The Adventures of Little, Yellow Cube-y

The Adventures of Little, Yellow Cube-y

How many of you have been like me and have “freaked out” a bit when you realize you are needed to help a patient cope and you don’t have your trusty “child life tools”? No iPad for distraction, no bubbles or pinwheel for deep breathing, no i-spy game for alternative focus. Just you. And the screaming, crying and flailing child is depending on you to come through for him and help him out.

Such was the case for me with a 5 year old patient, “John”.

John, a typically chipper, optimistic and social kid, was having an especially hard day on the in-patient unit and his nurse frantically grabbed me and pulled me into his room sans trusty child life distraction bag.

“I don’t know what to do. John will not do his breathing treatments no matter what I try to do. We needed to get this done one hour ago, Allie.”

I took one look at the very vocal and strongly protesting John and was reminded how he normally loves to engage in imaginative play to help him calm and distract from stressors. The problem was, I really didn’t have any of the toys he usually loves to play with in order to help motivate him for his breathing treatments.

I quickly surveyed the room to see what I could use to help him calm and get him back to baseline. And there it was: one little yellow block sitting by the sink.

“John. Do you remember what time it is?”

John paused at me through his sobs and shook his head ‘no’.

“It is time for…the adventures of little, yellow cube-y!” I declared.

Play is the foundation of child life. It is the core of the services we offer.

I made the cube “fly” over to John and begin talking to him in a high-pitched, squeaky voice.

“Hi, John! I am little, yellow cube-y. What adventures are we going to do today?”

John slowly smiled. “Well,” he began. “I think I heard of some bad guys that need to go to jail.”

And just like that, little, yellow cube-y was John’s sidekick to catch the imaginary bad guys, his support system, his vehicle of communication and feeling expression, his project to help enjoy himself, distract himself, and to help him feel normal and like a kid again.

Soon, John began teaching little, yellow cube-y about his breathing treatments and showing little, yellow cube-y how it was done. And if John started to feel a little overwhelmed by having to sit so still and keep taking deep breaths from the mask, then little, yellow cube-y would agree to various challenges John would present.

Play is the foundation of child life. It is the core of the services we offer. Yet, sometimes, I am amazed at how I can easily forget to actually play with kids or assume that I need very specific toys or items to help them imagine, create and play in the “flow”.

Sometimes we don’t need that i-pad or that stress ball, sometimes we just need a little, yellow cube-y to the rescue.

Question to Ponder: What are some hindrances you face that keep you from playing with a child?

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