As I was walking through the Children’s Room at my library the other day, a flyer announcing “MedExpress Teddy Bear Clinic Comes to You” caught my eye. According to the MedExpress website, “MedExpress’ Teddy Bear Clinic is a free community outreach program that provides hands-on opportunities to learn about splinters, germs, sprains and scrapes. Staff members from MedExpress lead the clinics that include a song about hand washing, learning what doctors and radiologists do, taking mock X-rays and applying Band-Aids and ace bandages. After their lesson, students receive an official Teddy Bear Clinic certificate.” The MedExpress staff member brings a teddy bear along to act as the patient. The program is geared toward 3-6 year olds.
These popular clinics are popping up everywhere from schools to libraries to art centers. We already have 13 children signed up for our program on June 9th! Contact your local MedExpress center to schedule a Teddy Bear Clinic for your library.
Share what your library has done to promote health literacy for the children at your library through the PA Forward Best Practices Short Form, and see what other libraries are doing on the PA Forward Best Practices Database.