ABSTRACT
In every person's life, there comes a point when they must face the reality of death. For children this commonly first happens in the context of the death of an elderly grandparent or a pet. Parents and carers often have very strong feelings of their own in the traumatic circumstances and may feel confused about how to best help their children. Children will make sense of the death of someone in relation to what they already understand about the world. Pre-school and infant children can believe that death is reversible and that the person will come back again. But during the primary school years most children come to understand that death involves a permanent separation. Young children are apt to believe that they caused the death, for example by being naughty. Adults are often not sure about how to help children cope with death and want to protect them from pain.
