Dolls comfort with healing touch

Heading to the hospital can be a scary trip, but some Circle K’ers are trying to make it a bit easier for sick kids.

Members of the Circle K Club at Arizona State University, Tempe, make trauma dolls to give to children at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. The dolls help the children understand their “boo-boos,” as doctors can use them to point out where surgery will take place and how it will make the patient better. The dolls also can help chronically ill patients by giving them a new “friend.”

Arizona State Circle K’ers have donated hundreds of dolls through the program. Below are the Circle K’ers’ instructions on making trauma dolls.

Step-by-step instructions to make your own trauma dolls

1. Create a few gingerbread man-shaped cutouts, which members can trace onto fabric.

2. Come up with several yards of fabric (colorful or plain so children can color them), stuffing/batting, lots of fabric scissors, markers for tracing, thread, and lots of needles.

3. Trace the cutout onto a folded, inside-out piece of fabric. Cut the fabric, and sew ALMOST all the way around with the fabric pieces inside-out. Pull the fabric right-side-out and stuff the dolls. Finish sewing.

4. Call a children’s hospital or children’s pediatric unit and pitch the idea of delivering the dolls to chronically ill children who need a friend or to children who are going through surgery.

5. Bring the dolls to the hospital and write a news release about the donation. Work with the hospital and parents or guardians to gain permission to take and publish photos.

Note: Do not attach hard plastic or metal eyes or other features to the dolls. This could be a choking hazard to young children.

—Source: Arizona State University Circle K club, Tempe