The Grief Self-Exploration House is a great means for helping kids to understand their grief and what’s really important. Remember, when you’re helping a child to grieve, your role is to walk alongside them and help to facilitate the process of them working through their own grief, not to do their work for them. We originally found this awesome idea at The Grief Center. Here is how it works:

1. On a sheet of paper, have the child draw a picture of a house with the following specifications. Make sure they leave plenty of room in each section and object for writing or drawing. (You might want to use a large piece of paper.):
   • The house should have three stories and a roof.
   • The house should have a door on the first floor.
   • The roof of the house should include both a chimney and a flag.
2. If you’d rather not draw the picture, we’ve created a pdf file with a template (with and without instructions) at this link.
3. Have the child fill out each section of the house with words or drawings (depending on their age) as indicated below.
4. If the child wants to talk about what they’re writing or drawing, engage in those conversations but try not to force them to talk about anything they don’t want to.

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