Grab your crayons, because the National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF) is creating a coloring book about bleeding disorders just for you, called My HTC and Me. You can have fun coloring pictures of all the people you visit during your annual hemophilia treatment center (HTC) checkup. These people may include your doctor, nurse, physical therapist and dentist. You can find the My HTC and Me coloring book at NHF national and chapter events this summer. (It will be in both English and Spanish.)
Here are more fun activities you can do to learn about bleeding disorders:
Online Fun
Did you know you can find this magazine page online, too? We have an entire section for kids on the Internet called HemAware Jr. You can read other articles about hemophilia and find fun facts in the “Who Knew?” box. Ask your parents if you can go online and visit hemaware.org/junior.
There are fun games about hemophilia, too. HemoAction games are now available online at hemoaction.org. The activities include a game to test your memory, a fill-in-the-blanks race to stop a bleed and a picture-matching game where a factor-charged turtle saves the day. You can also get HemoAction as a deck of cards from the World Federation of Hemophilia’s Web site. There is an online book that explains each card by telling a story about hemophilia.
Story Time
If you are 7 years old or older, you may want to read the book Patrick’s Wish. It’s a true story about a little girl named Lyanne whose big brother asked her to help him with his greatest wish.
Patrick was born with severe hemophilia and later got a disease called AIDS. He became very sick and knew that he might die. So, he asked his little sister to tell more people about AIDS. When she became an adult, she found people to write the book Patrick’s Wish about her brother’s life, and she started a group that teaches people about AIDS. Your parents can help you find out more about the book at Second Story Press.
If you want to learn more about bleeding disorders, including von Willebrand disease, you can find booklets written for kids at the University of Miami, Florida, HTC. More books about hemophilia are at: LA Kelley Communications.