“You aren’t her friend. Anyone who wears a medical badge will never be her friend. You can’t get through to her.”
These were words a protective mother of a very nervous and stubborn four-year-old told me.
The four-year-old patient, “Amelia” had aplastic anemia and would be staying in the hospital for almost an entire month. Any time any staff member entered the room, Amelia would hide under the covers and scream for them to go away. This included even the “fun people”, child life specialists.
I was persistent. I tried every approach I could think of. I tried taking my name badge off any time I entered the room (since that did appear to be a stressor for the patient), I tried happening to run into the patient while she was in the playroom, I tried playing by myself to see if she would join, ETC!
I knew that the patient would not connect with me. But, what about my puppet?
Puppets are wonderful tools for so many reasons. Not only can you use them to teach kids about their bodies and about medical equipment, puppets can also become true friends.
I knocked on the door with my trusty puppet in hand.
“Go away!” Amelia screamed.
The puppet, Benny, slowly popped her head in and said in a goofy southern accent, “Oh, excuse me. I thought this was my room.”
“Wait…who are you?” Amelia was intrigued.
“I am Benny. I stay here in the hospital. I thought this was my room, but I guess I was wrong. Hey! You have a bed just like me! Does it go up and down just like my bed does?”
“Yeah…yeah it does! You want to see?” Amelia sat up and began playing with the controls.
“Sure!” Benny waddled over to Amelia and watched as she pushed the bed up and down.
The two became fast friends.
Day after day, Amelia would ask for Benny. The two would go to the playroom together and Amelia would teach Benny all about her favorite toys she likes. The two would take walks around the unit, doctors orders. And soon, Amelia chose Benny to be her close confidant and began teaching her about her aplastic anemia diagnosis.
It truly was amazing to witness. Even as I was the one “controlling” what Benny said and did, I watched in wonderment as Amelia would look past me like I didn’t even exist and felt so much safety with Benny. Soon, I began to interject myself alongside of Benny as Allie, the child life specialist…and soon friend of Amelia. And one day, Amelia began asking for me, not just Benny, when she knew she needed someone to play with and help distract from the hospital environment.
This puppet story is one of several I have. I really am known as “the puppet lady” at the hospital. No matter how goofy I look with all my silly voices or the fact that I carry around a freakishly huge puppet, I have seen firsthand how these puppets help break down walls for patients and create such a safe place for them to learn, share and explore.
Interested in incorporating puppetry into your daily child life interventions? Here are some tips!
- Benny comes from the organization “Patient Puppets, Inc.” where you can custom order your very own puppet. Check them out here.
- Give your puppet personality and a story. Patient Puppets, Inc. provides an “About Me” booklet to use for your puppet so you can have a consistent name, age and backstory for your puppet.
- Practice! Practice a voice you feel comfortable using, opening and closing the mouth, making the puppet gesture and move, etc. Practice in front of a mirror and also check out videos online of puppets (like Sesame Street)
- When you are speaking as the puppet, look at the puppet as you would if someone else was talking, not the child.
- If you don’t feel comfortable using the puppet as a “friend” at first, try introducing the puppet as a teaching tool first.
- Furthermore, if you aren’t the type of person to use voices and characters, have the puppet be a silent puppet and just “whisper” things in your ear that only you can hear, and then you can translate that, “Oh, Benny said she really likes…”
- Commit. When you decide you want to use a puppet, you go for it! Don’t worry about what people may think or the weird looks you may get. Embrace it and own it. It is better to go all out than to be halfway committed–trust me from experience, it is even more awkward when you can’t make up your mind!