Sick kids need fun: Toys, books bring smiles to Children's Hospital Los Angeles

My 13-month-old son is getting over his first real sickness. Not a grave illness, but the combined symptoms of an ear infection and flu have been enough to make him extremely uncomfortable and his parents and family worried.

Eight days and two emergency room visits later, he’s doing much better. He’s moving from a diet that consisted for a few days entirely of Pedialyte back to food. And two nights ago, little Alex began to play again. It was cute and heartening to see him sitting up on our bed, surrounded by books and toys and manipulating some plastic cars.

It got me thinking about children in the hospital, who must face being sick and cooped up for an extended amount of time. Even if they aren’t up to their full strength, they’ve got to play. It’s what kids do. It’s what makes them happy.

I decided to look at the toy donation program for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, and share what I found with readers.

First, here’s a touching video about what the hospital does, made to help raise awareness and funds.

Back to the toys.

CHLA distributes lots of toys to lots of kids in need of cheer. This nonprofit pediatric medical center explains who its patients are on its website:

“We provide the highest quality healthcare for children who are the sickest and most seriously injured in our region and beyond. Each year, we treat over 93,000 children who need care that is so complex, it can only be provided by medical experts.”

Some 500 toys per week are given to various young patients at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The children get a toy for each week they stay at the hospital and for each procedure or surgery; they also get a toy if they celebrate a birthday in the hospital. Kids who are unable to bring any toys from home may be given extra toys.

Donations of new, unwrapped toys are always welcome. For ideas, you can download a PDF of the hospital’s “Toy Drive Suggested List” from the Donate Toys page. It lists some of the most popular and helpful gifts among patients ranging from newborns to teenagers.

Gift cards are also welcome—in fact, the strapped-for-space hospital actually prefers them, because they don’t take up a lot of room and can be used on an as-needed basis. Popular gift card destinations include Target, iTunes, Toy’s R Us and WalMart.

You may even have a gift card left over from the holidays that you want to re-gift. You can mail gift cards straight to CHLA: Volunteer Resources Department, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Blvd. #64, Los Angeles, CA 90027. Or, you can schedule an appointment with hospital volunteers to drop off toys or gift cards (323-361-2371).

Books are another precious commodity at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. As part of the hospital's Literally Healing program, books are distributed to children at their bedsides via a Book-Moo-bile, which is painted to look like a cow.

You can download a list of books that are popular, helpful and therapeutic on the hospital’s Donate Books and Magazines page.

Some recommended titles are popular fare with all children, like books by the inimitable Dr. Seuss. Others are selected for their therapeutic value in helping sick kids deal with issues like depression, sibling jealousy or guilt, fear of disfigurement, fear of living with a permanent disability, or death and grieving.

There’s a great blog about Children’s Hospital Los Angeles’ Literally Healing Program featured on the GoodReaDs blog that you might want to check out.

Magazines are also helpful diversions, especially for teen patients and for parents who are visiting or waiting. You can send your magazine subscriptions directly to the hospital: “Literally Healing Program, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Boulevard, MS #64, Los Angeles, CA 90027.”

Suggested magazines include titles for teen boys (Car & Driver, Transworld Skateboarding, PC Gamer and Sports Illustrated), teen girls (Seventeen, M Magazine, Teen Vogue and Tiger Beat), and worried-and-waiting parents (Us Weekly, People en español, and People).

Also welcome are handmade greeting cards, which are delivered to kids on their food trays. This is an easy and inexpensive way to make a difference in someone’s life. You may want to consider getting your kids involved in making some cards for children staying at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Check out the guidelines on the Make Greeting Cards for Our Patients page.

You can send magazine subscriptions to the following address: Literally Healing Program, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, 4650 Sunset Boulevard, MS #64, Los Angeles, CA 90027.

There's nothing like having fun to make you feel better. To borrow from Shakespeare, "The play's the thing!"