donate toys or gifts
Children admitted to Dayton Children’s and their families receive the finest medical treatment, emotional support and loving care available anywhere. But children have other special needs. Your gift of toys, books, games, and activities help brighten a child’s stay at Dayton Children's. These gift items are used for birthday presents, end-of-treatment gifts and to stock our play and waiting areas.
Due to infection control and for the safety of our patients, we cannot accept:
- Used stuff animals or toys
- Food or candy
- Blankets or pillowcases
- Toys with weapons, including nerf guns
- Sporting equipment/riding toys (scooters, skateboards, bicycles, footballs, etc.)
let us do the shopping for you
Make an online donation to child life. Funds are used to provide activities, toys and gifts for patients. Monetary donations enable the child life department to purchase items as they are needed, resulting in reduced storage needs and the ability to purchase needed items. Click here to make an online gift to child life.
kids wish list: top ten items needed
top ten items needed (Please note that all items must be new. We cannot accept used items):
- Infant/Toddler musical, light up or vibrating toys
- Gift cards for Wal-Mart, Meijer, Target, area restaurants
- Small/medium lego sets
- Matchbox cars
- Infant Teethers, Rattles
- Play-doh & Play-doh sets
- My Little Pony figures and playsets
- Disney Princess Barbies
- Word search books
- Playing cards, Uno, Go Fish, Skip-Bo
Check our our AmazonSmile wish list for even more items!
items needed by age
infant and toddler
- Plastic, musical, light up or vibrating toys
- Rattles, teethers, plastic crib links
- Board books (all cardboard pages)
- See-N-Say toys
preschool
- Crayola crayons, markers and coloring books
- Little Tikes and Fisher Price toys (Little People, animals, school bus, airplane, cars, play phone)
- Matchbox/Hot wheels cars/trucks
- Disney Princess Barbies
- Play-doh and Play-doh kits
- Culturally diverse baby dolls & Barbie dolls
- New, small stuffed animals (must be new)
school age
- Action figures, transformers
- Small/medium lego sets
- Toy dinosaurs, insects, animals
- Cards - Uno, playing cards, Go Fish, Old Maid, Skip-Bo
- Over-the-door basketball hoops
- Arts & crafts kits
- Fingernail polish, Lip Smackers chapstick
- Word search, Mad Lib, crossword puzzle books
- Adult coloring books, sketch pads, colored pencils
- Gift cards: Target, Walmart
items to make
- Activity bags - Paper or ziplock bags filled with fun activities: stickers, coloring sheets, word search puzzles, crayons or colored pencils, glue sticks, craft kits with instructions, decks of cards. No food or candy.
- Teen bags- Paper or ziplock bags filled with finger skateboards, Rubik's cube, adult coloring books and colored pencils, card games, word search books, fidget spinners, nail polish, ear buds
- Please note that we can no longer accept blankets or pillowcases for our patients. Our first priority is patient safety, so all blankets must be washed in our hospital-grade cleaning facility prior to distributing to our patients, and these items do not tolerate the heat well. Thank you for your understanding and for helping us to provide the very best experience for our kids.
gift a child life toy bundle this season
Purchase a child life toy bundle this season! These bundles were made with our patients' needs in mind by our amazing child life staff. We have options for babies & toddlers, young children, teens, and even kids with special sensory needs. Our Child Life team will receive your donated gift bundle and hand-deliver it to a sick or injured kid spending time in the hospital this holiday season!
distraction / sensory bundle includes items like:
pop-its, party blowers, light spinners, play-doh, fidget spinner, bubbles, stress balls, Buzzy the pain relief device, iTunes gift card
infant / toddler bundle includes items like:
stuffed animal, board book, small musical toy, rattle
young child bundle includes items like:
squishmallow (stuffed animal), small lego kit, coloring activity, action figure/Barbie doll, hot wheels, nail polish
teen bundle includes items like:
headphones, deck of Uno cards, gift card, journal, word search book
holiday gift drive
Every year, generous community members (like you!) donate truckloads of toys and gifts to the patients at Dayton Children’s for the holidays. Join us as we once again host two holiday gift drive events with drive thru drop off days!
dates and times:
Dates for 2023 coming soon!
location
Tech Town - 241 Taylor St., Dayton (Dayton Children’s office building in downtown Dayton off of Monument St.)
Learn more about the holiday gift drive here.
