I remember a time when I presented an opportunity for medical play to a toddler. I eagerly showed him the syringes to fill up with water and began modeling for him how to use them as squirt guns.
He looked at me with a blank expression and then began splashing his hands in the water, completely ignoring the medical equipment itself.
His mom quietly asked, “So…what exactly was this supposed to accomplish?” as she gestured to the unused syringes.
In moments of questioning the value of medical play, it can be important to remember those moments when you have seen the “magic” firsthand: a child is able to process through their medical experience, become desensitized to the equipment, express a misconception, the list goes on and on. Remembering those “magical” times can spur us towards extending medical play opportunities with passion and purpose. Your work is not in vain.
One “magical” moment occurred several months ago when I was engaging in free play with a 4-year old named “Sam”. He had just had his blood drawn. With fresh tears on his little face, we began drawing a race track on paper to help him return to baseline and experience normalcy.
Sam began carefully drawing the race track. One line. Two lines. Yellow dashes in the center.
And then…
Sam drew what looked to be a chair. “This is the waiting room,” he whispered as he drew the round table next to the chair, an identical layout to our very own waiting room.
I watched in wonderment, curious as to what he would draw next on his racetrack road.
Little jumbled lines appeared that formed what looked like the vital signs station, the first of his many “jobs” that Sam would do when he would come for his blood draws. “Let’s see how big you are, right?” He looked wide eyed at me with affirmation.
“Medical play is not limited by supplies or resources.”
Without even being prompted, Sam drew the entire doctor’s office, right there on his racetrack. He drew the chair he would sit on so daddy could provide a comfort hold. He drew the tray with the rubber band, the soap and the poke.
Sam then lined up the race cars on the track and one by one. He would call their name and would take them through each step of the blood draw experience. Some race cars were scared. Some race cars were not. Some race cars held still. Some race cars had a daddy race car to give them a hug. Some race cars cried. Some race cars took deep breaths.
From that day forward, the patient was able to cope with his blood draws with so much more ease and control. He rehearsed coping strategies he wanted to try with each race car and was able to gain a sense of mastery and understanding for the purpose of his blood draws. Suddenly, it didn’t seem so scary to him anymore after the race cars all did it, too.
This magical moment of watching the patient play out his experience served as two important reminders for me:
#1- Never underestimate the power of play and the creativity of a child. Some medical play sessions may be more child directed, like this one. And it is amazing to see what kids can come up with and the rich learning that can take place without me even having to prompt the child. Instead, my role was to create an environment that “encourages the expression of feelings and opportunities to relieve the experience” (“Helping Young Children Learn” by Pitcher, Fienburg and Alexander) and then to support Sam in his play and processing.
#2- Medical play can take shape in all kinds of different forms. Just because you don’t have all of your fancy medical equipment on hand doesn’t mean you aren’t able to meet a need of medical play. Author and Certified Child Life Specialist Kathleen McCue writes, “Medical play is simply another form of play: one that meets the needs of the child with health care concerns.” I was reminded that medical play is not limited by supplies or resources. Sometimes all you need is a piece of paper and a crayon in order to help a patient process their medical experiences through play…oh, and maybe you will need a race car, too!
Question to Ponder: How are you underestimating the services you can offer to a patient?