Grief is hard for EVERYONE. Every child will feel grief at some point in their childhood and we can help them learn how to grieve well. Grieving well = growing toward God while feeling sorrow
Ways You Can Help
Pray for your own wisdom.
Ask questions, listen and pray with your child as they miss a loved one.
Expect that you will not have all the answers.
Ask for encouragement and prayer from friends and family that are following Christ.
Be sensitive to uncharacteristic behavior in your child. It may be a non-verbal response to feelings of grief.
Encourage your child's faith to grow by doing these things together:
reading and memorizing Scripture
singing worship songs
starting a prayer journal
Soon they will grow in trusting God and will feel His comfort.
Resources
This book gently leads children through grief with age-appropriate words and solid biblical truth that understands a child's hurting heart. It is filled with questions and spaces for children to draw and write. Highly recommended.
The child in the story creates a memory box to keep mementos and written memories of the loved one, to help in the grieving process. This book is recommended as an activity, it does not include any thoughts about Jesus, our real comfort.
A father answers questions about what heaven is like to an inquiring cub. Heaven is a place for those in God's family to experience His presence forever! Be sure to underscore that important truth as you read.