New York Life Foundation
Helping Children, Families, and Communities Grieve
Sesame Workshop and the New York Life Foundation share a deep commitment to supporting families with young children – especially as it relates to coping with death, and the multi-faceted, ever-changing, enduring nature of grief.
Helping Children, Families, and Communities Grieve engages parents or caregivers as well as the most meaningful and influential networks for young children (ages 2-6) to promote understanding and empathy, reduce anxiety and confusion, offer age-appropriate-language and tools to talk about death, and suggest ways of moving through grief together.
The initiative includes multimedia, bilingual (English and Spanish) resources that focus on helping children better understand their own experience of grief and develop empathy for others experiencing grief. The resources also help caregivers continue to parent well and equip community providers with tools to support children and families through several types of grief. This partnership also addresses COVID-19-related deaths and how loss experiences may vary across communities and cultures.
Grief and Change Caused by COVID-19
It’s okay to have feelings of grief when we experience changes big and small.
Remembering
For children and adults, it’s important to celebrate the lives of our loved ones who have died.
Something Small
Show children that even a small memory can help us remember loved ones.
Coloring to Calm Down
Coloring can help both children and grown-ups feel more calm and grounded.
Showing and Sharing Feelings
Naming a big feeling can help children begin to understand it, and later regulate it.
Open Ended Art
Doing open-ended art activities together helps adults and children relax and connect.
Helping Children Through Grief Related To COVID-19
There are ways to help families talk about death, express their feelings, and grieve together.
When Kids Need Special-Special Comfort
In the midst of big changes, comfort items such as small stuffed animals and blankets can provide a sense of continuity in a child’s life.
Cuando los niños necesitan mayor consuelo
En medio de los grandes cambios, un juguete como un animal de peluche o una mantita pueden darle un sentido de continuidad al niño.
Duelo y cambios causados por COVID-19
Es normal tener sentimientos de dolor cuando experimentamos cambios grandes y pequeños.
Cómo superar el dolor por la muerte causada por el COVID-19
Hay maneras para que las familias hablen de la muerte, expresen sus sentimientos y lloren juntas.
Arte libre
Hacer juntos actividades de arte libre ayuda a padres y niños a relajarse y conectarse.
Demostrar y expresar los sentimientos
Saber nombrar los sentimientos fuertes ayuda al niño a comprenderlos y a manejarlos.
Coloréame tranquilo
Colorear ayuda a niños, padres y cuidadores a sentirse más tranquilos y estables.
El recuerdo
Para los niños y los adultos es importante celebrar la vida de nuestros seres queridos que han muerto.
