This activity can help your child feel more secure and resilient by reminding them of the people in their life who can help and support them.

Making a heart picture or garland with your child will show them all the people who are there for them, helping them to recognise that they’re not alone in their grief. 

You will need:

• Card
• String
• Scissors
• Pencil
• Coloured pencils
• Sticky tape

Instructions:

1) Draw the outline of a large heart on the card and cut it out.  Ask your child to write their name on the big heart and decorate it in any way they like. 

2) Ask your child to think of all the people that are there for them and support them – they could be friends, relatives, teachers or any other person who they can talk to and rely upon…even a pet.  

3) Now cut out a smaller heart for each of the people they have named and ask your child to colour these in too. 

4) Use sticky tape to attach some string to each small heart and attach the end of the string to the big heart.  You could make something to hang in your child’s room to remind them of who is there for them, or you could stick the hearts on a piece of paper and make a special picture. 

---

Watch our short guidance film on building resilience in a bereaved child: