child life
Our child life specialists help kids cope with medical experiences through therapeutic play, education, and emotional support for the whole family.
what is child life?
For kids, a hospital visit can feel overwhelming—new faces, unfamiliar machines, and strange sounds can make the experience scary. At Dayton Children’s Hospital, we have a dedicated team that goes above and beyond to create a safe, comforting, child-friendly environment where patients can focus on the most important job of all… being a kid.
Our team of child life specialists help kids cope with their medical experiences by working closely with doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals to provide emotional support and reduce stress for children and families. Using therapeutic play, creative expression, music therapy, animal-assisted therapy and more, we help kids understand what’s happening, build trust, and feel more at ease. Through connection and compassion, we turn the hospital into a place where healing is paired with hope and joy.
how can child life benefit my child?
- Preparation: Child life can prepare patients for upcoming treatments and procedures through calming and educational activities. We provide age-appropriate support, education, and orientation to new situations within the healthcare setting
- Coping and support: Child life can accompany a patient to testing, procedures and treatments in order to offer support, distractions and pain management.
- Providing age-appropriate play and activities to help children cope, build confidence and express their emotions.
- Bridging the gap between home and hospital by offering familiar activities like play, celebrating milestones, and holiday observances.
- Special events and visitors provide opportunities to engage in play (activity center, play areas, and bedside)
services we offer:
- Lab draw support
- Surgery specific sensory program
- STAR program
- Sensory rooms and adaptive sensory environments
- Canine co-pilot facility dogs
- Music therapy
- School visits for hematology/oncology patients
- Gaming/technology resources
- Education/consultative support for the community
our team
The child life department consists of certified child life specialists with a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in child life, child and family studies, or a closely related field of study. These specially-trained individuals work in a number of care settings at Dayton Children’s.
All certified child life specialists are required to complete a 600-hour clinical internship and pass the Association of Child Life Professional’s Child Life Specialist Certification exam. Child Life Specialists maintain the highest degree of competency throughout their careers by achieving ongoing continuing education and re-certification every 5 years.
child life programs & clinics
The child life specialists at Dayton Children’s work in a number of care settings. If you are interested in child life support for your child, please discuss this with your care provider as early as possible. You can also contact the child life department at: 937- 641-3303.
Our board certified music therapist uses specific music techniques to help reach health and wellbeing goals. The music therapist will get to know you and your child to create a personalized music therapy plan and will work closely with your care team to create the best plan possible for your child.
Music therapy services are currently offered on our inpatient medical units and our inpatient behavioral health unit and in our infusion center.
Our canine co-pilot facility dogs are different from therapy dogs and are trained specifically for medical procedures and situations, more like a member of the care team. Our facility dogs will work with child life specialists to help calm patients during certain procedures, encourage kids to get up and move around even when they’re feeling sick, comfort kids who have experienced trauma, and more.
Keep up to date on the latest stories about our canine co-pilots by following @canine_copilots on Instagram.
Undergoing an MRI can sometimes be something that can make kids anxious. To help kids that are anxious about their MRI, or simply worried that they will have a hard time staying still, sometimes sedation (being put to sleep) is required.
At Dayton Children’s we try to avoid using sedation as having sedation always comes with risks.
To help our patients complete their MRI without the need for sedation, our medical imaging and child life departments collaborated to create the STAR(soaring towards anxiety reduction) program.
The STAR program gives patients the option to try their MRI scan without the use of sedation, when possible, to help reduce the risks of having sedation. This program is geared to patients that are developmentally 4 years of age and older.
Surgery is a stressful time for any child and parent, and can be especially stressful for children with autism or high anxiety. That is why we have created unique pre-operative sensory rooms designed specifically for these children.
At Dayton Children’s, our laboratory and child life teams have proudly partnered to become the first of their kind to earn the Certified Autism Center™ (CAC) designation from theInternational Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES). This means we’ve taken extra steps to ensure our care is welcoming and supportive for children with autism and sensory activities.
To help make every visit more comfortable, our staff uses a variety of distraction tools and sensory-friendly equipment designed to ease anxiety and create a more positive experience.
news and blogs
Stay up-to-date with the latest insights from Dayton Children’s. We’re always working to share helpful, real-world content for families needing child life services for a surgery, diagnostic test or non-surgical procedure.
patient stories
Real families, real results. Our patients and families inspire us every day. These stories offer hope, guidance and reassurance that we are here for your child every step of the way.
Explore how Dayton Children’s child life specialists go above and beyond for kids just like yours.
child life education programs
child life internship
Dayton Children’s offers a hands-on child life internship that provides in-depth experience supporting children and families through their medical experiences. This is a 600+ hour internship for students pursuing child life certification. Interns work alongside certified child life specialists to learn essential skills in play-based interventions, procedural support, and emotional coping. Learn more about the application process and what to expect.
FAQs – child life
We know that being in the hospital can be scary. Our child life specialists are trained to reduce fear and anxiety and promote healing in kids. Every child is different, so we tailor our approach based upon your child’s needs. Here are a few ways we help:
- Distraction techniques to reduce fear and anxiety.
- Medical play where kids can use play to explore real medical tools! This helps reduce fear and increase understanding.
- Pain management tools such as deep breathing, distraction and comfort positions instead of traditional medicine.
- Therapeutic play
- Age and developmentally appropriate communication to help children express their feelings/emotions and identify coping skills
To create a coping plan for your child, discuss this with your care provider as early as possible. You can also contact the child life department at 937- 641-3303.
Every child is different. That’s why we work alongside you to create a plan right for your child. A coping plan:
- Gives your child a voice in their healthcare experience.
- Informs the staff on how we can best support your child.
- Can be created by a member of the child life team, before, during, or after their visit.
We have many options for children with sensory needs. We know that sensory needs are different for every child. That’s why we offer:
- Devoted sensory rooms in our main campus lab and surgery unit
- Sensory-friendly clinic rooms in clinics located in the specialty care center
- Tools/equipment to help tailor clinic and inpatient rooms to a child’s individual sensory needs.
At Dayton Children’s we practice family-centered care. That means we not only care for the child, but for the whole family. Our child life specialists will work alongside your family to help you understand what is happening and how to best support your child. This holistic approach helps the family cope better with the stress of hospitalization.
We also offer support for siblings including:
- Information and education: By explaining medical procedures and conditions in an age-appropriate manner to siblings, we can help them understand what their brother or sister is going through. This reduces fear and confusion.
- Emotional support: Our child life specialists can offer emotional support to siblings, recognizing their feelings and helping them express their emotions through therapeutic play and activities.
- Encouraging communication: Child life specialists help with communication between siblings and the hospitalized child, ensuring that siblings feel included and connected. This might involve encouraging siblings to write letters or draw pictures for their hospitalized brother or sister.
for your visit
The child life specialists at Dayton Children’s work in a number of care settings. If you are interested in child life support for your child, please discuss this with your care provider as early as possible. You can also contact the child life department at 937- 641-3303.
View our frequently asked questions (FAQs) to learn more about how child life can support your family while you’re at Dayton Children’s.
support child life
The child life department is generously supported by the community through both monetary donations and donations of toys and games for our patients. Shop our wish lists today or make a donation to support our child life programs.
