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Any parent will tell you. When you have a kid who is bored or distraught, the art of distraction is crucial. And there’s not much more boring or distressing for a child than an extended hospital stay. Here’s some suggestions on ways you can fill the time and make long dark days a little bit brighter for your child. These activities for kids in hospital will help you keep them entertained!
There’s more to life than watching YouTube on a tablet which will get old, fast. Arts and crafts engage the body AND distract the mind.
Gather a box of assorted scraps for creative play. Your arts and crafts box could include:
Let your child go free-range or assign them a project. Try some ideas from the Camp Quality ‘Happiness Hub’.
Who doesn’t love a good story? Aside from finally going home, there’s no better way for your child to transport to a place outside the confines of their hospital room than with their imagination.
Tell stories from your childhood (kids love that!), and read, read, read. When you run out of puff, head to our Campfire Storytime page and let the Camp Quality ambassadors do the hard work!
There are few advantages to being in hospital. But one unique experience kids facing cancer love is a bedside visit from the beloved Camp Quality Puppets.
Entertaining children in hospital is not easy but the Camp Quality Puppets are guaranteed to put a smile on the face of any child that can do with a lift. They are the experts when it comes to filling the room with positivity and big belly laughs.
There’s a reason we say, “laughter is the best medicine”. These hospital puppet playdates ease children’s anxiety and make everyone (even mum and dad!) feel a little less overwhelmed by it all.
Visit the Hospital Puppet Playdates page for more information.
Just as disheartening as the illness and the pain of treatment is the isolation children experience when they are in hospital. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, staying connected to the outside world is easier than ever!
Just because kids in hospital miss out on school, it doesn’t mean they can’t expand their minds during their stay. Puzzles are an engaging pastime that will keep your child mentally active. We suggest:
With the charge nurse’s permission, set up a scavenger hunt that can be done in the hospital room or across the whole ward.
Hide coins, baubles or toys and write a list of clues. Make them hard, and this one is good for hours of amusement.
Try using the Activity Corner to prompt some ideas for themes.
Create a playlist of songs for mini dance parties or quiet listening sessions. Come up with dance routines to go with different music genres.
Create playlists around themes and explore musical eras.
Cancer and the pain of treatment can be extremely stressful and scary. Use the principles of yoga and meditation to help your child relax during the toughest time of their young life.
Camp Quality employs a number of Child Life Therapists at several hospitals around the country. They use medical play techniques to help children find some calm in the storm of cancer treatment which can lead to a reduced need for tranquilisers and other medications.
Ask staff at your hospital about the availability of Child Life Therapists and learn more about what they do.
Writing a journal or creating a photo or video montage of their cancer journey can help children process their experience – and have something amazing they can look back on when they are well!
Childhood cancer is a horrible experience for everyone involved, but it’s not without its brighter notes, so encourage your child to document their undeniably special (if not entirely pleasant) experience.
For older children especially, a long hospital stay presents an amazing opportunity to learn a language or a musical instrument.
Do the lessons with them and when you come out, you can form a family band or travel to a foreign country, knowing how to speak like a local!
A long hospital stay for anyone, but especially a child, is exhausting, depressing and it can be abysmally boring.
However, the time bonding with your child can be incredibly positive and there are ways you can make beautiful memories your child will remember forever. Browse the Happiness Hub and look into Hospital Puppet Playdates and Child Life Therapy.
You might be surprised just how much fun, positivity and laughter you can bring back into the life of your child patient and their siblings’ lives.
Top tips for dealing with uncertainty
2020 has thrust many of us into lives of uncertainty. Will our jobs be the same in the coming months? Will there be a second wave of coronavirus? Will things ever be normal again? Gina from The ORANGES Toolkit has some quick-and-easy tips for dealing with these questions, using resilience and self-care in our journey to more certain times.
How to keep kids entertained in hospital
Play gives children something active to do, and building play in particular can help them use their imagination, solve problems, make choices in an environment where many decisions are being made for them, and forget the world around them as they become immersed in something they can feel and see.
