We are delighted to announce the launch of our new Spread a Smile Activity Book which is aimed at children of all ages and will be distributed to patients receiving treatment at our NHS Partner hospitals.
The Activity Book is packed full of fun activities for children to enjoy and complete whilst they are in hospital, including pictures to colour in – hand drawn by one of our artists – stickers and games. It comes complete with a pack of colouring pens, plus space to add personal pictures and write down thoughts, feelings and experiences, providing a creative outlet for emotions.
Our aim is to provide a practical and useful resource for seriously ill children and young people to use whilst in hospital, helping to distract and engage during periods of treatment, isolation or recovery.
This Activity Book has been made possible thanks to generous support from Rhona Sutton, who designed and produced the book. An initial delivery of 1,500 Activity books will be making it’s way to our hospital partners over the next few weeks, with a further delivery of 2,000 books coming later in the year. (See the film below for a quick flick through of the book).
Laura Walter, Director of Services for Spread a Smile said, “At Spread a Smile we know first-hand how distressing a hospital stay can be for the children and families we support. Our Activity Book aims to provide an avenue for self-expression, creativity and relaxation, enabling children to forget their treatment and illness, even if just for a short time. A lot of the drawings in the book are of familiar Spread a Smile faces – our entertainers, therapy dogs, fairies and magicians. We want the children we support to know that we are always there for them, even when we are not physically in the room.”
A huge thank you to Rhona and we’re looking forward to sharing more of the Activity Book in the future.
Any of our NHS hospital partners wishing to receive some of our Activity Books for their patients should email us at events@spreadasmile.org