How do you talk about something so challenging with little kids? Because the focus of this website is creating resources for Children and youth, one might imagine that death doesn’t come up very often. The truth is, everyone dies and even though children are (hopefully and thankfully) further from the final curtain, we are all touched by death and dying regularly.
Many families opt for a memory table where a photo of the deceased is placed with some objects that represented their personality. Ask children and youth for ideas of items to contribute. Do they have something special their loved one made for them? Something to help them remember a special memory of them?
When putting together a slideshow of the deceased’s life, invite children and youth to add artwork they’ve made that represents their loved one. Photos only capture part of our memories, artwork can convey emotions a photo can’t.
Ask children and youth if they have any school or personal projects they’d like to add to the service. Tori led a service where one grandchild shared a school report she had written about her grandfather a year earlier and it was incredibly moving.
Check-out Shanna’s blog on the topic with book recommendations,