The Child Life Education and Creative Arts Therapy Department of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia is one of the first of its kind in the nation. Recognizing that illness and hospitalization are stressful events in the lives of children and their families, being able to provide them with services such as music, art, pet therapy and other fun activities makes for a pleasant healthcare experience. Our grant provided an Art Cart full of supplies such as paints, markers, crayons, brushes, paper, scissors, sketchbooks, stencils, scrapbooking materials and even a digital camera to capture all of the fun and special moments. These carts travel all over the hospital to patients’ rooms equipped with certified and qualified art and music therapists enabling children to express themselves through music and art. Funding was also provided to construct a brand new video production room for their Child Life Closed Circuit Television program. The studio features innovative programming for the children, families and staff, to have fun while watching shows designed to entertain, educate and provide opportunities for interaction. In addition to regularly produced shows, special events such as concerts, magicians, and theatrical performances are broadcast live for children who cannot leave their rooms. There are several game shows including Bingo, Hangman, Story time and Pictionary that are interactive from the studio to their rooms. The studio is also used to make video diaries to send to family and friends for those patients requiring longer inpatient days. This provides a much needed and important connection to the outside world. We were proud to have this opportunity to help the Children’s Hospital vision become a reality and put smiles on the faces of the many children and their families faced with illnesses. Our gift also provides Children’s Hospital to continue with the research in hopes of finding cures and hope for our children to have healthy lives. For more information please visit their website, www.chop.edu.
Fun Activities Equals Happy Hearts
