For my advocacy project for the Special Topics Health class, I chose to make activity books for kids in hospitals around the U.S. I found out about this program, called Patient Playbooks, on DoSomething.org. The website provides you with a ten page template of a playbook. Each page has instructions on one side and a space for your work on the other. Activities include: coloring pages, mad libs, word searches, find the difference pages, trivia, and make-your-own puzzles. The instructions are only general ones; they allow you to add your own creative ideas to each page. The pictures can be printed or drawn, the activities can be funny or educational, and it can be decorated however you want it to be.

I decided to participate in this program because I felt it was a unique approach to the problem. Most advocacy projects for children’s hospitals ask for money. While this benefits the kids tremendously in many ways that they might not be able to understand, a handmade playbook is something that will cheer them up right away.

I have completed three books and received many more from Jenny Metzger, Kellen Phelps, and Julia Carlsen. So far I have eight books ready to be sent out, and I’m hoping to receive even more in the coming weeks.