Perhaps death is a long trip from which the loved one will return. Between the ages of 5 and 9, children are better able to understand the meaning of physical death because of life experiences. They start to worry about the non-existence of people close to them, but sometimes conceive of death as a boogie man, a ghost, an angel of death, something dressed in white or black who takes people away. By the time children are 9 or 10, and usually thereafter, they can formulate more realistic concepts based on biological observations and wider experience. Death is no longer embodied in human or supernatural form.
Death is an end to bodily life.
It is final and universal. The ability to children to understand the reality of death varies, depending not only on their age, but intelligence and social and environmental support from the family. When we confirm or reinforce children's fantasies, we perpetuate underlying fears and impair children's capacity to accept the finality of their losses. Honesty and support are very important here. We must answer their questions.