Ways to Participate in Children's Grief Awareness Day

See all the ways that you can take part in observing Children's Grief Awareness Day — all year round!

• Virtual Children's Grief Awareness Day
• Illuminating HOPE
• Holding On To HOPE
• Other Activities

The Children's Grief Awareness Day theme for 2024 was "Here for Each Other," highlighting the importance of coming together as a community to support those who are grieving.

Experiencing the loss of someone special is overwhelming. Going through that experience all alone makes it that much more difficult. Sharing our journey brings us together and can help to lighten the load.

Whether we ourselves are grieving, or we know someone else who is going through these tough times, we need to remember that we are HERE FOR EACH OTHER!

Virtual Children's Grief Awareness Day

On Thursday, Nov. 21, 2024, the Highmark Caring Place hosted the Fifth Annual VIRTUAL Children's Grief Awareness Day. All of the videos can be found on the Highmark Caring Place YouTube channel where you can find a wide variety of reflections on grief and hope.

A listing of the day's presentations and activities is shown here:

• Terese LaVallee (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) — Children's Grief Awareness Day Introduction and Guided Moment of Silence by the Highmark Caring Place Executive Director
• Cam Heyward & Charlotte Heyward-Blackwell (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) — Presentation and Q&A with Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro defensive end and 2024 NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year, along with his mother, recorded with grieving children and families from the Highmark Caring Place
• Kurt Angle (Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania) — Words of hope from Olympic Gold Medalist and WWE Hall of Famer with Memory Flag Activity Tutorial featuring Alexa Livelsberger and Melissa Reagan
• Children's Grief Awareness Day Champions (Morgantown, West Virginia) — Champions from West Virginia University will speak on what it's like to play for and honor children who are grieving, as well as for their own loved ones who have died
  • Zya Nugent (Denison, Texas), WVU Women's Basketball
  • Toby Okani (Orange, New Jersey), WVU Men's Basketball
  • Elijah Kinsler (Oradell, New Jersey), WVU Football
• Matthew Schaefer (Stoney Creek, Ontario) — Interview with Children's Grief Awareness Day Champion and NHL prospect/Defenseman for the Erie Otters
• Kevin Johnson (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — Speaking on grief and what inspired him to write the children's book Cape, a story about loss and love
  • Cape Overview and Activity — Resource for Grieving Children
• Kathryn Millroy (Wilmington, North Carolina) — Reading her book Kids on Carousels and Q&A
• Krista Ball (Warrendale, Pennsylvania) & Nathan Marshall (Wellsburg, West Virginia) — Here for Each Other: Spreading Messages of Support and Hope through Children's Grief Awareness Day, presentation by two of the organizers of Children's Grief Awareness Day
• National Alliance for Children's Grief (Lubbock, Texas) — Flip the Script: From Words to Action When Supporting Children Who Are Grieving
• Music to Feel, Heal & Connect — Reveal of this year's Spotify Grief Tracks Playlist, a playlist filled with songs submitted via our social media channels that comfort you in your grief or connect you with your loved one who died
• Illuminating Hope Reminder — Take a moment to create a memorial butterfly to add to our virtual Butterfly Garden at HOPE.highmarkcaringplace.com

2023 Presentations

On Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023, the Highmark Caring Place hosted the 2023 VIRTUAL Children's Grief Awareness Day.

An outline of the day's presentations and activities is shown below.

The videos are available on a playlist for viewing any time. You can also go to the Highmark Caring Place's YouTube channel for these and dozens of further videos focused on children and grief (youtube.com/HighmarkCaringPlace).

• Cameron Heyward (Pittsburgh Steelers) — Presentation and conversation with grieving children who attend the Highmark Caring Place (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
• AEW Wrestling — Interview with Brodie Lee Jr., 11-year-old son of AEW Wrestling Legend Brodie Lee (1979‐2020), on Finding Hope in Grief (Tampa Bay, Florida)
• The Invisible String — Book Introduction & Reading by New York Times Best-Selling Author Patrice Karst (Ventura, California)
  • The Invisible String Activity presented by the Highmark Caring Place
• Here for You Cards of Support — Illustration Tutorial by Artist & Illustrator Luke Flowers (Colorado Springs, Colorado)
  • Create Your Own Card of Support Activity presented by the Highmark Caring Place
• Preview of the Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters vs. Saginaw Spirit Special Children's Grief Awareness Day Promotional Hockey Game (Friday, November 17)
• Interview with Brett McCutcheon about The Ocean — Five Years, Brett's musical tribute written in loving memory of his brother Ryan (Wexford, Pennsylvania)
  • Featuring the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and vocals by June Bracken and The Voice Finalist Chris Jamison
• Pause Naturally: Finding Eco-friendly Rituals to Help Us Take Time for Our Grief — Presentation by Kiri Meyer, Bereavement Programs Manager, Eluna (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
• Flipping Your Grief Support Scripts presented by National Alliance for Children's Grief (NACG)
• Supporting Kidds — A Grief Activity for Kids and Families (Hockessin, Delaware)
• Mandala Weaving/Happy Drum Activity presented by The Hummingbird Program, Penn State Health Children's Hospital (Hershey, Pennsylvania)
• Moment of Silence in Memory of those who have died, and in Honor of children grieving those losses
• Pause to Listen: Beats That Take You Back — Reveal of the 2023 Spotify Grief Tracks Playlist
  • Songs submitted via our social media channels that help us feel supported and/or remind us of our loved ones
• Illuminating Hope — Create a memorial butterfly to add to the 2023 virtual mosaic mural at hope.highmarkcaringplace.com.

2022 Presentations

Welcome

• Children's Grief Awareness Day Kick-Off — Highmark Caring Place (Terese LaVallee, Executive Director‐Pittsburgh, Erie, Harrisburg & Warrendale, Pa.)

Preschool Block

• Book Reading & Activity by author of The Goodbye Book (Todd Parr‐Berkeley, CA)
  • Goodbye Book Coloring Sheet
• The Healing Chickadee & her Tweethearts — Introduction and Sing-Along (Terry Clarke Murphy‐Westminster, Md. & Christina Connors‐Greenwich, Conn.)

Elementary Block

• Presentation and Activities by author of A Parent's Guide to Managing Childhood Grief (Katie Lear‐Charlotte, N.C.)
  
  • My Grief Worry Brain Worksheet 1
  • My Grief Worry Brain Worksheet 2
  • 5 Senses Memories Worksheet
• Presentation for Those Supporting Grieving Elementary-Aged Children (Katie Lear‐Charlotte, N.C.)
• Book Reading and Activity by artist of My Blue Is Happy (Catia Chien‐Sao Paulo, Brazil)
• Simile Activity by author of My Blue Is Happy (Jessica Young‐Ontario, Canada)

Middle/High School Block

• Grief Maze Activity (Tori Rehak, Brighter Days Grief Center‐Eden Prairie, Minn.)
• Presentation to Those Supporting Grieving Teens (Corrie Sirota, Myra's Kids‐Montreal, Quebec)

Story Reading and Activity by "What's Your Grief?" (Eleanor Haley‐Baltimore, Md.)

Community Block

• Presentation on the Importance of Crisis Response Dogs (Doug Dunbar, HOPE Animal-Assisted Crisis Response‐Erie, Pa.)
• Presentation and Activity on Drug Overdose Deaths by author of Someone I Love Died from a Drug Overdose (Melody Ray‐Ebensburg, Pa.)

"We Laugh, Because… Grief" — Grief Talks Webinar (Highmark Caring Place, Pa.)

Grief Cooks by Family Hospice, Part of UPMC (Elizabeth Schandelmeier & Laura Rausch, Pittsburgh, Pa.)

Preview of Ontario Hockey League's Erie Otters vs. Saginaw Spirit special Children's Grief Awareness Day Hockey Game (original game postponed because of weather; rescheduled Erie Otters vs. Windsor Spitfires game played on Friday, Dec. 9, 2022)

Special Guest Speaker: Amanda Huber from AEW Wrestling (Tampa Bay, Fla.)

Family Block

• Special Guest Speaker: Brian Griese, former NFL Quarterback & Founder of Judi's House for Grieving Children and Families (Denver, Colo.)
• "The Worry Monster Box" Activity — Hannah Pan, Judi's House
  • Worry Monster Box Activity

Presentation on Where to Find Grief Support (National Alliance for Children's Grief, Lubbock, Texas)

Children's Grief Awareness Day Closing — Terese LaVallee

• 2022 Illuminating Hope Mosaic Mural reveal
• Moment of Remembrance
• Special Thank You for Supporting Children's Grief Awareness Day

See recordings of the presentations and activities from the 2021 virtual event.

See recordings of the presentations and activities from the 2020 virtual event.

Illuminating HOPE

After a loved one dies, there is a sense in which life feels darker, as if some light and color are drained from the world.

The Highmark Caring Place invites you to help shine a light of hope in this darkness through our Virtual Illuminating HOPE campaign.

Illuminating HOPE is a one of a kind gathering of virtual butterflies, each one a message of love and honor and support. People from across the world create and contribute virtual butterflies:

• In MEMORY of loved ones who have died
• In HONOR of a child or adult who is grieving
• In SUPPORT of grieving children, adults, and families everywhere

The butterflies are added to a special Butterfly Garden on the Illuminating HOPE website. These messages of transformation and hope show children that they are not alone — that they are cared about and supported in their grief.

Seen as a whole, this garden is beacon of hope to all who are grieving the death of a loved one.

Go to HOPE.HighmarkCaringPlace.com to participate in our virtual Illuminating HOPE.

Holding On To HOPE

When someone we love dies, it hurts, sometimes more than we ever thought it could hurt. Although it can seem as if the intense pain will never go away, it can ease over time. Grief lasts a lifetime—we will miss them forever—but there is HOPE.

In those times that it hurts the most, we can hold on to the hope that "it won't always hurt so bad."

We invite you to join us in Holding On To HOPE.

Will you Hold On To HOPE?

Show grieving children "I care and I am here."

How to Participate

Create a Holding On To HOPE tribute placard to show your support:

• Download the "Holding On To HOPE" image below and print it out
• On the placard, let people know WHO or HOW:
  • WHO you're Holding On To HOPE for
  • Or HOW you're Holding On To HOPE
• Then share a photo on social media using #childgriefday

WHO you're Holding On To HOPE for:

• Is there a grieving child that you are keeping in mind? You might add their name or initials to your sign.
• Are you a grieving child (or adult) yourself? You could Hold On To HOPE in memory of someone you love. Who is that person, and what memories do you want to share about them?
• Do you know a group or an organization that works to support grieving children? You can Hold On To HOPE in support of this group. Who is the organization, and what do they do to make you proud of their work?
• Or you may simply want to Hold On To HOPE in support of all grieving children and send out HOPE from yourself, your family or your group.

HOW you're Holding On To HOPE:

In what way or ways will you help grieving children find hope? You can:

• Educate yourself about the needs of grieving children
• Volunteer your time with an organization that works to support grieving children
• Raise awareness of what these children experience, and of their need for support

Download the "Holding On To HOPE" PDF and print it for yourself.

HOPE the Butterfly was created to spread this message of hope to grieving children across the world. No one can just take away a child's grief. No one can bring back the person who has died. But we can show grieving children that they're not alone. We can show them we care. We can show them we're there for them.

Grieving children can hold on to our support, our care. Grieving children can hold on to hope.

Other Activities

Many other activities, large and small, can raise awareness of grieving children. Look through the activities described here, or come up with some of your own, and do what you can to spread the word to those around you of the impact of death on children and of the importance of support in helping them to find HOPE in the midst of their grief.

The most basic way to participate in Children's Grief Awareness Day is to have as many people as possible — children and adults — wear blue. Publicity about the reason for wearing blue — to show awareness of grieving children — allows the entire community to know what Children's Grief Awareness Day is about.

Activities for families

The descriptions of the following activities are oriented mostly toward groups or organizations, but many of them can also be easily adapted for families or individuals. As you read through the list of options, see what would work best for you and your family!

Publicizing your activities

If you're planning an event for Children's Grief Awareness Day, let people in your area know what will be coming up by publishing announcements in media including bulletin boards and newsletters, Facebook pages and websites. Look here for ideas on how to word these announcements in the weeks and days leading up to your event.

Activities

Please take some time to look at the many activities that have been shared with us from partner organizations over the years. If you have additional ideas for activities, please share them with us. We will highlight as many as possible.