Grief worksheet for kids

Summary

• Use grief worksheets for kids to facilitate healthy self-expression and normalize the complex emotions associated with the loss of a loved one.

• Engage youth in creative activities like memory boxes, collaging, and letter writing to help them maintain a meaningful connection with those they have lost.

• Implement structured exercises such as the "grief sentence completion" prompts to improve a child's internal coping strategies and emotional understanding.

• Download this kids printable grief worksheets resource to provide essential psychoeducation and support during individual or group therapy sessions.

• Prevent long-term adverse mental health outcomes by using these tools to help children navigate grief-related anxiety, depression, and somatic complaints.

Losing a loved one is hard for everyone. However, children may find grief and loss confusing and need help processing their feelings. 

This article provides an overview of grief worksheets for kids, including examples of grief activities for elementary students and youth. 

We’ve also included a free downloadable kids printable grief worksheet for therapists to save to their electronic health record (EHR) and use in their practice. 

How can grief worksheets for kids help?

Grief can have a profound impact on a child’s coping and well-being, both during their loss and across their lifespan. This highlights the importance of helping them come to terms with their loss through the use of grief worksheets for kids.

The emotional distress of loss can leave children feeling shocked, confused, and sad. However, a lack of internal skills and external resources to process their grief puts them at high risk for adverse psychological and physical health outcomes. 

Research suggests that prolonged or unmanaged childhood grief is associated with increased risk of poor physical and mental health outcomes, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), behavioral problems, and somatic complaints, both during the grieving process and in their future functioning. 

Grief worksheets for kids are a valuable, structured tool to help children navigate their grief in several ways. 

These worksheets can:  

• Facilitate the self-expression of their thoughts and emotions

• Normalize the grieving process

• Provide meaning for their grief

• Help children better understand their feelings

• Strengthen coping strategies

• Create ways to maintain a connection with their loved one

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Grief activities for kids

There are several grief activities for youth and elementary-aged students, including:

Letter writing

This activity involves writing a letter to a loved one to express feelings about the loss, the impact the person had on their life, and to share any thoughts that were left unsaid.

Grief sentence completion

The grief sentence completion exercise involves using prompts to process grief, remember their loved ones, maintain a connection, and adjust to life without them. 

These prompts might include:

• I wish I could tell you ______________

• When I think about losing you, I feel ________________

• I wish I had time to ________________

• I feel most sad about ________________

• I want you to know that ________________

• I will remember you by ________________

Memory box

This grief activity involves using a physical container to store memories, photos, drawings, letters, or other items that remind you of your loved one.

Emotions wheel

Using an emotion faces chart or feelings wheel can help children identify and express their feelings about grief and loss.

Gratitude notes

This exercise involves writing gratitude notes, letters, or journaling about what they are grateful for in the person they lost.  

Collaging

In this activity, children can create a family scrapbook, collage, or other piece of art that includes pictures, notes, or other memorabilia that reminds them of their loved one.

Memory or rock garden

This exercise involves creating an outdoor space that symbolizes their loved one, with notes or memories written on rocks, or planting a tree in memory of the person they have lost. 

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How to use the grief worksheet for kids

You can download and use the kids printable grief worksheet in several ways.

For example, use the worksheet to provide psychoeducation to kids about grief. 

Engage the client in one of the grief activities for children during the session. Alternatively, ask the client or their family to practice one of the grief activities between sessions and report their reflections at their next therapy appointment.

You can also use the grief worksheets for kids in group therapy sessions to encourage clients to share more about their experience of grief with other participants.

Share the worksheet with coworkers, leave copies in your waiting room, or use it to provide training to interns or supervisees on processing grief with kids.

Lastly, combine the kids printable grief worksheet with others, such as our stages of grief worksheet, grief sentence completion, grief fact sheet, and our tasks of mourning worksheet.  

Sources

• Dougy Center. (n.d.). Resources for kids. 

• Lawrence, A., Jones, M., & Boles, J. (2022). Helping Children Cope with Loss: Legacy Interventions for the Grieving Classroom. Continuity in education.

• UC Davis Health. (n.d.). Activities for grieving children and families. UC Davis Children's Hospital. 

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