When children and teens encounter mental illnesses, one question often arises: how can I move forward and feel healthy and happy again?
Creativity, play, and self-expression are a vital part of the answer at CHOC—now part of Rady Children’s Health. By providing coping kits filled with activities, toys, and items that foster imaginative, safe outlets for emotions, we champion mental wellness alongside physical health to help patients admitted to CHOC’s Cherese Mari Laulhere Mental Health Inpatient Center (MHIC) feel more at ease.
These coping kits are made possible by the philanthropy and kindness of the Toy Foundation’s Play Grants program, in partnership with the Children’s Hospital Association—and powerfully illustrate how philanthropy elevates the high-quality, compassionate care and resources we offer to CHOC families. Primarily funded by the Toy Foundation, the kits are given to every patient admitted to the MHIC and include a journal, summary of coping skills, stress ball, mochi squishy, model magic clay, pop-it fidget toy, stickers, and crayons. Welcome cards, a new addition to the kit, prompt current patients to recall their first day in the MHIC and create a card with encouragement and helpful tips to gift to new MHIC patients.
Since October 2022, nearly 1,600 MHIC patients have received a mental health coping kit—and the benefits have been undeniable.
Increasing patients’ positive coping skills
When a patient is admitted to the MHIC, they often struggle to identify one helpful coping skill. The coping kits are introduced to them by CHOC’s child life specialists, who explain that their kit is theirs to keep and safe to use at all times.
“In the MHIC, safety is the number one concern,” says Jessica Lamas, a CHOC child life specialist. “The coping kit is created with safety in mind so that every item can be kept in the patient’s room, allowing them to have access to materials they can use to cope.”
Serving as a warm welcome and a positive distraction, the kits increase coping skills and invite our mental health patients to the center in a friendly way. While acclimating to the MHIC, patients use kit items to remove, lessen or simply help get them through stressful situations—enhancing their sense of well-being.
Having access to these items allows patients to practice self-soothing and decide for themselves which coping material they wish to use to manage difficult emotions. Given healthy outlets and self-agency, our patients can take an active part in connecting with their peers and even help de-escalate crisis situations.
In particular, the child life team has found the model magic clay and journal are the most popular items in the kit. Patients are seen actively using the clay during anticipated tough family meetings, check-ins with doctors and therapists, in group therapy sessions, when they are in their rooms for the night, and in their free time. The clay acts as a fidget toy to keep their hands busy, reduce social anxiety, and be a coping mechanism when feeling strong emotions. Similarly, patients frequently turn to their journals and crayons to express their feelings, recenter, doodle, and take notes during group therapy sessions.
“There have been multiple occasions where patients will request another journal after completely filling the first one,” adds Lamas.
Incorporating creative and play therapies into daily care not only positively impacts the patient’s wellness but also improves their treatment outcomes—enabled by the generosity of The Toy Foundation.
“Play is a key component of childhood. Having access to play in difficult situations, such as a hospital stay, can provide immense comfort and emotional benefits to pediatric patients as they receive treatment and heal,” says Pam Mastrota, executive director at The Toy Foundation. “We are delighted to support CHOC in delivering the healing power of play to the children and families they serve every day.”
How journaling transformed a CHOC patient’s journey toward wellness
One patient, who was having a hard time regulating their emotions, was admitted to the MHIC to receive crisis support. Fearful and uncertain, the patient tearfully curled into a ball to protect themselves.
“Patients can have a difficult time adjusting to the MHIC,” says Lamas. “When we provide them with these tools to cope, it’s an incredible icebreaker, and you see their faces light up at the items in the kit.”
To ease the patient’s fears, Lamas brought them their coping kit. As the patient began to look through the coping kit, they immediately gravitated to the model magic clay and began to fidget with it. Before long, the patient had sat up and began sharing tips about how to make the clay feel more like slime.
The power of play made possible by the coping kit helped the patient appropriately cope with the emotions they were experiencing, as the MHIC’s child life team welcomed them to the unit—and the care they needed.
“We’re so grateful to the Toy Foundation for making these coping kits possible. Thanks to their support, children now have access to creative tools that offer comfort, creativity and a way to help our patients express and manage emotions in a safe way,” says Lamas.
“This would not have been possible without the Toy Foundation, and we are so thankful for their commitment to helping children thrive through play.”
