What are your best tips for distracting children during painful procedures?

It depends a lot on age. I love enlisting child life specialists or music therapy for help, but I know not all facilities have these resources. I ask kids a lot of questions about things they enjoy or what they would be doing if they were not hospitalized. If age appropriate I ask kids about their “happy place” and kind of use meditation skills to distract them. I ask them to describe the sights, sounds, smells, and how it makes them feel. For younger ones, hide the needles as long as possible! I love a good bear hug on a caregiver so that I can get to a limb opposite their eyes for injections.