I write an annual grant to each hospital for giveaways and they have always been approved. Here are some of the things we use ... from the 2003 Main Catalog #20265A1, call them to order one at 800-228-2269 if you are interested.

Fish stickers, p. 15. Place on their "acquarium" (IV bag)
Carboard spacey eye glasses, p. 19. Can take a nap and look like they are awake (staff
are good candidates for these)
Rubber chicken key chains, p. 38. Add a boxing glove and you have Tyson Chicken. Add a blue
cord and you have Chicken Cord On Blue. Add a string and you have Chicken a la String. The
jokes never end.
Rainbow glitter tattoos, p. 47. SnickerDoodle is a certified tattoo artiste!
Stretchy rainbow tattoo bracelets, p.48. Rings and bracelets should be really stretchy to
accommodate all sizes. Everyone needs a friendship bracelet - the ones they give you at the
hospital are really boring and I've heard they are expensive, too.
Vinyl ducky necklaces, p. 50. To hold while receiving a bubble bath. "0)
Plastic Smile Face Bubble Bottle necklaces, p.53. Use or give away. Bubble baths are too fun!
Plastic Smile Face Flower Pinwheels, p.56. All ages love to have these. SnickerDoodle doesn't
know how to make them work and blows all the wrong places until someone shows her how.
Goofy Smile Face Tattoos, p.57. If you don't feel like smiling, you can wear a tattoo and point
to it.
Vinyl Zoo Animal Bendables, p. 78.
Vinyl Zoo Aminal Pop-Ups, p. 79. Kids love the tension while waiting for it to pop.
Vinyl Metallic Stretchy Lizards, p. 98. Big hit with kids.
Dinasaur Tattoos, p. 98.
Plastic Bug Jumpers, p. 100. Toys that do something are hits - bug jokes fit here.
Vinyl Frogs with Webbed Fett, p. 101. These went fast on Peds, load up on frog jokes/stories.
Plastic Hand Clappers, p.110. Give your nurse a "round of applause" (clap while moving hands in a
circle). Or, "I'd like to give you a hand for being such a terrific audience."
Plastic Bubbles for Wedding, p. 129. Small, portable, cheap, wand in the lid.
Candy that staff have liked includes;
Smarties, p. 175. We call it "brain food," because it increases their IQ.
Sixlets, p. 175. Chocolate!! We get patted down by staff for chocolate.
Skittles, p. 176. Individual packets.
Plastic Smile Face Guy Pins, p. 182. Staff keep these forever.
We've also given away plastic straws with umbrellas in them, or hard plastic animal ones, because many people are required to drink a lot of fluids and this makes it more festive. Keep them sterile, though.


Some things that haven't worked well: Any of the porcupine toys...lint and every other fuzzy thing gets stuck in them. Some of their stickers wouldn't come off the page. Small bouncy balls can be inhaled by kids *faint* (this actually happened in my presence at the hospital). Be careful when ordering bubbles...some of them have wands that you have to dig around for and get messy hands. You want ones that have the wand attached to the lid! Avoid whistles and noisemakers as giveaways if you want the staff to like you! Twizzlers licorice candy was hard and broke into tiny pieces. "0(

I'd love to hear of other things people are using as giveaways or props that are inexpensive.

~Mary

Our church is able to buy things through a wholesale dealer in our area called The Flower Factory. I can buy miniature Campbells soup cans there. Some are about 1/2" tall and some are 1" tall. I tell the patient that I brought them "a little soup". These are too small to give to children but good for adults.