At our public programs at Perkins, nothing captures a child's imagination more than the death of suns. Kids aren't usually surprised when they hear our own sun will die. However, they are a bit worried. In fact, life on Earth will die long before the sun does.
Stars are incredibly violent hydrogen bombs.
In five billion years, the sun will swell beyond Earth's orbit, and the surface of our planet will reach thousands of degrees. Earth will French fry. Of course, the sun won't explode when it dies. It's already exploding, for heaven's sake. After several cycles of expansion and contraction, the explosion will cease, and the pressure forcing the sun outward will cease with it.