Talking to children about death
At the moment, every day brings news of people dying from Covid-19, either at home or abroad. This creates a lot of anxiety, both for adults and children. It can be hard to know how to respond if children ask you about people dying. But it doesn’t hurt children to talk about death. If they’re worried about it, it’s important to be honest and open to discussing it with them.
Partnership for Children has over 20 years’ experience of providing lessons for children on this topic, as part of our Skills for Life programmes. Indeed, Zippy’s Friends is well-known to some as ‘the programme where you talk to children about death’! One parent said, ‘I was really surprised. Before, my son would worry about death, but now he has discussed it in Zippy’s Friends, he accepts it as part of life.’
We’ve produced a short video which gives useful advice on how to talk to children about this sensitive topic. We’ve also produced activities to help you and your child cope if someone close to you dies, and to show a bereaved friend that you care about them.
