Digital Puppet Playdates
These live-streamed, one-on-one playdates bring the Camp Quality Puppets to children isolated by cancer straight to their electronic device.
Hospital Puppet Playdates provide positivity and distraction to kids on cancer wards, boosting their wellbeing and offering a welcome respite from treatment.
With their special brand of fun and silliness, the Camp Quality Puppets make everybody on the cancer ward laugh and give kids something to look forward to.
Camp Quality’s incredible puppeteers are experts at bringing our puppet friends to life. Nothing makes them happier than helping your child laugh.
The puppeteers check in with nursing staff and parents to find out which kids would like to spend time with our puppets on the day. Any child on the ward or in clinic is welcome to participate in a playdate – the more the merrier!
The Camp Quality Puppeteers are a talented bunch and are all professionally trained with backgrounds in comedy, clowning, theatre sports, improvisation and, of course, puppetry! We train our performers on the job, so they can be out there in no time, sharing laughter and spreading positivity with our popular puppets.
Under the Camp Quality Puppet Program, we have a team of 20 puppeteers visiting hospitals and schools around the country.
Our lovable puppets visit kids in all the major paediatric oncology wards in hospitals around Australia. This includes:
Louise (00:05:16 – 00:16:07): My name is Louise Larry. I’m Jasmyn’s mom, and she’s three years old. And was diagnosed with high risk B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia
Adam (00:16:07 – 00:18:28): My name is Adam. I’m Jasmyn’s dad.
Louise (00:22:02 – 00:26:04): She didn’t understand why she was going into hospital and she’s three years old. It’s hard to explain.
Adam (00:26:04 – 00:32:16): And once her hair started falling out and stuff, she a lot of the questions came from the three year old.
Louise (00:32:16 – 00:43:16): So the first time we met Camp Quality was the puppets. And most recently, she could hear them in the room that we were in a shared room and she was pretty sick from one of the drugs they’d just given her.
Louise (00:43:16 – 01:02:00): And she was lying down and her stomach cramps and didn’t want to talk to anyone. The lights were dimmed and she could hear the puppets in the room next door in their silly voices. And she’s just sat up, just sat up and said, “the puppets to coming!” And I said to my husband, I hope they come to this room and don’t past because she was so desperate to see them.
Louise (01:02:17 – 01:21:09): And yeah, when she come in, just the laughter, you could see it in the photos that we took. You know, even if it’s just momentarily that she gets to have that smile and be happy and then wants to lie down and and sleep again like it, that’s worth it. That in itself is worth but without all the other stuff, that Camp Quality do, that alone is is enough
Our puppets have a regular visiting schedule with the hospitals, although this is sometimes disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions. To find out if the puppets are visiting your child’s hospital, please contact Camp Quality on 1300 662 267 and ask to speak with the Cancer Education Program Coordinator in your state.
The puppets visit kids in all the major paediatric oncology wards in hospitals around the country. Our puppeteers check with nursing staff and parents to determine which kids would like a playdate. They are also happy to talk to parents and carers about how Camp Quality can support them with our extensive programs and services.
We work with the hospital on a schedule to see as many children as possible while we are there. If you happen to miss the puppets in person at the hospital, you can book a 10-minute one-on-one Digital Puppet Playdate for your child, through their personal electronic device such as a smartphone or tablet.
Camp Quality’s Hospital Puppet Playdates are suitable for all ages. The puppeteers are adept at varying their interactions to suit the audience. They’re happy singing songs to babies, cracking jokes with teenagers, and everything in-between!
The Camp Quality Puppets provide fun, distraction and laughter. The playdates are improvised, imaginative and child-led interactions – our puppeteers are terrific at adapting the playdate to suit the needs and interests of your child.
Register your family today to receive access to all of Camp Quality’s fun and supportive programs and services.
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