Child life services

Going to the hospital can be a frightening experience. It is full of strange sights, sounds and unfamiliar people. To help ease the stress, HCA Houston Healthcare Clearlake offers child life services for children, adolescents and their families. Our goal is to provide a supportive environment where children can gain a better understanding of the hospital, surgery and medical treatments.

Our child life specialists have a strong foundation in childhood development and are trained to address the specific issues children face in medical settings. They use play and age-appropriate activities to create a comfortable environment in which children can express their fears and concerns and to help them understand what to expect when they undergo surgery and medical procedures.

• Provide developmentally appropriate preparation and education for surgery and other procedures
• Offer opportunities for play and expressive activities to normalize the environment and encourage normal development
• Support and/or distract patients undergoing anxiety-provoking procedures
• Sibling support, to help them understand a brother's or sister's illness
• Sibling preparation for visitation to the hospital
• Grief and bereavement support
• Respond to consults for children in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and adults
• Special events and holiday celebrations for children and families
• Advocate for family-centered care

If your child is anxious about an upcoming operation, our child life specialists also offer pre-surgery tours to help familiarize your child with the environment and medical equipment. These tours can help ease a child’s anxieties, and to clear up misconceptions a child may have about surgery.

If you would like to make a donation, please see the child life wish list below for needed items. All toys and stuffed animals must be brand new due to infection prevention.

If you have questions or want to schedule a donation drop-off, please call the Child Life Department at (281) 338-3406.

Arts and crafts

• Slime kits
• Playdough and tools
• Small art project kits
• Watercolor paint palettes
• White canvases to paint (small)
• Handprint crafts
• Paint brushes and sponges (all sizes)
• Markers
• Washable paint
• Wooden items to paint

Bereavement*

• Large ink pads
• Books (The Invisible String, When Dinosaurs Die, and I Miss You)
• Paper boxes for keepsakes
• Stepping stone crafts
• Small glass bottles for heartbeat strips

Child life needs*

• Handheld light-up or spinning toys
• Bubble guns
• Stress balls and other sensory toys
• Gift cards: Target, Walmart, iTunes, Amazon, Visa, etc.
• Boys and girls underwear, all sizes
• Character Band-Aids

For our playroom*

• Pretend play toys (kitchen, grocery cart, tool workbench, sports, dollhouses, farms, doctor, vet, cleaning, etc.) (plastic material only)
• Car speedway spirals
• Dollhouse (all plastic)
• Ride-on toys (trike, cozy coupe, push cars)

Infants and toddlers*

• Rattles and teethers
• Crib aquarium
• Mobiles (plastic material only)
• Musical and light up toys
• Stacking and sorting toys
• Mamaroo or other infant swing

Preschool

• Baby dolls
• Mega blocks
• Musical instruments
• Little People toys
• Matchbox or Hot Wheels cars
• Disney and Nickelodeon character toys
• Play doctor kit

School age

• Uno
• Regular playing cards
• Barbie dolls and Princess dolls
• Action figures Lego sets (small-medium)
• Surprise toys
• Remote control cars
• Nerf Guns
• Board games

Teens*

• Local sports team items
• Make-up, nail polish and hair accessories
• Adult coloring books
• Nerf basketball hoops
• Teen craft or jewelry kits
• Phone accessories
• Bluetooth speaker
• Gift cards ($5 - $10) – GameStop, Amazon, Starbucks, 5 Below, etc.

* High need area

** Used DVDs are accepted for general use on the pediatric floor (i.e. not as gifts)