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Halloween
Tradition #9 - Hospital Halloween
There's a hospital just a
few mile away from us that has a pediatric ward. We usually
take some stuffed animals over there around Christmas for
the kids and decided why not Halloween, too? It's got to be
hard to be a child, sick in the hospital and missing out on
Halloween! So, we started making Halloween gift baskets for
the kids a few years ago. You can too, and you can have your
kids help out. They'll enjoy it and it teaches them that
giving can be better than receiving when they see the
pediatric ward kids happy faces.
Initially, there are some
protocols to be followed. First we call the hospital
administrator and ask how many children are admitted in the
hospital during the week of Halloween. Even though we've done this in the past, we always
ask permission. The hospital administrator will make sure
that we get up-to-date info and any special needs for each
child. Have them check with the parents of the kids
beforehand and make sure that they don't mind, too.
We then put together a small Halloween basket for
each child. We usually shop at the local dollar store.
We never include candy because there might be some children
that can't have it. We usually include things that will keep
the kids busy for a while and give them some fun,
inexpensive things to play with. A Halloween word find book
can keep them busy for days and makes the tedium of a
hospital not so bad.
Discount and dollar stores
offer lots of small and inexpensive Halloween items perfect
for stuffing a small treat bag with. You can buy bags of
things that usually come in a dozen which makes it easier to
do. Just add one of everything to each basket. Since you are
doing this as a charity gift to the hospital, talk to the
managers of the stores that you shop at and ask about
getting a discount or see if they'd like to donate some of
the things that you'll need.
Here are some
of the things that we include in each basket:
Halloween
Treat Basket (Plastic Pumpkin Pail or the like)
Halloween Coloring Book
Small Box of Crayons
Halloween Jigsaw Puzzle
Halloween Toy or Stuffed Animal
Halloween Puzzle Book
Small Rubber Bat or Skeleton
Halloween Tattoo Book
Halloween Light-up Wand
You don't need
to spend a lot to make some nice gifts for these kids that
have to spend that most special night of the year in the
hospital. The looks on the kids faces alone are worth it and
it definitely gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside that is
well needed nowadays! |
