The Best Activities to Help Ease Kids’ Medical Anxiety

It’s common for a child to feel scared, overwhelmed or anxious when they visit the doctor’s office or go to the hospital for the first time.

Child life specialists Carson and Alexandrea, experts in child development, share simple strategies to help your child feel grounded and calm. These exercises can help your child feel more at ease during hospital visits and medical procedures.

As child life specialists, Carson and Alexandrea support kids in hospitals navigating serious illness.

When kids feel anxious about tests, procedures or simply being in an unfamiliar place, they often turn to grounding techniques, like these:

1. Counting

2. Deep breathing while squeezing a stress ball

“This is my favorite one,” Alexandrea shares. “It’s my go-to if I can get a patient to focus on me.”

3. Guided sensory imagery

“You might ask your child to imagine they’re in a different place,” Carson explains. “If it’s the beach, ask them to imagine feeling the sand on their toes, hear the waves crashing on the beach and feel the wind in their hair.”

1. Return to a familiar activity

You can have your child resume whatever activity they might have in the room. If there are no activities, here are some ideas of things kids might be interested in:

• Babies: Pick them up to offer comfort.

• Toddlers and school age: Crafts, coloring, puzzles.

• Teens: Listening to music, going on social media which can help them feel in-the-know or stay connected to friends.

2. Let play be child-directed

If you choose to play with your child, let them take the lead. While you can stay present and aware, letting them decide what and how to play helps restore a sense of control.

Carson shares why this is important:

“Their control is being taken away in the hospital -- they're told when they are taking medicine, when the doctor is coming in, when they are going to have an IV. So, play is a way to let the kids be in control, make their own decisions, process their emotions on their own time, without someone telling them that they need to do something in a certain order.”

Image: Alexandrea playing with a pediatric patient.

3. Remember kids pick up on your energy

You may not realize that kids are feeding off your energy and trust levels in the room. If you stay calm, then it can help your child stay calm, too.

New tests and procedures aren't just happening to the child, parents and caregivers experience them too. Your hospital's child life specialist can help prepare everyone for what's coming next.

“It’s the whole family we’re caring for, not just the patient," Carson says.

Imaginative play supports a child’s health and wellbeing. It’s an everyday part of their life and a lens to learn about the world around them. Play redirects attention, and allows kids to freely explore and express their emotions.

That’s why giving kids tools, such as toys, to play with is a powerful and natural way to cope with anxious feelings.

1. Fidget Toys

Fidget toys, such as a stress ball or a pop-it, are a helpful distraction for teens. “Teens are used to being busy. The fidget toys allow kids to keep going when they’re not feeling well,” Carson says.

Fidget rings, which come in different colors and textures, have been a fan-favorite among older school-age kids (10 and older) as well.

Starlight Children’s Foundation is proud to support the work of child life specialists through its Toy Deliveries program, which provides toys, crafts, coloring books and puzzles free to patients. Carson and Alexandrea receive toys like fidget toys, crafts, coloring books and puzzles free through Starlight’s Toy Delivery program.

2. LEGO® sets

It’s important to shift kids’ attention to something positive because it can distract them from emotional or physical pain.

LEGO sets are one way to keep hands busy and provide hours of imaginative play.

For example, the LEGO MRI Scanner model can help kids understand what to expect during a procedure. Instead of feeling anxious, kids feel more confident and courageous about doing it.

Image: A child life specialist using a LEGO MRI Scanner model to help Jameson feel confident about his MRI scan.

3. Video Games

Playing video games can also improve mood and distract from pain.

Alexandrea and Carson bring the Starlight Gaming Station and Handhelds, powered by Nintendo® to patients’ rooms so they can play from their beds. Other times, they invite patients to the playroom to play Starlight Gaming for a sense of normalcy.

Ask your hospital’s child life specialist if they have a Starlight Gaming Station.

Image: Pediatric patient Elaysia finds comfort playing a familiar video game on the Starlight Gaming Station from her hospital bed.

4. Hero Wagons

The Starlight Hero Wagons, designed by Radio Flyer, can give kids comfort and a sense of security when they feel anxious. Made with an IV pole attachment, kids can safely leave their room and explore the hospital environment.

Ask your child life specialist if they have a Starlight Hero Wagon.

Image: Axel smiling brightly while going for a joy-ride through hospital hallways in the Starlight Hero Wagon.

There are many ways to help put kids more at ease at the doctor’s office or the hospital. Every small act that helps a child feel seen and safe matters. That's why Starlight exists.

With the right tools, child life specialists like Carson and Alexandra can ease those anxious feelings. But they can't do it alone. Support from caring donors makes these programs possible.

If you've searched for ways to comfort a hospitalized child, you already know how much these moments matter. By supporting Starlight, you can deliver that same sense of calm and happiness to millions of hospitalized kids when they need it.

Will you give hospitalized kids the support they need?