Health Matters! Children’s Health, Texas

In the summer of 2023, Lorraine Sheldon, a medical librarian at Children’s Health hospital network in Texas, reached out to us for a small design project. After a friendly exchange where I offered to donate a box of our activity books, Lorraine surprised me by saying that she had already been eyeing our work! She shared that Children’s Health was considering commissioning a custom book all about health literacy for their patients and families.

Fast forward a year, and we’ve made that vision a reality!

Children’s Health commissioned us to create an 80-page activity book for kids staying at the hospital, a 16-page version for hospital visitors and community outreach, and printable health literacy pages for caregivers to use in one-on-one sessions with patients. These printables are also available for free to promote health literacy! Help yourself! (Link will come as soon as it’s available! This book is so new that this isn’t ready yet!)

Filling a Gap with Creative Educational Materials

According to Lorraine, “Things that are my specialty just don’t exist in this space. Many medical librarians are teaching health literacy, but to have something beautiful and professional I think is going to blow people away.” As we collaborated, Lorraine emphasized that no one creates activities quite like we do. The hospital’s committee gave us a list of topics to cover and resources, and we worked together to develop meaningful and clever educational materials.

What’s Inside the Books

Body Systems
Our diagrams feature facts and jokes about 14 body systems, including the digestive system, skeletal system, and circulatory system.

General Health
These activities cover vital signs, nutrition, biology, exercise, and more—presented in a fun, kid-friendly way.

Health Equity
Teaching kids about health equity can be challenging. In our drawing activity, kids are encouraged to notice that hospitals bring together people from all walks of life. Another activity uses a “choose-your-own-adventure” format, where kids experience a day in the life of different children and learn how friendship, transportation, housing, and food access can impact health.

Health Literacy
One of my favorite activities is “Talking to Your Doctor,” which teaches kids how to ask good questions, advocate for their needs, and understand next steps in their healthcare journey.

Hospital Familiarization
We designed a scavenger hunt, a tutorial on drawing a facility dog, and even a hospital staff coloring page to help kids become familiar with their surroundings.

Mental Wellness
Scattered throughout the book are activities that promote mental wellness, including one on feelings and emotions, and a backwards poem about growth mindset.

Patient Safety
These activities focus on safety practices in the hospital, like wearing wristbands and grippy socks, and learning about personal protective equipment.

Teachable Skills
We also developed activities to help kids think through how to talk about their hospital experiences, like in our comic where patients decide what they might want to share when they return to school.

Custom Activity Books for Hospitals

By focusing on custom coloring books and activity books tailored to large organizations like hospitals, we help fill educational gaps with engaging, well-researched materials. Our team brings expertise in design, education, and communication to every project, ensuring that kids and families have resources that are both fun and informative.

Interested in creating custom activity books for your organization? Contact us today to learn more about how we can bring your vision to life.