Week 1 (Margo Uhrman)

For my project, I am working with Child Life at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital. As a Child Life volunteer, I supervise the Activity Room on Rainbow 6 (the sixth floor of the hospital) and play with kids both in the Activity Room and in their rooms. It is has been a great first week and I spend almost all of my time just playing with kids. Most of the kids I work with are from 10 months to 5 years old although the patients in the hospital can be any age under twenty one years old.
As per hospital policy, I am not allowed to say the name or condition of any patient and am not allowed to take pictures of any patients. However, I can tell stories without giving away any of those specific details. One little girl I played with in the Activity Room thought that she was at preschool and couldn’t understand why there weren’t a lot of kids in the room. She kept asking me “what are we doing in class today” and “where are the other kids.” Her mom and I just laughed and I helped her play games and create a mother’s day gift for her mom. Today I spent most of the day feeding and playing with a 10 month old girl whose parents had to work and therefore she was alone in the hospital. The nurses would love to spend time with her but they all have multiple patients to look after. It was great to know that I was really able to help by feeding and playing with this little girl. :)