Hospitalized child and the need for toys

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Hospitalized child and the need for toys

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When you're bringing a toy to a child in the hospital who is going through a, you know, a difficult treatment, it's important to think that the child is probably going to be stuck in his hospital bed. He won't be able to leave the room. So what we really, I think is really important is to get the child something he or she can do on the hospital tray right in front of him, while they're sitting in the bed. It's, you know, crafts, activities, drawing sets, art kits, things you can build. I think the more of a project it is that a child can complete and get done with and feel good about, or a project where a child can, you know, sort of be lost in their imagination like a, I'm thinking of, maybe, a Polly Pocket doll. These are these little plastic dolls that have all sorts of different parts that are different scenarios. If you can give one of those to a child that is sitting in the hospital, a little girl, there's, you know, hours of imaginative play. I think things we try to stay away from would be, you know, a stuffed animal is always, or course, nice and cuddly and warm but if you're really trying to give a child something to do, I think it's better to focus on an activity. Nothing to big. It's important to always bring something brand new because critically ill kids need really prestine toys. Of course, nothing violent; those things are always prohibited at a hospital.

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Mickey Guisewite

Parent with a Purpose

Mickey Guisewite is a former advertising executive and syndicated newspaper columnist who started The Bottomless Toy Chest after her son successfully completed cancer treatment. The Bottomless Toy Chest is a nonprofit organization devoted to delivering toys, crafts and hands-on activities to hospitalized pediatric cancer patients. Mickey lives at home with her husband, son, daughter, two dogs, two cats and two turtles. When she’s not delivering toys to sick kids, she’s at home trying to find a tiny space on the couch among her two-legged and four-legged family members. 

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