Operation Board Game Play with a Child Life Specialist Sparks Therapeutic Conversations
Do you remember the board game Operation?
It’s an old, much-loved, battery-operated game of physical skill, that tests players’ hand-and-eye coordination and fine motor skills, as they try to extract tiny, toy body parts from a patient on an operating table. If the surgical extraction tool touches the edges of a toy body part socket, the flashing-red-light nose buzzer sends off a startling noise, letting game players know that bodily harm has come to the battery-operated patient.
Emily’s House children’s hospice receives donations of this Operation game every December as part of the gift giving season, which is great because our child life specialist uses and gifts the game to many children clients. When they play Operation together, opportunities arise organically to have conversations that may be helpful to the child, at the child’s initiative.
Within the supported dialogue of play, the conversation can support a child’s processing of one of their own medical procedures, a recent failed operation from the child’s real life, or health-related topics involving concerns for a loved one.
Special thanks to the Lillian Meighen and Don Wright Foundation for being the Lead Patron for Emily’s House Daily Play and Recreation since 2016!
