Child Play International

Project: Pediatric Hospital Playrooms and Play Programs, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Four of these playrooms were originally established by our president, Barbara Fulford, during a period of residence in Buenos Aires in the early 1980's. The fifth was established subsequently in a newly-built pediatric hospital, the largest in the city, by an umbrella organization called Juego y Vida ("Play and Life") which carries on the work of sustaining hospital play programs in Argentina.

The Play Space:

These playrooms consist of a room in each hospital, furnished and equipped with play and creative material for children of various ages.

Trained Specialists:

Each Playroom is supervised by a psychologist trained by the Juego y Vida organization. In each there also a team of volunteers, most of them newly trained psychologist or students of psychology or medicine.

Awareness:

Doctors and other hospital personel have become aware of the healing potential of these playrooms, and send children to them. Students in health-care disciplines are assigned periods of work in the playrooms to enhancd their understanding of children and of the effects of illness on them. The playroom coordinators are invited to describe the work at medical and psychological meetings.