We’d all like to protect our children from tragedy, but even young children often hear about or are exposed to tragic events. If you’re wondering how to help your children understand and cope with the September 11 anniversary, I’m sharing some posts today that give helpful ideas for talking with children about tragic events like 9/11.
I’ll also share some posts with ideas for activities that would be good to share with children on 9/11. Just choose the activities and ideas that fit your child’s age and level of understanding.
Ideas for Helping Children Understand 9/11
How to Talk to Your Kids About September 11: An Age-by-Age Guide from iVillage
7 Tips: How to Talk to Our Kids about 9-11 from A Daddy Blog
Talk to Children about 9/11 from 9/11 Memorial (includes links to tips and lesson plans)
10 Ways to Talk to Kids About World Events in the News from Education.com
“Parents in action: Discussing 9/11 with your children” (video for parents from the 10th anniversary in 2011)
Nick News: “What Happened? The Story of September 11, 2001″ (video published for the 10th anniversary in 2011 that’s best for older children who have a lot of questions about what happened)
Patriot Day in United States (information for older children)
9/11 Activities for Children
Montessori’s Education as Peace in Honor of 9/11 from My Confessions of a Montessori Mom Blog
Montessori-Inspired Peace Education Activities
Sept 11th Picture Book and Sept. 11th Tues + Blue Skies: Then + Now from RainbowsWithinReach.
Firefighter Sensory Tub from Lightning Bug Literacy
Shape Fire Engine from I Can Teach My Child
Firefighter Printables (such as fireman magnet pages) from Making Learning Fun
Community Helpers Theme from PreKinders
Community Helpers Theme from First School
Community Helper Theme Pinterest Board by Jolanthe @ Homeschool Creations
Teachers and the 9/11 Anniversary from The New York Times
September 11th, Patriot Day Half Staff Flag Guidance
Talking with Children about Death: Creating an “I Remember” Book (can be adapted for an event like 9/11 for families who lost a loved one)
Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who suffered and are suffering today.
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I'm Deb Chitwood. My header photo models are my children, Christina, at 1 1/2, my son, Will, at 3, and Christina again at 16. Christina is now 22, and Will is 27. Please see the 
Deb, this is such a comprehensive and helpful list. Your work is always superlative in every way. I am grateful for your including my picture book in your list of resources. I have had visitors today as a result of your generously linking my work into your list of resources.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Debbie Clement
RainbowsWithinReach
Debbie Clement recently posted..Sept. 11th Tues + Blue Skies: Then + Now
Thanks so much for your kind words, Debbie! It was my pleasure to link to your inspiring work. I’m so glad to hear you’ve received visitors from my post. I just added your latest post, too.
Deb recently posted..Montessori-Inspired Ideas for Enjoying Books with Your Child or Students
This is such a wonderful resource about such a difficult- but important- topic. Thank you.
Carolyn recently posted..22 Pleasantest Things For Fall
Thanks, Carolyn! It is a difficult topic. I can clearly remember talking with my own children about it. They were 11 and 16 at the time, so it was easier to know what to say than if they had been younger. But it’s definitely helpful to know what the experts recommend for each age.
Deb recently posted..Montessori-Inspired Ideas for Enjoying Books with Your Child or Students
Great resource! I honestly was not prepared for today. I wish I would have read this yesterday!
Adrienne recently posted..5 Tips to Help Make Spelling Fun!
Thanks so much, Adrienne! The day always shocks me when it arrives each year. I’ll have to remember to put this on Facebook and Twitter the day before 9/11 from now on.
Deb recently posted..Montessori-Inspired Ideas for Enjoying Books with Your Child or Students
What a GREAT resource! I am sharing it on my Facebook page as well as bookmarking it for myself to refer to when pumpkin gets a little older! thanks so much for sharing it!
Thanks so much for your kind comment and for sharing my post, Shannon! Your 9/11 experience is so frightening. I hope even children who are too young to remember 9/11 can learn messages to help create a better future.
Deb recently posted..Montessori-Inspired Ideas for Enjoying Books with Your Child or Students
This is great, and not just because you included my post in it.
As my wife Shannon wrote just above, this is a great resource. Thank you for sharing all of this.
Thanks so much, Michael! I really appreciated your post. It was wonderful to find resources that can help parents with difficult questions about such a tragic event.
Deb recently posted..Montessori-Inspired Ideas for Enjoying Books with Your Child or Students
Thanks for all of these resources. It hasn’t come up in our house as our boys are still young and at home with me but I am pinning this to return to. I really appreciated the age by age guide!
Jackie Higgins recently posted..Book Activity: Nuts to You
Thanks, Jackie! I always liked to have resources available for when I needed them. I even had a small section of children’s books about death when my kids were little. I was really glad I had them when we faced the unexpected death of my grandmother.
Deb recently posted..Montessori Monday – DIY Cosmic Nesting Boxes, Map Towers, and “Me on the Map” Activities