About the Guide
Funerals and memorialization can play an important role in helping children, teens, and adults acknowledge a death, express their grief, honor the person who died, and maintain a continuing connection with them. Yet many families are unsure how to include young people in these experiences, and longstanding myths often discourage children’s participation.
Through the generous support of our donors, the Funeral Service Foundation created this booklet, ebook, and video in collaboration with the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG), funeral service professionals, and bereavement experts. Together, these resources help families and caregivers understand the value of involving children and teens in funerals and memorialization, while providing practical guidance to support them in integrating the loss into their lives as they continue to grieve.
New in this edition: a glossary offering guidance on using clear, child-friendly language to explain words and terms that may be unfamiliar, support for talking with children about sudden or unexpected deaths, expanded options for children who choose not to attend, including meaningful ways to participate from a distance, and a directory of professional and children’s grief support resources.
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Offer the guide to families when you bring a child into your care.
Share with local hospices and hospitals, grief centers, religious institutions, and other community outreach organizations.
Download the embed code to share on your website and social media.
COMPANION GUIDES
for Supporting Grieving Children
When someone in a child’s life dies, caregivers are often navigating their own grief while facing questions they’ve never had to answer like how to share the news, whether a child should attend the funeral, and how to help them stay connected to the person who died.
The Youth & Funerals Companion Guides meet caregivers in those moments. Developed in partnership with the National Alliance for Children’s Grief (NACG), this collection of single-topic handouts walks caregivers through each step, from finding the words to tell a child someone has died to continuing bonds long after the service. Compact and shareable, each guide is designed to be placed in a caregiver’s hands exactly when a question arises.
The collection includes:
- Telling a Child Someone Has Died
- Understanding Words About Death and Funerals
- Common Questions About Children & Funerals
- Preparing Children for Funeral Attendance
- Preparing Children for Viewing the Body
- Youth Involvement in Funerals
- Honoring Traditions and Supporting Children
- Continuing Bonds and Support
These companion guides are designed to supplement, not replace, Youth & Funerals. Offer them together: the booklet helps families understand why including children in funerals and memorialization matters, and the companion guides offer practical, topic-by-topic support for how.
Download the Companion Guides
The Youth & Funerals Companion Guides are offered as a free digital download so you can print what you need, when you need it, in-house or through a professional printer.
Offer individual guides to families based on their questions or share the full collection alongside Youth & Funerals.
Share with local hospices and hospitals, schools, grief centers, faith communities, and other organizations that support grieving children.
Print on demand, whenever a family needs them.
Simply submit your information to receive the download link.
DOWNLOAD E-BOOK EMBED CODE
Free to share on your website. Simply submit your information to receive the embed code.