information and activity pack - starlight children's

Celebrating the importance of play as a part of treatment

Information and activity pack

National Play in Hospital Week

Monday 5th October – Sunday 11th October 2020

Dear Health Play Specialist,

Welcome to your National Play in Hospital Week 2020 Activity and Information Pack. This awareness week is brought to you by the National Association of Health Play Specialists (NAHPS) and is supported by Starlight Children’s Foundation.

This year has been unprecedented and, due to Covid-19, play has been more important than ever for children isolated in hospital. This year’s theme ‘Play Well Together’ aims to raise awareness of how effective play is for both children and adults alike. ‘Play Well Together’ could mean many things, from working cohesively in a team for the benefit of the patient, to playing to aid recovery at the bedside, to a family having the ability to play together at home over lockdown. Whatever it means to you, we hope the week allows you and the families you work with to embrace the benefits play brings to all.

Despite the fact Play in Hospital Week 2020 might look a little different to the past few years, we hope this activity pack contains some new materials to help you organise a fun week of activities none the less! You can of course add your own activities in the week too, and we can’t wait to see the creative things you do.

We hope you have a fabulous week and please do not hesitate to contact us if there is anything else we can do to help, or if you have any queries or questions about Play in Hospital Week.

Best wishes,

National Association Health Play Specialists

Penelope Hart-Spencer

[email protected]

Starlight Children’s Foundation

Krutika Pau, Director of Children’s Services

[email protected]

National Play in Hospital Week 2020

Information Pack

Why is Play in Hospital / Healthcare important?Play is vital to the continued development of children and young people. From the earliest age, play helps children to learn, to make friends and develop relationships, and to have fun.

When children and young people are admitted to hospital they are often at their most vulnerable. Play helps them to adjust to a potentially stressful situation.

Play in hospital / healthcare helps children & young people to:

• Understand why they are in hospital and what will happen

• Cope with illness, being in hospital and treatment

• Regain confidence, independence and self-esteem

• Express their feelings

• Recover more quickly.


Information Pack

How is Starlight Supporting Play in Hospital?Starlight is committed to supporting health play specialists with the services we provide. This year play in hospitals has been even more important with Covid-19 affecting visiting hours and playroom operation and we have adapted our services to meet your needs. Introducing new isolation bags for toys and activities to be given to children in your care.

We continue to pilot new and innovative services. This year we trialled the AV1 robot which is used to minimise isolation in hospital. We have also launched our ‘Gaming Bundles’, if you are interested in finding out more and applying for a Starlight Gaming Bundle please email [email protected]

How you can help support Starlight? Starlight is always looking for health professionals to share their experiences with Starlight, be that the different Starlight resources have made or what more Starlight could be doing to help make the experience of children and young people in hospitals that little bit better. To share your story with our fundraising or research team, please contact [email protected]


Information Pack

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Starlight’s ServicesStarlight believes that our experience of childhood and especially of play is integral to who we become as adults. Through play we develop a critical set of physical, social, cognitive, and creative skills and behaviours, that help us to navigate and live life to the full. The impact of serious illness can be even greater if children are deprived of childhood activities.

We provide a unique combination of services; a hand to hold when children and their families need us most, both inside and outside the hospital setting.

Visit Starlight.co.uk to order your Starlight Service!

Distraction BoxesThe Starlight Distraction Box is a handy, portable toolkit containing a variety of toys, games and puzzles to help children cope with various invasive medical procedures undertaken by healthcare professionals.

Boost BoxesStarlight Boost Boxes are a treasure trove of toys, games and arts & crafts which are given out to patients who need comforting, distracting or simply cheering up. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Boost Box materials have been used to make up an incredible 27,250 individual Isolation Packs. These packs, filled with single-use items, have been helping healthcare professionals tackle the challenges of cross-infection and bringing play to isolated children who need it most.


Information Pack

Escapes We invite our wish families and families from local hospitals, via their health play specialists, to our Starlight Escapes. Having fun together as a family can often drop down the list of priorities when parents are trying to cope with the reality and routine of serious illness. Our Escapes are quite literally an escape from all that serious illness entails, just for a day. While events such as these are not possible at the minute, we have been working hard throughout lockdown to bring vital connection and fun at a difficult time through our Virtual Escape series.

Wishes Although new applications are currently on hold due to Covid-19 we are still granting wishes. We grant personalised wishes for children who are suffering from a life-threatening or life-shortening illness. When granting a wish, we aim to restore the magic and fun of childhood and create happy memories for the whole family to share.

Gaming Bundles We believe that access to play during serious illness contributes to successful treatment and healthy development. That’s why, together with Nintendo, we are delighted to offer the opportunity to apply for a Starlight Gaming Bundle, free of charge! The bundles include a Nintendo Switch, 3DS handheld console and games!

Starlight Pantomimes and Storytellers The Starlight Pantomime and Storytellers tours bring fun and entertainment to children and their carers, in hospitals and hospices throughout the UK. An hour-long interactive performance by four trained actors, gives children an important opportunity to get out of bed if they can and socialise with other children. Currently on hold due to Covid-19 we are looking at news ways we can continue to deliver entertainment, virtually and physically.


Information Pack

http://starlightchild.wpengine.com/starlights-magical-mystery-quests/

Play in Hospital Week – Spread the word!

Get Social Share your tips and tricks of how you have adapted this year, and how you have been using your Starlight services! Tag @starlight_UK for us to reshare your posts!

Getting Play into your local pressOne of the main objectives of National Play in Hospital Week is to raise awareness of the benefits of play in the treatment of children. We hope that you will be planning an exciting schedule of play-related activities for National Play in Hospital Week. and we would encourage you to:

Tell you communications team about what you are doing!

Make sure you share what you are doing on social and use #Playinhospitalweek #PIHW @starlight_uk @nahpsofficial

Use the press release template (and the end of this pack). Here is your tick list of what you will need for your local newspaper to talk about you are doing for Play in Hospital week:

Pictures! Make sure you have permission but share photos of what you get up to!

Press release, use the template to tell an exciting and compelling story of why you are getting involved with Play in Hospital Week

Include a quote from either yourself or a member of senior management of your hospital


Information Pack

Press Release Template

[Hospital / Hospice] celebrates the importance of play during treatment with [activity]Young patients and staff at [insert Hospital/ Hospice name] have been celebrating National Play in Hospital Week by [activity]. The event, which runs for a week from Monday 5th October, is organised by the National Association of Health Play Specialists (NAHPS) and supported by Starlight Children’s Foundation, a national charity which provides play and distraction services in hospitals and hospices across the UK.

This year, the awareness week for Play in Hospital is more important than ever. With children in hospital feeling more isolated than ever with limited visiting hours, social distancing play and restrictions or changes to their usual access to play during a hospital stay.

National Play in Hospital Week was set up in 2010 to raise awareness of the positive impact of play in a hospital setting. Now in its ninth-year, hospitals and hospices across the country, including (insert Hospital/Hospice name), got behind the annual event with a week of play related activities.

(Hospital/Hospice) enjoyed a week of fun activities, including (include here what activities have been put on), which were enjoyed by staff and patients.

With nearly 49,000 children and young people in the UK living with a life-limiting or life-threatening condition and 5,500 new diagnoses each year, the need for play and entertainment services for children in hospitals has never been greater. Research has highlighted the importance of play in hospital, both in preparing children for treatment and providing ways for them to work through anxieties and fears and deal with their experiences.

Many hospitals, including (insert name of Hospital/Hospice here) now employ Health Play Specialists who use tools such as Starlight’s Distraction Boxes that contain toys, games and puzzles to distract and calm a child while medical treatments are undertaken.

Play Specialist/nurse/senior management (include name) at (Hospital name) says “We always look forward to National Play in Hospital Week as both staff and patients enjoy it so much. It is a great way to raise awareness and highlight the positive impact that play can have on young patients and the week provides our patients, their families and our staff even more of a reason to get involved with fun-filled activities. This year in particular (include here thoughts about this year’s activities)”.

[Include quote here (if you have one) from a parent about the impact that play and distraction has on their child in hospital.]

Cathy Gilman, CEO of Starlight Children’s Foundation, said,

“Play and distraction is a vital resource for hospitals and hospices in the treatment of seriously ill children. It isn’t just a ‘nice to have’ it’s an essential part of treatment. National Play in Hospital Week is a big part of recognising the importance of protecting the time to play has in a hospital setting and celebrating the work of Health Play Specialists across the country. We thank all the hospitals and staff for getting behind this year’s event.”

For more information on National Play in Hospital Week, please visit http://www.starlight.org.uk/npihw

(ENDS)

NOTES TO EDITORSAbout Starlight:

Starlight Children’s Foundation is the national children’s charity that exists to preserve childhood throughout serious illness. We do this through our hospital play and distraction services, wish granting and Starlight Escapes programme. We help children and their families to escape the routine and reality of treatment.

For more information on National Play in Hospital Week, please visit: http://www.starlight.org.uk/npihw


Information Pack

http://www.starlight.org.uk/latest-news/national-play-in-hospital-week-2016/

Join the National Association of Health Play SpecialistsMembership with the National Association of Play Specialists (NAHPS)contributes to the development of the Health Play Specialist profession in many ways.

NAHPS is here to raise the profile of our profession and in partnership with the Healthcare Play Specialist Education Trust (HPSET), we are working towards an application to the Professional Standards Authority to gain accreditation as health professionals.

All committee members are volunteers and are not reimbursed for their time for working on NAHPS projects. We are continually working to make positive changes for the benefit of the profession.

Please visit https://www.nahps.org.uk/home/membership-account/membership-levels/ to find out more and become a member. We look forward to welcoming you to NAHPS.


Information Pack

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Activities


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Colour in the unicorns!Can you stay inside the lines?

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Share your best picture!


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Space word searchSearch for the list of words hidden in the grid below.

StargazingJoin the dots to reveal the constellation


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Place:

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3 4

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Create a comicChoose a creature, a place and an activity and write them in the spaces below. Combine the 3 things in a simple comic strip in the boxes below.


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Origami Stars

Share your stars on social media!

1. Start with a strip of paper. Tie a “knot” in the end of your paper.

2. Pull gently to tighten, then flatten.

3. Fold the end of the strip down and tuck it into the knot. You can cut a bit of it off if it’s too long.

4. Now wrap the other end of the strip around and around this pentagon you have formed, creasing gently as you go.

5. Keep wrapping until you get to the end of the strip.

6. Tuck the last bit of the strip into the pouch. You should be left with a cute little pentagon.

7. Now to make this little pentagon into a star, very gently and slowly use your fingernail to press on the centre of each of its edges. The star should puff out.

Lined paper is really handy for this Excercise – cut the page into strips using the lines as a guide.

Share your photos and videos with us on Instagram and Twitter @starlight_uk


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Decorate the maskColour in the monsters!Can you stay inside the lines?




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MazeWhich way should Captain Starlight go to get to the rocket ship?

START




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Colour in the monsters!Can you stay inside the lines?




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Fingerprint Tree ActivityTo complete the Fingerprint Tree, paint the fingertips of a child in the hospital ward and have them decorate the tree branches.

You could make a family fingerprint tree by asking family members to decorate a branch each using their fingertip.




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Proud to support NAHPS and Starlight Children’s Foundation celebrating National Play in Hospital Week 2020

Happy PlayHappy Play

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in Hospital in HospitalWeekWeek

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Make your own outfit1. Design and colour in your outfit

2. Ask a grown up to help you cut around monkey and cut the rectangle ‘slits’ on his sides

3. Fold along the dotted lines

4. Stick the flaps to the sides they join up with

5. Slide his arms through the slits

6. Cut out the equipment on the following page

Provided by MonkeyWellbeing. Find more free activities to download at monkeywellbeing.com


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Provided by MonkeyWellbeing. Find more free activities to download at monkeywellbeing.com


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