“Healing is much more than medicine…” 
A visit to the hospital can be a stressful experience for any child or teen. The Child Life Program at Sanford Children’s helps patients cope with their feelings, fears, and anxieties by offering age specific and therapeutic activities and interventions to meet their social, emotional, developmental, and overall adjustment needs.
Sanford Children’s recognizes that a child or teen’s emotional needs are just as important as their medical needs. Each child or teen’s method of coping with their hospital experience is unique! The Child Life Team aims to meet each child and family’s unique needs throughout their hospital stay.
A Child Life Specialist helps to support children and families by:
- Creating supportive relationships with patients and families
- Assessment of child/teen’s coping skills and capabilities
- Helping an ill child or siblings understand a diagnosis or treatment process
- Preparing children for various procedures in terms children and teens can understand
- Medical play sessions to promote expression and understanding of medical environment
- Play and craft activities to make the environment more child friendly
- Helping parents to anticipate and advocate for their child’s needs during hospitalization
- Facilitating therapeutic activities to encourage expression regarding diagnosis, feelings, or fears
- Creating coping plans with patients to enhance comfort and compliance with procedures
- Provide support to patients and families regarding coping with treatment plans
- Facilitate distraction during procedures (play, guided imagery, deep breathing, etc.)
- Provide information regarding your child’s developmental milestones
- Facilitating developmental play to encourage developmental growth (milestones) throughout hospitalization and support children who may have regressed during hospitalization
- Preparing and supporting sibilings for the PICU prior to visiting and ill brother or sister
- Helping siblings process feelings / fears experienced
- Providing child friendly activities to support children in reaching medical goals (i.e. taking medicine, drinking fluids, deep breathing)
- Facilitating special visitors and events
- Connecting families to community resources and programs
- Grief and bereavement support
Sanford Children's Child Life Programing includes:
- Sanford Children’s Pediatric Volunteer Program
- Special Visitors and Events
- Closed Circuit Television
- Pet Therapy
- Playroom Activities and Events
- Youth Council
- Pediatric Oncology Support Group
- Parents Pushing Forward
- Kids Kicking Cancer
- Bonding Buddies
- Diabetic Support Group
- KIDZ: Kids in the Diabetic Zone
- Camp Bring-it-On
To contact Child Life regarding questions, comments or concerns regarding your Child’s or teen’s coping, please utilize the contact information below:
Child Life Team
Certified Child Life Specialists
605-333-7241
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