Costumes, Treats, and Halloween Cheer Delight Patients at Stanford Medicine Children’s Health

From trick-or-treating to tiny professionals, Halloween brings festive fun to patients and families

Halloween arrived a day early at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, bringing plenty of treats, creative costumes, and festive fun for patients, families, and the Stanford Medicine Children’s Health community.

On Friday, Oct. 30, doctors, nurses, therapists, hospital staff, and volunteers came together to make Halloween special for children spending the holiday in the hospital. From the annual Trick-or-Treat Trail to bedside surprises and pint-sized professionals in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), teams across Stanford Medicine Children’s Health made sure patients could take part in the festivities—no matter where they were receiving care.

Trick-or-Treat Trail

From the hospital’s main lobby to the outdoor Dawes Garden, spaces transformed into a magical Halloweentown for the annual Trick-or-Treat Trail, giving patients and families a chance to step away from the hospital routine and into an afternoon filled with costumes, treats, and imaginative displays.

Patients and families made their way along the trail dressed as superheroes, baby Nimo and the Little Mermaid, Toy Story characters, and lots of cute dinosaurs, stopping at more than 50 elaborately decorated booths created by department teams from across Stanford Children’s.

For young patients spending Halloween in the hospital, the celebration offered a chance to enjoy a familiar childhood tradition while staying close to the care and support they need.

“It means a lot to see him having fun and just being a kid, even when he has to be in the hospital,” said Joseph Mar of Modesto, whose son dressed as Iron Man for the celebration. “He knows he has a whole community here—other kids who understand what he’s going through and doctors, nurses, and staff who are always here cheering him on.”

Bringing Halloween magic indoors

For patients unable to visit the outdoor festivities, Child Life and Creative Arts specialists and care teams brought Halloween directly to them. Teams delivered more than 300 Halloween goodie bags filled with treats, toys, stickers, and activities to patient rooms and care areas throughout the hospital, including the NICU, intermediate intensive care unit, pediatric dialysis center, and Emergency Department.

NICU babies report for duty

Some of the hospital’s tiniest patients were already dressed for their future careers! This year, nurses in the NICU celebrated Halloween with a Professional Career Day theme, transforming newborns into pint-sized doctors, firefighters, astronauts, chefs, zookeepers, sailors, and even a beekeeper!

“Seeing our babies dressed up for their future careers was such a special way to celebrate their first Halloween,” said Laura Shanahan, RN, NICU nurse. “These costumes represent all the possibilities ahead for them, while giving their families a joyful memory to hold on to during their time in the hospital.”

The annual NICU tradition offers families a chance to celebrate an important milestone during what can otherwise be an uncertain and stressful time. It also gives the care team an opportunity to share in a joyful moment with the babies and families they care for every day.

“There are so many hard days in the NICU, so having these little moments of joy and whimsy really helps,” said Viwe Mtoba, whose daughter, Nova Garcia, celebrated her first Halloween dressed as a tiny judge. “It keeps your spirits up—and honestly, she just looked so cute. I loved that the costume covered her leads and let us see her as our little girl enjoying her first Halloween.”

Halloween spirit across Stanford Medicine Children’s Health

The festivities extended beyond the hospital to Stanford Medicine Children’s Health general pediatric locations from the North Bay to the Central Coast and across the bay to the Tri-Valley, where primary care teams brought their creativity to life for the annual pumpkin-decorating contest. This year, teams put their own imaginative spin on a Toy Story theme, transforming pumpkins into beloved characters and scenes inspired by the animated films.

For more than 30 years, the annual Halloween celebration at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford has given children and families a welcome break from the routines of hospital care. Whether collecting treats along the garden trail, celebrating from a patient room, or dressing up for a very first Halloween in the NICU, patients and families had a chance to join in the fun—and make a few special memories along the way.