Near death experiences (NDEs) can occur during life-threatening events. Children report unsolicited NDE-type experiences that include out of body experiences, bright lights, bedside visions, bi-location, and visiting celestial places. Children's NDEs are simple and carry transcendental features such as a peaceful darkness, a knowing awareness, and time alterations. Children assign a subjective reality to their NDEs. Younger children may demonstrate a visual NDE semiosis that warrants further investigation. The article demonstrates the value of involving children in NDE research through participatory and creative research methods.
Children's near-death experiences (NDEs) are far less studied than those of adults. A review of the literature reveals very few studies that directly involve children and no clear research direction for this area. This scarcity poses challenges for researchers aiming to develop studies with children and generate more knowledge about NDEs. From a phenomenological perspective, children may be a crucial group for investigating consciousness at the time of death and should be included more in fields such as NDE and consciousness studies. This article addresses the lack of evidence by reviewing existing studies on children's NDEs and proposes future directions for involving children in near-death research.