Muddles, Puddles and Sunshine - Paperback: Your Activity Book to Help When Someone Has Died (Early Years)

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reading Muddles, Puddles and Sunshine: Your Activity Book to Help When Someone Has Died (Early Years) Everybody develops their own coping mechanisms with unavoidable tragedies and bereavement, but for some children, if it is their first time dealing with such a situation, they have no previous experience of how to process it and the emotional consequences can be overwhelming.

Children learn through play and storytelling so using these tools and activities can really help. Our book Muddles, Puddles and Sunshine has lots of activities you can do with your children to help them cope with their grief – here are a couple of them: Fizzing feelings bottle: Depending on the age of your child, it might also be helpful to involve them in the planning for a funeral or memorial service. For example: You look like you are feeling cross, is that right?” Activities to help children express their feelings

Who’s it for?

The Good Grief Trust: Bereavement support and information, as well as virtual support through a ‘virtual café’ via zoom.

Muddles, Puddles and Sunshine offers practical and sensitive support for bereaved children. Beautifully illustrated, it suggests a helpful series of activities and exercises accompanied by the friendly characters of Bee and Bear. We need to show young children the difference between dead and alive and using nature can be a useful way to help them understand death. You could encourage your children to look at the differences between dead and alive insects or plants and ask them questions like: Losing someone close to us is never easy. But what do we do when someone passes away due to a virus that we don’t really understand? What do we do when we are not able to comfort each other as usual, or even attend funerals to say goodbye? After we have said our goodbyes to Mummy, some music will play and a curtain will go around the special box. Mummy’s body will be moved to a hot room, where it will be turned to ash. Remember the body does not feel any pain so it won’t hurt as the body has stopped working.” If you notice that your child is struggling, help them to name their own emotions too, for example:

We provide a range of individual support which includes;

Muddles, Puddles and Sunshine: Your Activity Book to Help When Someone Has Died (Early Years) full book These examples from nature can help young children to begin to understand the difference between dead and alive people too, and help them slowly start to piece together understanding. How might children’s grief change as they get older? All children, even younger children, will experience a range of emotions after the death of a parent or sibling. Children can be encouraged to explore these emotions through play and observing others. Often adults want to protect children by hiding their emotions, however, sometimes showing children how you feel can help them to understand that it is ok to express their own feelings too.

This simple activity that can help to show young children how feelings can get all mixed up and can be explosive. Shake a bottle of fizzy drink and then take the lid off to show how feelings can burst right out. You could encourage your children to name their own feelings that might be ‘all mixed up’. Then repeat the activity with another bottle, but this time release the lid slowly and show that feelings can also come out in a more managed way. You can talk about the different feelings as they are released. For very young children they might only be able to name very simple feelings such as ‘happy’ or ‘sad’ but this activity can begin to encourage discussion around feelings. Making a memory box: Lots of people will be feeling really sad, as they miss Mummy. They might be crying but that is ok. People might also be smiling or laughing when they remember happy times but that is ok too.” Bounce is a group that runs for 7 weeks it is suitable for children age 7-11 and delivered to groups of 6 during the school day. Bounce is a group for children who have experienced family breakdown; who may be struggling to deal with their parents separating, and therefore loss of a family member (parent, sibling, grandparent, etc). Currently on hold due to Covid 19 Friendship Circle is a group that runs for 7 weeks it is suitable for children age 7-11 and delivered to groups of 6 during the school day. All group members have been identified as having difficulties making and maintaining friendships. Currently on hold due to Covid 19

We provide a range of group work support which can be;

This book offers a structure and an outlet for the many difficult feelings which inevitably follow when someone dies. It aims to help children make sense of their experience by reflecting on the different aspects of their grief, whilst finding a balance between remembering and having fun. This book is a useful companion in the present, and will become an invaluable keepsake in the years to come. Side by Side is a group that runs for 3-4 weeks. It is suitable for Children/young people aged 6-10 and their families. It is for those having difficulty in family/peer relationships, emotional skills and social skills. It can be used where there has been a significant event such as a bereavement loss or trauma and is based on the five ways to wellbeing. There are separate children, young people and adult groups that run simultaneously, then there is a family session which joins the children, young people and adults together. We are often asked whether a child, especially a very young child, should attend a funeral. This is not a straightforward decision and is an individual choice for parents and carers – you know your children’s needs. However, our experience tells us that for some young children, it can be really helpful to be included in a funeral. It can help them understand the significance of what has happened and, when they are older, the memories can help inform their understanding. The death of a parent or sibling is a devastating experience for any child and often adults don’t know what to say or how to support them. If your child is under five then this can be even more difficult because they might not understand what has happened or be able to express their feelings. The expert team at Winston’s Wish offers their advice on how to tell a very young child that someone has died, how to help them express their feelings and whether they should attend the funeral. Should I tell a young child about the death of a parent or sibling? Think about ways you can include the memory of deceased loved ones in special occasions, if this feels right for your family. Should young children attend a funeral?