Child Life Practicum Program
We're excited to offer students an opportunity for a child life practicum. This program provides students who are interested in child life with the opportunity to become more familiar with the field and the needs of hospitalized children, youth and families. This student program focuses on play, development and theory application and professional development. This pre-internship experience lays a strong foundation for students pursuing a child life internship.
Currently, we're pausing our pilot practicum match program. We'll continue to work with local universities to create opportunities for pre-internship experiences in future planning for student programming. We appreciate your understanding as we navigate how to best support aspiring child life professionals.
The online application portal for the SUMMER 2027 will open Monday, Nov. 16, 2026 at 12 p.m. central standard time.The portal will close for SUMMER 2027 practicum applications on our deadline of Friday, Jan. 8, 2027 at 11:50 p.m. central standard time.
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
- 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
If you encounter issues with your submission or document uploads, please ensure that:
- All documents are in PDF format
- You clear your browser's cache and open a new browser before attempting the submission
Child Life Practicum Application Packet
SACLP Practicum Application (excludes essay #6)
Practicum Reference Submission
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 7-week program gaining approximately 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 2027 |
Jan. 8, 2027 11:59 p.m. central standard time |
Feb. 17, 2027 12 p.m.-4 p.m. central standard time |
Feb. 18, 2027 12 p.m.-4 p.m. central standard time |
| Fall 2027 |
March 12, 2027 11:59 p.m. central standard time |
May 5, 2027 12 p.m.-4 p.m. |
May 6, 2027 12 p.m.-4 p.m. |
| Spring 2028 |
Aug. 27, 2027 11:59 p.m. central standard time |
Oct. 6, 2027 12 p.m.-4 p.m. |
Oct. 7, 2027 12 p.m.-4 p.m. |
Interview dates
- SUMMER 2027: Friday, Feb. 5, 2027
- FALL 2027: Friday, April 16, 2027
- SPRING 2028: Thursday, Sept. 23, 2027
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.