resources + links | activities for young children | activities for teens

Many children who are grieving the death of someone, or who are witness to traumatic loss, such as is happening with recent tragedies, feel emotion on many levels, not the least of which is physical. Planning activities for children and teens that allows them to express their feelings provides a healthy and effective outlet for the many emotions they are experiencing. These activities can also bring parents and children together, at a time when the support of the family is of unparalleled importance.

Scream Box

Equipment: Cereal box, paper towel tube, tape, paper, scissors.

1. Stuff a cereal box with crumpled paper.
2. Close the cereal box and cut a hole in the top for the paper towel tube.
3. Tape the paper towel tube to the hole in the cereal box.
4. Decorate the box however you want.
5. Scream into the box!!!

Mad Box

Equipment: Box of any size, tape, paper.

1. Fill the box with paper, you can cut pictures from a magazine or write down things that make you mad.
2. Tape the box shut.
3. Use a plastic bat, bataka, or jump on the box until its in shreds.
4. Burn or recycle the remnants!

Worry Beads

Equipment: Sculpy clay, toothpick, old cookie sheet.

1. Create beads from clay; use a toothpick to put a hole in the middle.
2. String the beads after baking in the oven according to package directions.

Clay Sculpting

Equipment: Clay or playdough, water for softening clay.

1. Use the clay to mold into different shapes.
2. The feel of the clay can be soothing, anger can be released when children through it onto a hard surface.

Getting at Guilt - Children Struggling with Guilt over Loss

Equipment: Small, safe space, telephone books.

1. Sit with the child or children in a circle and talk openly about how you have experienced guilt feelings when someone died.
2. Ask if the children have had feelings like that and then have each person say "its not your fault" to the person next to them.
3. Tear up the phone books while saying "its not my fault!", letting the momentum build as you tear up more books!
4. Cool down by stuffing the paper (your guilt) into trash bags or by sitting in a quiet place, discussing the children's feelings.

Some more activities for helping children through a crisis:

• Setting up building blocks and knocking them down

• Pillow fights

• Fill a plastic bag with plastic bottles and let the children kick the bottles, find a safe place to go and throw

• stones, running.

Some quieter ways of expressing emotions:

• Drawing pictures of what makes you mad and bombarding them with clay

• Drawing pictures

• Writing poetry, journals, letters to a friend, to the president, to the

• terrorists.

• Sitting and talking or listening to music with friends.

Actions to show you can make a difference:

• Create and send thank you cards to the police and fire rescue workers.

• Do (extra) chores to raise $ to send to the Red Cross (could put a chart

• on the refrigerator so kids can check off chores they've done; could also

• create a separate piggy bank/place for $ so kids can physically

• deposit/see/count it throughout week - and have something concrete to hand

• in.

•  

• Say prayers for those hurt and to help those in rescue/leadership.

• Sing songs with family or group or make up a song to share with others.

• Put up an American flag or make your own flag to fly.

• Create "friendship bracelets" - let them pick their colors for friends or

• ideas and tell you what they mean.

• Don't listen to hurtful names and jokes - try to stop them.

• Practice doing nice things for people you meet.