Doctor Office Toys Helping the Child to Visit a Pediatric Clinic in the Good Mood

A pediatrician friend of mine often laments about zealous parents promising children that there won't be any needles or procedures that may agonize the child. And if the child is due for a vaccination, as a doctor she has broken the child's trust. The next time pediatric doctor makes a promise to the child, he is unlikely to believe her. But you can't really blame parents for this. As a mother of two, I understand how difficult it is to prepare a child for a visit to the pediatrician. Anxious parents in an effort to calm children often unknowingly end up making matters worse.

But there are several ways through which a pediatrician's visit can be made interesting and welcoming. Waiting room toys, activity wall panels, play table or wooden play cubes are the centers of attention and the place where children of all ages congregate to play while waiting for the doctor's checkup. These toys, when placed in the pediatric clinic, distract kids from the unpleasant thoughts and start the visit in the right mood.

Needless to say, the first step is to ensure that the atmosphere is calming but fun filled and interesting. The friend whom I earlier mentioned made sure that the rooms completely distracted the child from the purpose of the visit. There were walls with different themes that range from deep sea to dense forest. If the deep sea room had walls with pictures of corals, star fishes and octopuses, the dense forests had pictures of giraffes, monkeys and elephants amidst wild bushes and trees. To throw in a good measure of reality, the deep sea room had an aquarium as well. There were waiting room toys placed in each room.

While we are on the subject of toys, it's important that the pediatrician chooses the toys with care. They should be interesting enough for the child to play and the collection should be vast enough to be used by children of all age groups. A good idea is to include at least one game that involves group activity. You can't be having enough toys to give all the children at the same time. Thus, activity wall panels or activity tables are of great use, since many children can play at once. You can even choose from giant building blocks that children can play with.

But make sure, you've devised a way to ensure that the toys from the' unwell' section does not spill over to the toys in the 'healthy' section.

And finally it's not only about the clinic and the pediatric clinic toys; it's about the pediatrician himself as well. Doctors who end up making false promises that a procedure would be painless (when it's going to be just the opposite), doctors who aren't patient enough with children are sure to be unpopular among children.

The next time a parent's complaining about a child refusing to visit the pediatrician, make sure you take a good look around the clinic. The solution probably lies within the clinic, than with the child.

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The Game of Operation Turns Any Kid Into a Heart Doctor

This very popular game called Operation was developed in 1967 by Milton Bradley. Currently distributed by Hasbro, this great battery-operated game allowed kids of all ages to practice dexterity and hand-eye skills. Perfect for any little heart doctor, this game allowed kids to take miniature tongs in an attempt to remove small pieces from a pictured patient on the board. Kids would have to dip the tongs inside small crevices to retrieve small pieces, but if the metal tongs made contact with the sides of the cavity, a buzzer would go off, meaning their turn was up.

This game was extremely popular with kids and young adults in the 60s through the 90s. It was marketed on television to children on Saturday mornings during the 1980s, and remained a popular family game since its inception. Any kid could turn into a heart doctor or brain surgeon during play, and it was one of the first games in which kids could learn very basic internal anatomy of the human body. The game also afforded kids to practice on their dexterity, concentration, hand-eye coordination, and about the way electricity works (since contact with the metal tongs on the metal cavity rims would cause a buzzer to go off).

Each game contained a deck of cards, the tongs or tweezers with which children would pull the game pieces from the drawn patient on the board, and the pieces that fit inside him. Each game required children to focus on the Adam's Apple, broken heart, ankles, stomach, ribs, knees, funny bone, a Charlie horse area, a writer's cramp area, ankle bone to knee bone connection, wish bone, bread basket (the solar plexus), and a small ice cream cone located in the head called "Brain Freeze".

Other versions were made throughout the years. A 2006 version of the game featured Spider Man which sent sales through the roof. The next year, Sponge Bob Square Pants adorned the board. Eventually Hasbro would produce a Simpson's version, a version for Doctor Who, as well as Toy Story. By 2006, the company developed another board for the Iron Man movie franchise, and in 2011, developed a model for the film, Cars 2. Clearly the game is profitable for the company as it is a success among children. Any aspiring throat, nose, foot, or heart doctor can enjoy this fun and entertaining game.

Operation has been one of the longest lasting games through the decades. Original sets are selling for high amounts on eBay and other auctions. While they are still able to be found, many collectors pay high dollar for an original set, especially sets that were a part of the first 100 manufactured by Milton Bradley. If anyone has one of these, they could easily sell it for a large amount of money. For those who wish for them to gain value, simply protect the parts, box, and store it away for another day!

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