Child Life Practicum
We are excited to communicate with you about Cook Children's child life practicum. This program provides child life students an opportunity to become more familiar with the field of child life and the needs of hospitalized children, youth, and families. The following is information about this program.
The online application portal for the SUMMER 2026 practicum will open Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025 at 12 p.m. CST. The FALL 2026 semester application portal will open on Feb. 3, 2026 at 12 p.m. CST.
Applicant requirements
- Junior level in college or beyond
- Must have a minimum of 100 hours of paid and/or volunteer experience interacting with children, beyond required experiences for coursework. You must have one experience in the health care setting and one experience outside of the health care setting.
- Experience in a hospital or established child life program is preferred
- Applicants must show the following courses with a final passing grade or as "in progress" on the unofficial academic transcript:
- (1) child development course
- (1) play course
- (1) child life course
- Please view this document and visit the ACLP webpage for more detailed information about required courses
Application information
The online application and reference request portals will open Tuesday, Dec.2, 2025 at 12 p.m. CST to receive application submissions for the SUMMER 2026 semester.
- We use the Southern Association of Child Life Professionals (SACLP) Common Child Life Practicum Application (with the exclusion of Essay #6)
- Consideration for child life practicum requires the student to submit a complete application and meet our program's minimum requirements
- Submitting a complete application does not guarantee a student an interview or placement
- Late applications are not considered
- Paper applications are not considered
Child Life Practicum Application Packet
SACLP Practicum Application (excludes essay #6)
Child Life Practicum Application Submission Portal
Program information and requirements
- We follow the Association of Child Life Professional Pre-Internship module standards for the child life practicum (excluding module #4)
- We offer child life practicum three times a year: spring, summer, and fall semesters
- Students will participate in a 5 week program gaining approximately 150-170 hours of experience
- Students will complete two rotations as well as programming observations
- Students will complete the Cook Children’s child life practicum curriculum
- Required immunizations
- Full Hepatitus B Series
- MMR
- TDaP
- Varicella vaccination or titer
- Influenza Immunization
- Negative Tuberculin (TB) Test
Practicum application deadlines
| CL Practicum session | Application & reference deadline | Initial offer date | Student must accept position by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 2026 | Jan. 9, 2026 | Feb. 17, 2026 12 p.m.-4 p.m. central standard time |
Feb. 18, 2026 12 p.m.-4 p.m. central standard time |
| Fall 2026 | March 13, 2026 | May 5, 2026 12 p.m.-4 p.m. central standard time |
May 6, 2026 12 p.m.-4 p.m. central standard time |
| Spring 2027 | Sept. 4, 2026 | Oct. 6, 2026 12 p.m.-4 p.m. central standard time |
Oct. 7, 2026 12 p.m.-4 p.m. central standard time |
Interview dates
- SUMMER 2026 - Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026
- FALL 2026 - Thursday, April 30, 2026
- SPRING 2027 - Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026
We appreciate your interest in our program. Please note that due to the high volume of applications and limited capacity, we may be unable to accommodate requests to reschedule interview dates. We encourage all applicants to consider their availability before applying and notify us as soon as possible of any requests to reschedule interview dates.
Additional information
- Current Cook Children's volunteers are required to take a brief leave of absence from their volunteer position if selected for the Cook Children's child life practicum
Questions?
Please email ChildLifeStudents@cookchildrens.org.
Visit our frequently asked questions page to find answers to common questions.