Kids Grieve Too! ® was started over a decade ago to respond to the needs of bereaved children on the Cape. It has grown to offer regular groups for kids of all ages, individual counseling for children, families and adults, community trainings and services in the schools.

• Normalize death as best as you can in your interaction with them

• Have a well-rounded support system: family, friends, church affiliations, schools and counseling programs such as Kid’s Grieve Too!®

• Get your child into support groups with peers who are going through the same experience

• Make memorial rituals e.g. a sacred garden, a memorial altar in the home, memory books, and scrapbooks.

• Honor anniversary dates of loss: e.g. six months, first year, birthdays of loved one who died, holidays.

• Share the space when grieving; children tend to put their grief off to accommodate the parent who is grieving.

• Don’t try to fix the grief. Listen to your child instead. Reassure them that their tears and sadness are normal, and you’d be concerned if they didn’t feel them.

• Keep to regular routines, especially at bedtimes.

• Children know how to grieve naturally; follow their lead.