About Pip's kit

Pip’s Kit support children aged 5–10 years who have a parent or carer with incurable cancer or is in end of life care.

Pip’s Kit helps children understand what dying and grief mean; provides ways of coping; gives ideas on how to collect family memories, and helps families communicate.

Pip & Mini Pip A toy for the child to cuddle and confide in. A smaller version to be given to the sick parent to promote a connection between the parent and child.
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  • Children aged between 5 and 10 years old. Younger children will need more adult help to explore and engage with the kit. There will be parts that younger children may not fully understand but the kit content lays down the foundation for the family to work on.

  • Cuddly Pips (one big and one small) for the child and parent. Activities and age appropriate information for the child and the family to help with communication, creating memories, expressing emotions and understanding cancer, dying and grief.

  • This resource has been designed to be taken home and explored by the child and family. Some families may need or prefer support with the kit from their medical or social care team.

    There is no prescribed way of using the kit. Not all the tools need to be used. The kit should be used at the child’s pace, for example, children can engage with certain tools, have initial discussions and put the kit away until another time. 

  • The majority of Pip’s Kits will be used in the home. Alternatively kits can be used in hospitals, hospices, cancer charity spaces, schools, in therapy settings - anywhere really.

  • Yes, this is what the Pip's Kit is all about to help support children with their pre-bereavement and help create meaningful memories right until the end.

  • Certainly. The text refers to parents but all the activities and information can be used to help support children facing any bereavement. Grief is grief.

  • Pip’s Kit is designed for 5-10 year olds. There is a range of activities within the kit to suit different emotional and developmental capacities as obviously every child is different. Younger children will need more help with the reading and understanding but we hope that the process of facilitation delivered by the adult will be an important source of comfort for the child. 

  • The kit can be used anytime after a parent's diagnosis. It aims to teach children new coping skills which can be used right away.

  • No. Pip’s Kit can be used regardless of the life limiting disease the parent has. You can remove the What is Cancer? in the information pack.

  • I’m afraid not at the moment as we are a tiny organisation and all the funds from the kits go back into printing and making more kits. But the online version is free at www.pipskit.com

  • No. We have the Coping Cards, the Activity Ideas bundle and the Grown Ups booklet to buy separately.

  • No. You will need one Pip Kit and an 'Extra Child Pack'. This ensures each child receives the necessary tools. If a family has three children they will need one Pip Kit and two Extra Child Packs, and so on.

  • Fruit Fly Collective is a small arts and health team and we are fortunate to work with an amazing group of experts in the health and social care fields who reviewed all the Pip's Kit’s tools. They work in different settings across the UK such as hospitals, hospices, cancer charities and support centres as well as in academia and have lots of experience with childhood bereavement and family therapy.