PIHW

Play in Healthcare Week 2025

Play in Healthcare Week (PIHW – formerly known as Play in Hospital Week) is a special week which raises awareness of the benefits and importance of play in healthcare settings.

At Spread a Smile, we believe that play is integral to a child’s health, wellbeing and development. For children facing illness and time in hospital, away from friends, family and everything they know, play can be difficult to access. This is where Spread a Smile comes in; offering opportunities for play and moments of joy, connection, and normalcy in an otherwise clinical and often frightening environment.

Recent research reinforces what Spread a Smile has long known: play is an essential part of a child’s health and wellbeing, and its presence in healthcare settings can transform the experience of young patients. Despite this recognition, play often remains undervalued and under resourced in healthcare settings.

This Play in Healthcare Week, Spread a Smile will support our NHS hospital partners to help bring the joy of play into the hospital setting, including a schedule of regular in-person partner visits, a special one-off visit to Hillingdon Hospital, a cupcake decorating workshop at UCLH and more.

Spread a Smile’s talented entertainers will create meaningful opportunities for play that brighten hospital wards, providing opportunities for pain distraction and engagement and space for children just to be children again.

A scoping review by the University of Cambridge’s PEDAL Centre and Starlight Children’s Foundation highlights that play “can profoundly influence children’s experience of receiving healthcare and their perception of being well amidst health adversity”. Play helps reduce stress and anxiety, fosters emotional resilience, and even supports physical recovery. It allows children to process their emotions, gain a sense of control, and find comfort during challenging times.

As the UK government develops its 10-year health plan with a focus on creating “the healthiest generation of children ever”, Spread a Smile champions the vital role of play and joy in children’s healthcare. Every day, we witness its’ transformative impact and of laughter, creativity and connection on a child’s wellbeing. Our vision is for every seriously ill child in hospital to have access to play and moments of joy and no child feels alone in their journey. Please consider making a donation to help us do just that.

Spread a Smile has lots planned for Play in Healthcare Week…

A joyful start at Hillingdon Hospital
We will launch the week with a very special visit to Hillingdon Hospital in Uxbridge, Spread a Smile entertainers Louise and Colette will spend the day visiting young patients with incredible balloon models, music and plenty of smiles.

An extra-special visit to John Radcliffe Hospital
As part of our expanded efforts for PIHW, we will be proud to arrange an additional visit to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Our entertainers will visit young patients across all inpatient and outpatient wards with personalised bedside visits including musical performances and magic shows to suit each young patient’s individual needs.

Cupcake creativity at UCH, thanks to Lola’s
Over at University College Hospital (UCH) in London, PIHW celebrations will continue with a delicious twist. Thanks to our friends at Lola’s Cupcakes, we will host hands-on cupcake decorating sessions, with young patients being able to design and decorate their own treats. These workshops provide a chance for children to express themselves, take a break from the clinical environment, and have some fun during their hospital stay.

Spread a Smile’s Director of Services, Laura Walter, said

“Play in Hospital Week is a fantastic opportunity to reflect on the work we do and the values we hold at Spread a Smile – bringing fun, creativity and laughter into hospitals to help ease the clinical environment. Through our additional visits this week, we’ve been able to reach even more children and families, offering moments of joy when they’re needed most.

We’re so grateful to the hospitals and play teams we partner with for their tireless dedication to young patients, and to our supporters, entertainers and partners like Lola’s Cupcakes for helping make this week so special. PIHW 2025 is a powerful reminder of the vital role play continues to have in a child’s care, especially during life’s most challenging times.”

Play in Hospital Week is a powerful celebration of the vital role play has for the wellbeing of children facing long periods in hospital, and we’re grateful to Starlight Children’s Foundation and the Society of Health Play Specialists  (SoHPS) for their essential work in championing it.

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