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Donating Toys and Gifts
to St. Cloud Hospital Children’s Center

Pediatric patient

Gifts for children

Support from the community helps to provide new toys, crafts and items for children. Make a gift.

Hospital admissions and visits often can be difficult and scary for children and their families. Special toys and activities can help make these experiences less stressful. You can help by providing the gift of new toys, crafts, and other items for children of all ages — infants through teens. These items are used throughout the year and are given to the children as prizes, rewards, birthday gifts and much more!

Your financial contributions allow St. Cloud Hospital Children’s Center expert staff to purchases items that are age, diagnosis and hospital appropriate.  

Wish list

To help facilitate your gift, St. Cloud Hospital Children’s Center has developed a Wish List of items needed throughout the hospital. Items on can be purchased at any retail store and dropped off at St. Cloud Hospital. Because of infection control and the safety of our children and families, St. Cloud Hospital Children’s Center is only able to accept new toys and cannot accept toys that have been part of private collections.

The categories are listed in order of greatest need.

Adolescents

Creativity kits: All-in-one sets from Target and Creative Kidstuff, beads or bracelets

Gift cards: $10-$15 to Target, Best Buy, Barnes and Noble so staff are able to purchase activities for patients and families

Handheld electronic games: Yahtzee, Battleship, 20Q, Big Screen Solitaire, Deal or No Deal, Sudoku Touch Screen

Art sets with good brushes, paints, pastels

Activity books: Logic puzzles or coloring books

Strategy games: Cribbage or chess sets

Nail polish, nail design kits and remover

Knitting or crochet kits

Toddler/Preschool

Pop-up toys

Color Wonder

Matchbox/Hotwheels cars, garage

Chunky cars, trucks, trains, etc.

TOMY, Fisher-Price, Little Tykes toys/Little people

Fisher-Price medical kits

Wooden Peg Puzzles, cardboard puzzles

Box puzzles 24-60 pieces

Disney play figures

Don’t Break the Ice, Zingo, Ant in the Pants

Sound books

Gertie Balls

Playskool Busy Ball Popper

Wiggly Giggly Balls (Creative Kidstuff)

B.Meowsic (electronic keyboard)

Magna Doodles

School-Age

Art/craft kits – All-in-one sets (Target and Creative Kidstuff)

Card games: Uno, Go Fish, I Spy, Look Alikes, Waldo books

Lego sets – small/medium sized

Jigsaw puzzles (100-200pc)

TOMY robots; remote control cars

Nail art sets

Connect Four, Sequence, Sequence Jr.

Barbie/Ken dolls

Uno, Skip-Bo

20Q electronic games

Infant

Baby Board Books

Rattles, O-balls

Fisher Price, Sassy, Baby Einstein toys and toy sets

Mirrors

Mozart Magic Cube

Sound & Lights Aquariums (Fisher-Price)

Melodies & Motion Soothers (Fisher-Price)

Toy bars for strollers

Art and Craft Materials

Playdough: small tubs, Playdough tools

Washable markers

Watercolor paint sets

Crayons – small, regular, jumbo

Craft kits – child and teen

Fuzzy posters

Geometric design coloring books

Crayola Model Magic

Klutz Books

Window Markers

Colored Pencils, Pastels

Sticker books and stickers

Coloring/Activity books

Playing cards

Games

Sorry
Checkers
Trouble
Candyland
Life
Monopoly
Uno
Decks of Cards
Puzzles- for all ages

Electronics

We must have a receipt for all electronic equipment, movies, and computer games donated

Portable DVD players

Batteries: All sizes

Music CDs – lullaby, Disney, children’s songs, instrumental/relaxation music, current pop tunes

Sound Story Books

iPads and tablets

Music Therapy items

Board-Books that are songs (Wheels on the Bus, Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitsy Spider, etc)

Egg Shakers

Full size guitar - Art and Lutherie brand

Hohner plastic harmonicas

Small maraquitas or chiquitas

Recorders

Jazzy Jingles

Xylophones

Any Children's Instruments

Gift form

Thank you for your support! By donating to St. Cloud Hospital Children’s Center, you will help many children and families have a more positive and less stressful hospital experience. Please fill out the gift form and include it with your gift.

To drop off donations

Bring donations to St. Cloud Hospital Children's Center on the third floor off the Lakes Elevator. Take a left after you leave the elevators and speak with the receptionist at the Children's Center Welcome Center Desk.

Frequently asked questions

What things does St. Cloud Hospital Children’s Center need most?
Being in the hospital can be a very challenging time for children and families. With the help of generous donors, these hospital visits can become less stressful. New toys, gifts, crafts, and activity items are needed for all ages of children — infant through adolescent. Please visit the St. Cloud Hospital Children’s Center Wish List to see our most needed items.  

Where and when can I donate items?
Bring donations to St. Cloud Hospital Children’s Center on the third floor off the Lakes Elevator. To meet with a Child Life Specialist when you drop off your donation, please come between 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday-Friday. Please fill out the gift form to ensure receipt and delivery. You also can mail the donation to the hospital in attention to “Child Life - Third floor.”

Can I donate stuffed animals?
We are only able to accept new, clean stuffed animals which will be given to the children by Child Life and other staff.

My kids have some toys they’ve outgrown. Can St. Cloud Hospital Children’s Center use them?
Unfortunately, we are unable to accept used toys out concern for our patients and families and infection control policies.

Can I come with my kids or group to deliver gifts directly to a patient or patients?
We are unable to bring community members onto the Children’s Center unit to visit patient rooms due to privacy and the protection of our patients and guests. If groups would like to deliver donations to the hospital, we are sometimes able to accommodate a tour of the unit.  This is not always available or guaranteed.  

My class or group would like to make blankets. What types and sizes work best?
St. Cloud Hospital Children’s Center does not accept homemade blankets due to fire safety codes and concerns. There are other units that will accept blankets. Please call Child Life for more information at 320-229-5199, ext. 71649.

I’m a knitter and would like to knit items. What things to you need most?
We are unable to accept homemade items due to infection control and safety concerns for the patients and families.

I’d like to donate books. Do you accept new or used books?
We are able to accept new books for the hospital. Sometimes we are able to accept lightly used books that are durable enough to be sanitized (such as board books).

Contact info

For information about supporting the mission of St. Cloud Hospital Children’s Center by making a donation, please contact the Child Life Specialists, 320-229-5199, ext. 71649.

Contact the Foundation

Feel free to email foundation@centracare.com or call 800-835-6652, ext. 52810. Get Directions.

Mailing address:

CentraCare Health Foundation
1406 Sixth Ave N.
St. Cloud, MN 56303-1901

Office address:

3001 Clearwater Road
St. Cloud, MN 56301