TOYS FOR OUR CHILDREN
For more information, please contact
Betty Tucker, Director of Development
UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute
4301 W. Markham St., #554
Little Rock, AR 72205
BATucker@uams.edu or (501) 526-8134
Play is more than mere "Entertainment!" It is the
way children learn to understand and make sense
of the world. Play promotes creativity and problem-
solving abilities and helps children form relationships
and develop social skills. Clinicians use
play in therapy to modify behavior and teach cognitive
and interpersonal skills.
Toys facilitate and enrich play and help children
acquire skills. In clinical settings, toys are used as
tools to educate, model behavioral change, and
promote self-regulation and self-soothing behaviors.
In 2011 a local entrepreneur established the "Toys
for Our Children Fund" to purchase toys for the
Child Diagnostic Unit, an inpatient unit for children
between the ages of two and twelve at the
Psychiatric Research Institute. The fund is used to
purchase toys for day to day use on the unit, as
gifts for children hospitalized on birthdays and
holidays, and as "take home" gifts for children being
discharged from the unit. Toys are carefully
selected for their therapeutic value and include
such things as:
„hƒn
Kimochi plush dolls to encourage children to
express their feelings in a comfortable way. These
dolls have pockets stuffed with pillows bearing the
name of an expression or emotion on one side and
a face expressing the same emotion on the other
side.
„hƒn
MP3 players to provide music which can be
relaxing and soothing as well as self-regulating.
An estimated $7,500 is required to provide toys for
the approximately one hundred children treated at
the Child Diagnostic Unit each year.
With your help and your contributions, we can
provide "Toys for Our Children."
