Child Life Specialist Streams For Starlight
This September, Starlight is honoring Childhood Cancer Awareness Month by hosting the second annual Stream For Starlight (S4S) campaign—a month-long virtual fundraiser that invites businesses, influencers, gamers, and individuals to stream content and raise money to deliver happiness to seriously ill kids.
By day, Kayla helps seriously ill kids and their families cope with traumatic experiences as a Certified Child Life Specialist. By night, she games for good as Child Life Plays on Twitch.
Child life specialists love to use the power of play to help kids express themselves! Kayla especially likes to use video games and Starlight Gaming to connect with seriously ill patients because, regardless of the sophistication of the illness or injury, a sick kid is still a kid.
Kayla started streaming as Child Life Plays to support Starlight during S4S 2020! Her channel is family-friendly, fun, and educational.
"A majority of viewers are children I have worked with in the past, and it is amazing beingable to continue developing connections with children inside and outside of the hospital,” she said.
Add a little happiness to your inbox
Sign up to receive periodic updates on Starlight kids, hospital stories, and resources.
With her streaming experience, it’s no surprise Kayla loves to use Starlight Gaming with her patients. It provides kids with hours of fun and distraction while playing video games.
She has seen first-hand how Starlight Gaming changes the hospital experience for so many patients, transforming it from something scary and unknown into something fun and familiar!
"I have seen video games transform an anxious patient that would scream every time a nurse walked into a room to a child who was laughing trying to play Mario Kart one-handed while they had to perform a blood draw.”
Kayla is supporting Starlight because she knows how important it is to deliver happiness to kids in the hospital. They can be scared, anxious, or confused, and Starlight programs help make them more comfortable.
"Play in the hospital is something that many people tend to forget, especially with seriously ill children. It allows opportunities for choice, mastery of skills, and, most importantly, gives the child a chance to be a child in a setting where they feel exposed and vulnerable,” she said. “The fact that Starlight is built on the foundation of play for children means so much to children and their families.”
Recommended Stories
Meet Emma G: Singer, Songwriter, and Streamer
Meet Emma G
FosterDadFlipper Streams For Starlight and Shares Insight into Fostering and Adopting
Meet FosterDadFlipper
