Charlotte, North Carolina. She combines creative play with research-based tools to help children, tweens, and teens cope with anxiety and trauma. Her hope is that children can work through big feelings after trauma, stress, or loss by using kid-friendly techniques that are as sophisticated and effective as what adults receive. When she's not in her office, you might see Katie hanging out with her rescue kittens, listening to podcasts, or playing Dungeons and Dragons. Find her online at KatieLear.com.