Medical play activities child life

Painful medical procedures are difficult to cope with. As a Certified Child Life Specialist, my role is to prepare children for new experiences while providing a coping plan. I had the opportunity to support my own son for a routine blood test this week. He was quite nervous when his pediatrician mentioned it and I […]

This Calming Find It Game is perfect for changing a child's focus from being upset to concentrating on finding fun objects in a find it game. I love

Medical preparation is a big part of a child life specialist’s job, but what happens if you don’t have the exact tools needed? You make it using loose parts! Working in private practice, I don’t have access to the nurses’ closet, so I had to be creative in making a butterfly needle this week. Here is […]

Teach kids about their lungs and breathing with this simple and easy DIY project using loose parts. Child life specialists, this would be perfect for children with asthma, cystic fibrosis or just to teach how to take slow, deep breaths for distraction and coping. My son’s kinder program created these last week using a balloon, straw […]

Make a blood model in a bottle to help kids learn about the components of blood.

It's a well known fact that I suck at craft, so no doubt many of you will wake this morning to a craft tutorial from me and wondering if our recent house arrest was enough to let the kangaroos loose in my top paddock. Bear with me, I wrote a craft tutorial that no one follows. The girls have been spending their fair share of time at the doctor lately. On our last visit our clever GP made the Little Sister an elephant from a surgical glove. It's an ingenious way to amuse a small person for a…

If you (or your preschooler) has ever asked the question, "what is blood made of?", you must check out this fun activity to learn about the parts of blood.

In honor of Spring finally being upon us, here’s a fun and easy art project: First Aid Butterflies!! . . Things you need: Paper in your choice of color Markers Gauze (or cheesecloth) Band-aid…