Providing the Bravery Boxes to our Partners

Each partner gets at least one teal Bravery Box to be placed visibly on the hospital floors. We also provide storage containers with extra toys to ensure the Bravery Box never runs out! Child Life Specialists work with the nursing staff to help them make the Bravery Boxes available to patients. When a child needs that extra incentive to help get through a tough procedure, staff have the ability to offer a visit to the bravery box to pick out a toy.

Some children will need multiple visits throughout the day as they have complex care plans. This is why we strive to provide small items intended to give the necessary motivation to help kids through their hospital stay.

How our Partners Use the Bravery Boxes

The staff at Children’s Hospitals are some of the most amazing people we have ever met. Their job is to know how to best take care of children. We work with our partners to make a plan for how the Bravery Box can best meet the needs of their programs. At Children’s MN, our Bravery Boxes serve Cardiology patients who must stay in the hospital for days to weeks. We also serve patients who may be in and out of the Procedural and Surgical Department in 1 - 3 days. At the University of MN Masonic Children’s Hospital, our Bravery Boxes serve the Discovery Clinic where children receive complex out-patient care for a wide range of health conditions including Allergy and Asthma, Organ Transplant, Neurological Conditions, and Cardiology.

In all of these cases, the toys in the bravery boxes provide a much needed incentive and reward for children to face difficult procedures. Children don’t always understand the bigger picture of why they need care. But they do understand getting a toy at the end of it. For children who will face a lifetime of complicated procedures, having a positive experience will set them up for future success.

Keeping the Bravery Boxes Full

Each Bravery Box is a commitment from us to continue providing toys to keep it full. We need your help to ensure the bravery boxes never go empty. The need for the boxes is growing and we have steadily increased our toy delivery to about 250+ toys each month to our partners. We look for small items like Matchbox Cars, Nail Polish, small action figures, small Lego sets, small craft kits, coloring books and crayons, and any items that children ages 2 - 16 might enjoy. While we have sugggested items you can pick from, we encourage you to think about the children in your life and what they would enjoy. These make the best Bravery Box items.