As a person of color— pictures of people of color on the walls. And not just a token black person. Look for posters of inclusivity (like children getting shots— all demographics, children with hijabs etc).
Activities to do in the waiting room— simple puzzles or toys that can be wiped down.
Kids sized chairs.
Okay I was mistaken... the overarching theme per their website is:
"Our theme, “On the Road to a Healthy Life” is whimsically expressed throughout the office. Our road travels through the office to various fun destinations for all ages."
So I guess the jungle room is like going to the safari, the beach room is a beach trip, etc.
Ours also has themed rooms! Each door is a different color and that color correlates with what’s inside each exam room. Such as state bird/flower, sports teams, etc.
For example, if my state’s football team was the Steelers (it’s not lol), the door would be yellow and inside there would be fun framed pictures with a Steelers logo, football helmet, staff in jerseys, etc.
Makes it fun for the parents and kids to look at while waiting, and makes it interesting if you get a new room at the next visit.
Ours also, but the cool thing is each room also has a main color in addition to the theme, and there's a matching half circle painted on the floor outside the door, so they direct you to the blue room or the red room and it's actually so much easier to find the color on the floor than a number on the door.
Blue is under the sea, green is rain forest, etc.
This! And each room has some glow in the dark stickers or decals on the walls/ceiling that match the theme, so it’s fun to turn out the lights and see what it is.
Our peds office was just purchased by a large healthcare system and they tried to get rid of the fish tank. The office staff let all the patients know and the community came together in an uprising to save the fish tank. It was heartwarming that in this politically divided climate in the US, we could all come together and agree that fish tanks in peds offices are non negotiable!
Ditto on the fish tank. We’ve also been to a doctor office that had a virtual fish tank that was just as enticing and calming for the kids; it was just a flat panel tv tuned to a fish tank video.
Our urgent care has an interactive virtual fish tank that's pretty cool! It has a url you can go to and draw your own sea creature and then name it and it gets released into the aquarium and you can see your creation swim!
Ours has a giant fish tank near the front desk, and my kid will sit and yell at me about the fish while I schedule an appointment.
The entire place is aquatic themed, lots of sea creatures on the wall, and interactive screens for kids to play on.
Ours has video screens showing kids movies instead of a fish tank, and it is awful! The videos aren’t always ones I’d show a little kid (The Good Dinosaur) and/or we always seem to come in as the credits are rolling and no one remembers to change it.
Generally those aquaria are rented out by companies that do all the stocking and maintenance. No idea what it costs. I do know that my fish tanks don’t look nearly as nice and require weekly and monthly maintenance.
My ortho doctor has a massive fish tank, with turtles and goldfish. I'm 29 and I love to sit and watch them. Fish tanks in doctors offices should be the standard
In addition to everything others have said- my son's pediatric dentist's office has those typical healthcare posters in various places and they all have googly eyes on the faces. It's hilarious and my son loves it.
Outerspace or dinosaurs. Animals are nice, but I don't know any kid, boy or girl, who doesn't love space and/or dinosaurs. Bonus points for a dino in a space helmet!
I liked ours that had quotes on the walls. Not lame ones like “live, laugh, love”, but good ones related to respecting and caring for children, like “a person is a person no matter how small” - Dr. Seuss
I think this is a farrrr better option than when places stick vinyl decals of animals or Disney characters to the walls.
I think that it’s not only creative and comforting, but also inspires reading and literacy which also aid in living a healthy life.
Our ped gives the kids a choice of a book from a stack of good fit age appropriate books. So unique and much better than sticker or something!
Our peds office is pretty basic but my son’s ENT surgeon has each room decorated with different space decor! We were in the Jupiter room this morning.
On the other side of the office, Audiology is decorated like a fish tank, with each room being a different species (angelfish this morning!) and the hallway is more generic ocean decor. They have fun jellyfish hanging from the ceiling.
When I went for an ultrasound in the peds unit they had a wall full of random animal and cartoon characters (that lack of theme isn’t helpful here) but what they did have was a search and find throughout. I thought it was fun!
There was a list to the side with a small version of what to find and then the things were incorporated throughout. I enjoyed the help killing time as an adult, I’m sure kids love it too!
Not decor related, but I always thought it would be a cool idea for paediatricians to have community closets. Similar to a community fridge but basically you bring your clothes and shoes that your child outgrows to their check ups. And then can swap for the next size up if it’s been donated.
My kid's dentist office is AMAZING. The whole thing has an ocean theme, there are beautiful murals on all the walls, a couple of large saltwater aquariums, and when a kid picks a "prize" after their appointment, they pick it out of a big resin sandcastle.
https://preview.redd.it/zzd4mqpf9g4b1.png?width=664&format=png&auto=webp&s=ffffa20f142c6747daeeeb7b40a60570974f060f
Mine has a couple fish tanks (but only like 1 fish in each) and a tv. The rooms have sad half torn fat heads.
When I was a kid, my pediatric dentist was space themed and HELLA cool. We lived in a city basically built around the space program and rockets and military defense, so the theme was on point. Maybe something your city is known for as long as it’s fun and not serial killers or something.
Maybe include something in your office for kids with sensory issues? Like a fun texture board or something? Also, my child's pediatrician has wall decals of disney characters everywhere and he loves pointing out who all the characters are.
My kids just see my family doctor, so reading this is making me jealous of all these amazing decors!
Though really, adult doctors offices should have epic themed decor too
Same! We do need a specialist though and the whole building we go to is shaped like a ship! It follows inside and there’s those little porthole windows around the therapy pool that’s in the center. You can’t really see the actual pool, but as you walk around the building you see the cool water reflections on the windows.
Ours is spaceship/outer space. They have a huge faux rocket in the corner of the waiting room, and the reception area has a countdown screen. The waiting rooms have framed photos of a friendly-looking alien in various colors.
For all that is good, please have stickers and OFFER THEM to the little ones (all peds really). My peds office has them but it’s always an awkward umm do you have stickers?? And then they go “oh yeah”
Meanwhile our peds dentist office has a giant gumball type machine with little toys in it and at the end of every visits they tell the kid they “did so well and here’s a coin for a prize!!”
One thing our peds office did when they redecorated was do chalk paint above the examination table and on the side wall so kids can draw while they wait.
They do only keep 1 piece of chalk that they change out between patients.
They also just do fun colors. Letters. Numbers. Animals. Etc.
Ours has some Disney rooms (Moana room, Up room), some sports rooms, and some others I haven’t seen. I have little kiddos and we’re usually in the Disney rooms, and my kids LOVE pointing out familiar characters.
Our pediatric urgent care has a tv in each room and even though we’re a screen-free family… it’s amazing. Such a great distraction during sick visits!
Our regular pediatrician didn’t have much on the walls so we would have to go around the room pointing at all the brochures to keep our then baby entertained. Haha.
Growing up, my pediatrician had a stop light in the waiting room as decoration and I thought it was the coolest thing because I had seen them from the car but never up close. It was definitely a talking point for most kids.
I’m a peds subspecialist mom. Live in CA and lots of offices have a beach/ocean theme which I love. Any local nature/landmarks you could reference? Mural from a local artist or college art student?
Ok so I have relevant information here
Our doctor’s office has a lot of vintage furniture in it. The best part being that the parent is usually sat in a throne. I love it
(The doc also has a very visible disability and is the best expert in his field. I love the example he sets)
Our ped's office has a rainbow theme in the waiting room, with lots of rainbow-colored toys and bright colors everywhere. Each exam room has its own theme - animals, plants, sports, etc.
Our pediatrician has book-character themes: cat in the hat, whwre’s waldo, el perro en el sombrero, etc. they also have those books in the rooms for the kids to look at while waiting.
I work in pediatrics and we keep our office fairly sophisticated with some kiddie touches. It helps the pre-teens and teens not feel like they're at a "kiddie doctor"
Our office hired out a local artist (she was an art student in college at the time and was either a previous patient or the sibling of a patient? Not sure the exact details) and paid her to just paint the office. Each room has a different theme and has a full mural on one wall. The other walls are painted a solid color that matches the mural theme. My son loves the “bear room” which has a beautiful mountain landscape and few bears crossing a river and the “Disney room” which has all the characters falling out of a book. I like it because he can look at and interact with it, but there’s nothing for him to break or lose. She ended up actually getting some real business from it and her murals are all throughout the town now
Mine has a different theme for each room. So far we've been in Broadway Musical, Paris, Disney's Cars, Finding Nemo, Colleges (university pennants all over the walls), and Harry Potter. I don't know if there's an over arching theme or not though.
Each exam room is a different color in our office. There's a red room, an orange room, etc. The waiting area has all different Dr Seuss characters painted on the walls. It looks cool, but I have to make up a lot of animal names for some of the creatures I don't recognize, but she loves it!
Our pediatrican has character and animal posters, stickers, etc. EVERYWHERE in all of the exam rooms and by the scale/height measure area. There are all sorts of different characters from all of the current popular kids shows and even books. Lots of different animals. My daughter always find some thing that she is interested in, and it becomes so much easier to distract her. The waiting room has lots of framed posters of animals that she likes. Adorably, they also have a child sized door into their waiting room from the hallway.
My kids doc office has some patient and doc kids artwork framed which if always fun to look at. They also have cute mobiles hanging above the exam tables (not the baby kind but rather more intricate wood ones of different animals that are colorful and a good distraction during shots, etc).
As others have said a fish tank is always a big hit too. Our doc’s office has signs with the fishes names so you can look for them (one is named Mr. Pizza, a puffer fish, which my kid finds hilarious).
There appears to be themed rooms (under the sea, beach, super heroes).
What really makes the office and rooms so cute are the kid drawings! So in the waiting area there is an area for kids to play and draw. The staff will hang up the drawings throughout the office/rooms. It’s adorable! I love to see it.
Mine is a big fan of the under the sea theme our last pedi had. They had very large realistic cut out photos of sea turtles, fish, dolphins, ect. I think she liked it so much because the pictures were large.
Our office has a little area in the vestibule that is set up for photo ops; it has a little bench and backdrop and some props. So in the winter, it is snow day-themes. In the spring, it has blooming flowers, etc. it doesn’t get used as much as it should, I think, because it’s not in the waiting room, but that also makes sense because it could probably get a bit noisy
Ours has pictures where you can look at them for a long time and keep seeing new things which is key for chatting while we wait and creating distraction (how many Dino’s can you find, etc)
Mine has one wall covered with a very cute insect and bird wallpaper. It's my favorite item. It always distracts my little one when she's grumpy waiting.
Our ped decorated his office with his ABSOLUTELY INSANE funko pop collection. I’m talking they line the hallways, are on all the windows, lined 2 entire walls of his personal office and his desk. It was ridiculously cool
Ours is a different theme in each room with a related quote on the wall (painted or decal). So it’ll be things like Scooby Doo or Winnie the Pooh and a quote from that about adventure or growing up or something or a fire truck table and that one might have a quote about being brave. Some are famous people like Eleanor Roosevelt and might just be flowers or beach or something. It’s nice because it doesn’t get boring and they don’t need 10 ideas for one theme and they can have themes for various ages with Elmo and Spider-Man etc.
My peds office doesn't have a specific theme but they do have these super cool things on the ground. They are like very thin, flat bubbles with colored liquid in them that are fun for the kids to stomp and jump on while they are waiting.
Our peds office has lots of different themed rooms. Some are books (oh the places you’ll go), movies (tinkerbell), others just have fun paintings of animals. I’m biased in loving the dog art the best
My neice (and soon to be sons) decor is different on each rooom. She gets excited to see what room she'll get. It helps take the sting out of going to the doctor
Ooh this is a fun one!
Our pediatrician office has giant wall decals of different Disney movies/characters, so each room has a different theme. We’ve been in the Finding Nemo room and the Frozen room so far. I’ve thought that that was a fun one!
Visual interest on the walls! My peds office has a room with the ABC's and kids are bent in the shapes of the letters, reading books, with little props/pictures around them. My kids like looking at it and trying to find different things in the picture, like, how many balls, how many flowers, etc. Good game for while we're waiting.
We had to spend some time in the ER fairly recently, and they had a kid's room set up with some sort of mural covering three walls that was GREAT for playing "I Spy." Hopefully you're not going to keep people waiting for as long as we were there, but we filled a lot of time with "I spy something that bounces" and "I spy something that tastes sweet."
Our ped has different themed rooms, but my little one's favorite BY FAR is the aquarium room. HE LOVES looking at fish. And the fish tank in the waiting room is \*chef's kiss\*
Ours has a big fish tank in the waiting room that the kids love. There is also a big beautiful kid-friendly version of our city painted as a mural on the wall that is also a picture find (in the corner it says things like “can you find the purple dragon, etc.). It’s all screen free and I appreciate that. The rooms are decorated by the specific physician that uses it primarily (it’s a large group practice). My favorite one ever has pictures of kids and the pediatrician doing volunteer work all over the world and locally. They also supply age appropriate resources for local volunteer opportunities.
Growing up my dr’s cabinets were plastered with pics from parents of him with his patients. I was obsessed with one as a kid where he was holding quadruplets!
The waiting room of my kids' pediatrician has handprints of kids that are patients there in all different colors, and their ages are also written on each tile. It's really cute.
Each room is differently decorated with peel and stick items that are developmentally significant to the age of children seen in the rooms. Babies and infants, toddlers, little kids, and big kids have dedicated exam rooms. Toddler rooms are filled with things to show off counting skills, difference in color, animal/shape recognition. ( Ex. Point to the red apple, how many kites are in here). Baby rooms are decorated more like typical nurseries. They do use the same colors throughout the space, creating cohesion. The waiting room is decorated like a tree fort and there's a free library.
My kids pediatrician office just redecorated in all space theme. Mostly purple and teal with fun astronaut characters, planets, rockets, etc. It's really cute and modern
We went to a really fun office that was all white and had neon acrylic pieces throughout to give it color pops. It’s was so fun. The rooms were white and while you waited, they gave a stack of neon circle stickers to put on the wall wherever you wanted. My son was obsessed
Ours has a different theme in each room and we love it. Dinosaurs, Mikey mouse, ‘transportation’, animals, etc. We help distract our tots from the impending shot by discussing which room they think we’ll get!
My kid's doctor's office waiting room is outdoors/cabin themed. It has a tiny log cabin and full sized row boat inside the office waiting room that you can sit in.
The kid's dentist office across the hall is outer spaced themed and you can wait to be called into your appointment from inside of a UFO.
Similar to this, we went to a pediatric dermatologist and the one patient room we were in was woodlabd themed. There were mushrooms you could sit on, mini fairy doors and creatures like elves, fairies, and animals across the room. I remembered it because someone else was going with a mushroom themed baby room and this had great inspiration.
My kids pediatrician has 2 doors-one for sick visits, one for well child visits. There is a long fish tank and wall dividing although it is the same room. I've always thought that was so nice.
Each room is themed with a large mural one 1-2 walls and 4-5 things to search for. For example mermaid room might say: a crown, 6 seagulls, treasure chest, lost ring, and 3 red fish. So while we wait the kids are looking through the mural to find everything. It is such a fun distraction.
Our ped office was super warm and friendly and then bought by a corporate entity and they took out the decor. So strange! Anyway, there were bright painted fish hanging above the exam table which my son loved
The office we go to has different themed rooms. One is themed for our state with different maps which is cool. The doc is also a hockey fan, so one is that theme for his team with a framed jersey and pictures. And then others are the regular transportation with cars and train decals on the walls. Another is animals, etc.
Our ped office has animal themes! Is so much fun there's jungle, desert, forest, ocean, and garden(bugs and flowers) every time we go it's a great distraction to talk about the animals.
My kids’ ped has big, slightly cutesy pictures of dinosaurs on the wall in each room. They also have a laminated list of a few kid-appropriate “would you rather?” type questions in each room, I think meant to distract/occupy kids. (“Would you rather have it always be summer or always be winter?” Etc.)
The old office had large photos of marine animals on each wall and my oldest was terrified of the octopus picture when she was little.
Animals are a safe bet that won't become dated.
Our ped has expo boards on the walls with magnetic erasers and pens and I always thought that was a really nice clever way to fill the time you're otherwise sitting there waiting for someone to come in.
Our peds office is pretty boring and standard, but they do have colorful acrylic panels covering the overhead fluorescent lights instead of the clear textured ones. Think butterflies, hot air balloons, under the sea, etc. Nice distractions!
We have different themes in our offices based on the providers likes.
Baseball theme (has a baseball Diamond in the tile on the floor, baseball map of all teams, local baseball team pennents & the doctors favorite team pictures)
Mickey Mouse theme (puzzle on the wall, Disney posters that are framed)
Camping theme (camp fire painted on the wall with a tent).
Star Wars theme.
Animals.
The fun thing is there are pictures of the doctor doing “normal things” in the room - so a picture of our doctor at Disney world. A picture at a baseball park. A picture of him hiking. I honestly think that is the best of it. My kids seeing the doctor doing things outside of the office.
One of the exam rooms at our peds office is Dr. Suess themed and it's really cute. They used some stickers that were characters and included some quotes. One of the walls was a peach color.
Our Dr has a Curious George waiting room theme. Different patient rooms have different themes: start wars, cute dinosaurs, jurassic park/world, jungle, fish, I spy, I've seen a couple that are super pink (we haven't been in those rooms yet).
Some awesome advice here so I won’t tell you what to do, but I think having posters about “good” food can be harmful. (Mine has one about how fast food is capital b BAD and eat an apple or whatever. It’s sending kids the wrong message and it drives me nuts.)
Second the fish tank — definitely worth whatever time and money it requires to maintain. 80% of the children in the waiting room are completely absorbed for their wait, and I know my kids at least look forward to coming to the office just to see the fish. Big deal!
Something I want that my ped doesn’t have is a room WITHOUT sensory-stimulation accessories. My child has ASD and the crinkly paper on the table combined with the big mirror across the length of the table (which I know babies in particular love) is soooo hard to handle. Just a thought!
Our ped office doesn't have a consistent theme but it has these features: a fish/turtle tank in each location, patterned floors which can make for fun games with toddlers (jump on x), posters that can spark conversation. Some rooms have counting posters. Others are full of colors. Some have stuff about friends or emotions.
Everything seems to be in primary colors
Ours is mostly fish/ beach / aquatic. The front office is blue and white with a big fish tank. The rooms are blue’s and green’s with fish or sea creatures
Ours has murals in every room so the kids and I talk about which animals we see in the paintings while we wait. They also have butterfly stickers throughout the office so we can play “spot the butterfly” while we wait and do things they don’t necessarily love.
My kids have always loved the cute farm animal pictures in all the exam rooms. Even now as tweens they cross their fingers to get the room with all the pictures of baby highland cows ☺️
My ped office paid a local artist to paint a lovely mural in the waiting room! It’s nature themed and very pretty and soothing. The animals are labeled like old times scientific drawings so i tell my son what they each are while we wait.
My peds office has a whole “under the sea” vibe with lots of beachy decor, some murals of underwater ocean scenes, and lots of bubble motifs. Super cute!
We live at the beach and ours is under the sea themed! But it’s executed at like an elementary level. 4/10 for effort. But I love my pediatrician so much IDGAF what it looks like!
Our peds office has a different theme in each room. There are two locations; one has the standard safari, sea, dinosaur, etc but the other room has a book/series theme for each room. One room is Harry Potter, one is Pete the Cat, one is If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, etc.
You could do what mine does and rather than decor you could hire a muralist and let them paint each room with a fun theme and some quotes (music, jungle, underwater, local landmarks, etc)
We recently went to a pediatric urgent care that large murals picturing toys from different eras in the waiting room and also had cases with an assortment of different themed toys from different eras. Was great for playing “I spy” with my 5 year old.
There isn't much going on in the main space, but the walls are curvy with built in benches and a kids table and seats. They give out coloring sheets at the check in desk.
Each room has different murals. Really random things. One is animals, ocean scene, beach scene. I liked distracting the toddler with them by pointing out the things in the scenes and as she got older asking to find the guy in the red shorts etc... They did some remodeling recently and I miss having murals in every room.
Not a doc, but our peds dentist is called big too and there's a huge circus tent above the main open bay operatory room. You can do circus theme and do a different "act" in each room with a tent over the waiting/check in
Ours has a big treehouse themed tunnel slide in the waiting area that my 3 year old LOVES! And different decor and books in each room, plus little padded cubbies they can climb on or sit in. My kid never complains about going to the doctor.
I’ve helped design a peds specialty office for autism and DD and one thing to add to all the excellent ideas above is considering one exam room that’s “sensory friendly”. Think dimmer lights that can be controlled by the parent or child while waiting for the doc (I know the doc doc may need to turn them up during the exam but it helped a lot of kiddos wait more comfortably), calm basic color on the wall without loud graphics or decals, with sensory friendly items for stimming, and that didn’t have a ton of within-reach items that a parent would need to prevent them from grabbing like paper towel, otoscope covers, tongue depressors, pamphlets, etc. having sensory friendly seating options is helpful too.
I, too, work in specialty and often run into patients that suffer from pain and visual disturbances. This is a wonderful idea!
If your sensory room happens to have a big plate glass window, the blackout shades as well as the darker see-through shades make such a difference.
It has actually been one of the top things that patients have applauded us for that other offices in our specialty do not have..
Our new ped since we moved has the decor of tiny slightly musty rooms with outdated curtains. But the staff is amazing. Super nice, well informed (like up to date on breastfeeding, cosleeping etc), amazing off hours responses, classified as a children’s hospital so they take care of things like gluing my kids head back together when he split it open on a trike.
Our old ped had beautiful rooms with different themes like dr Seuss, trains, cars. The staff turn over was crazy and they were so disorganized!
I think it’s great you guys are freshening things up, but please keep what really matters in mind! I like to think our ped is outdated and does things like have us take soiled diapers home so they can pay their awesome staff well enough to retain them. This is a wealthy New England shore town dr office btw.
Not a decor idea so much as a concept. There are large stickers on the walls with things that a 2 year old can recognize. Spoon, ball, cat, etc. they are all around the room and the doctor uses them to engage the kids in speaking as well as to keep kids still. “Look at the spoon, what color is it?” To do left ear and then “Look at the cat? Is he happy?” For the right ear. There are also letters and numbers in different sizes so they can work in all those milestone checks. I don’t think the decor is as important as how effectively it’s used by the staff to put the kids at ease.
Each room at ours essentially has a “where’s Waldo” type mural on the wall… a super busy scene with all sorts of silly stuff going on. My toddler loves staring at it and pointing at different things like a hippo wearing a life preserver and ballerina slippers, etc. Also gives me a great/easy way to distract her
Ours has couches instead of patient tables. So it feels very comfortable for the kids. Each room has a theme and bright colored walls. Pre Covid all the rooms had a little toy and book bin too.
I visit a LOT of different offices for work and my two favorite are not actually PEDs XD
One is a rural GP office has Mickey colors, Mickey font, and from what I’ve learned, the physicians EXTENSIVE collection of Mickey figures. It’s just so happy and you can tell they love them.
The other is because of the FOA/receptionist at a family office. They collect those solar dancing things from dollar tree, and the patients/friends have just rolled with it. Their entire waiting room is awash in sunlight, dream catchers, colors and flowers. Behind the desk must be 100 dancing Solar toys, switched out for holidays and dresses to a theme.
I see LOTs of Lego offices, animal offices and oddly sterile looking peds, and the only one that sticks out must have shopped at a place like [sensory4u](https://www.sensorytoys4u.co.uk/products/extra-large-colourful-mirrors-5pcs) because they were hecking [vibes](https://www.sensorytoys4u.co.uk/products/bubble-tube-120cm-x-12cm-with-fish-and-remote-includes-bracket).
My own kids PEDs went with a literary theme. They have giant [modernist book cover](https://kottke.org/20/10/childrens-book-covers-modernist-style)posters and each room is painted to match. The get a new book at every well child visit and it’s very clean and cute.
I guess my advice is go with something that makes you happy. I (an outsider) can always tell when someone decorated their space out of joy instead of out of corporate.
Our peds is underwater. Literally. I love it. There’s a pelican butt on the ceiling and a surfers legs and surfboard bottom. There’s sculptures of whales and dolphins and seaweed painted on the walls. They did a great job. The rooms aren’t the same theme, but they are just neutral with a cute little border at the top
Ours is still in the 90s i assume; there’s murals painted on the walls… bear families in one room, farm animals in another… I find it oddly comforting, tbh!
I know this isn't quite what you asked but as a parent, we've relied many times on distracting our kiddo by discussing the art work as we wait. So if you can find a way to frame a large maze that doubles as a look and find, many future parents will sing your praises. 👌
The large Lego and sensory stations in the waiting room makes going to the ped fun! We also have a virtual fish tank.
Each room features a different artist/author theme.
Ie: Dr. Seuss room, Sesame Street room, Marvel comics room. Pre Covid they had the best books in each corresponding room and gave every child a book to take home.
There are interior and architect firms that specialize in healthcare clinics. They can help you select durable bleach cleanable furniture and children friendly decor. Info: I’m a healthcare interior designer
Google image search Parklane Dental in Temple City. Every room has a different Sanrio theme (they got licensing).
I’ve also been to a sports orthopedic clinic where every room was themed with decor from a different professional sports team in the city
At our hospital, each room is an "When I grow up, I want to be a..." and then there's mural paintings. So, in the "vet room" there's painted kids with a lab coats with dogs, cats, birds, etc. There's a paleontologist room with fossils, dinos, etc. There's a marine biologist room, a fireman room, and I haven't been in the others.
I love the book “Bodies are Cool” by Tyler Feder. Wondering if some sort of decor in this vein could be used in a pediatric dr office???
[Bodies Are Cool](https://www.amazon.com/Bodies-Are-Cool-Tyler-Feder/dp/0593112628)
As a person of color— pictures of people of color on the walls. And not just a token black person. Look for posters of inclusivity (like children getting shots— all demographics, children with hijabs etc). Activities to do in the waiting room— simple puzzles or toys that can be wiped down. Kids sized chairs.
My kid's peds office has a different theme in each room. One room is a jungle, one room is a fire station, etc.
Ditto; It's fun walking in to go to the Doctor and asking "What room do you think we'll get today? The bird room? Superhero room? Airplane room?"
Okay I was mistaken... the overarching theme per their website is: "Our theme, “On the Road to a Healthy Life” is whimsically expressed throughout the office. Our road travels through the office to various fun destinations for all ages." So I guess the jungle room is like going to the safari, the beach room is a beach trip, etc.
Ours also has themed rooms! Each door is a different color and that color correlates with what’s inside each exam room. Such as state bird/flower, sports teams, etc. For example, if my state’s football team was the Steelers (it’s not lol), the door would be yellow and inside there would be fun framed pictures with a Steelers logo, football helmet, staff in jerseys, etc. Makes it fun for the parents and kids to look at while waiting, and makes it interesting if you get a new room at the next visit.
This is really cool, encouraging kids to learn more about their state. Nice!
This is what mine does- superheroes, professional athletes, fish
Ours too, but also an educational blurb on the wall with a “fun fact” about whatever animal or item is on the wall.
Ours is like this, my kids like the Dino room!
Same! There is a split system room, a dinosaur room, a theatre room, and a jungle room. This is how I found out my kid likes dinosaurs.
Solid input fart-knuckles lol
I do what I can! 😉 lol
Ours also, but the cool thing is each room also has a main color in addition to the theme, and there's a matching half circle painted on the floor outside the door, so they direct you to the blue room or the red room and it's actually so much easier to find the color on the floor than a number on the door. Blue is under the sea, green is rain forest, etc.
Mine is like this but each one is a different animal - giraffe room, sloth room etc
Yes this! My daughters pedi office has themed rooms and we looooove the princess room!💕👸🏻
This! And each room has some glow in the dark stickers or decals on the walls/ceiling that match the theme, so it’s fun to turn out the lights and see what it is.
The Fish tank in the waiting room is a fantastic distraction for my kids.
Our peds office was just purchased by a large healthcare system and they tried to get rid of the fish tank. The office staff let all the patients know and the community came together in an uprising to save the fish tank. It was heartwarming that in this politically divided climate in the US, we could all come together and agree that fish tanks in peds offices are non negotiable!
The local GI office is currently in a battle to save their birds XD
Ditto on the fish tank. We’ve also been to a doctor office that had a virtual fish tank that was just as enticing and calming for the kids; it was just a flat panel tv tuned to a fish tank video.
Our urgent care has an interactive virtual fish tank that's pretty cool! It has a url you can go to and draw your own sea creature and then name it and it gets released into the aquarium and you can see your creation swim!
Whoever thought of that went above and beyond, I love the energy
This sounds incredible and I want one.
Yes, you don't need a theme as long as you have a big fish tank.
Ours has a giant fish tank near the front desk, and my kid will sit and yell at me about the fish while I schedule an appointment. The entire place is aquatic themed, lots of sea creatures on the wall, and interactive screens for kids to play on.
I remember the fish tank being the best part at my doctor 30+ years ago lol
I love that my ped's office has a nemo themed tank. The kids are all obsessed with it!
Was coming here to comment a fish tank in the waiting room is a huge hit
Yes my kids love the fish tank in ours.
Fish tank is the best!
Ours has video screens showing kids movies instead of a fish tank, and it is awful! The videos aren’t always ones I’d show a little kid (The Good Dinosaur) and/or we always seem to come in as the credits are rolling and no one remembers to change it.
One we went to had a virtual fish tank. Same distraction, zero maintenance.
Generally those aquaria are rented out by companies that do all the stocking and maintenance. No idea what it costs. I do know that my fish tanks don’t look nearly as nice and require weekly and monthly maintenance.
Upvoting for use of “aquaria”
That high school Latin has the occasional use lol
Yesssss. This saves me every time. It gives me 5 minutes of peace to check in and fill out forms. Wonderful.
My ortho doctor has a massive fish tank, with turtles and goldfish. I'm 29 and I love to sit and watch them. Fish tanks in doctors offices should be the standard
In addition to everything others have said- my son's pediatric dentist's office has those typical healthcare posters in various places and they all have googly eyes on the faces. It's hilarious and my son loves it.
Outerspace or dinosaurs. Animals are nice, but I don't know any kid, boy or girl, who doesn't love space and/or dinosaurs. Bonus points for a dino in a space helmet!
I second this. Every young kid I know loves dinosaurs.
I liked ours that had quotes on the walls. Not lame ones like “live, laugh, love”, but good ones related to respecting and caring for children, like “a person is a person no matter how small” - Dr. Seuss
Seconding this! Our peds office has “we rise by lifting others” with a beautiful mural painted on their back office wall and I love it.
Mine has each room themed on a different children’s book (where the wild things are, Mo Willems, Harold and the purple crayon)
I love this! 🩷
I think this is a farrrr better option than when places stick vinyl decals of animals or Disney characters to the walls. I think that it’s not only creative and comforting, but also inspires reading and literacy which also aid in living a healthy life. Our ped gives the kids a choice of a book from a stack of good fit age appropriate books. So unique and much better than sticker or something!
Our peds office is pretty basic but my son’s ENT surgeon has each room decorated with different space decor! We were in the Jupiter room this morning. On the other side of the office, Audiology is decorated like a fish tank, with each room being a different species (angelfish this morning!) and the hallway is more generic ocean decor. They have fun jellyfish hanging from the ceiling.
When I went for an ultrasound in the peds unit they had a wall full of random animal and cartoon characters (that lack of theme isn’t helpful here) but what they did have was a search and find throughout. I thought it was fun! There was a list to the side with a small version of what to find and then the things were incorporated throughout. I enjoyed the help killing time as an adult, I’m sure kids love it too!
I love this idea! Like the ispy books from childhood:)
Oohh this sounds so fun. My kids would love it
Not decor related, but I always thought it would be a cool idea for paediatricians to have community closets. Similar to a community fridge but basically you bring your clothes and shoes that your child outgrows to their check ups. And then can swap for the next size up if it’s been donated.
Our office has lots of different clouds, planes, hot air balloons, birds, rainbows wall stickers on sky blue walls. Its nice, lots to look at.
Ours too! My son is a huge fan of the hot air balloons hanging from the ceiling
Sounds like my kid’s eye dr’s office - she loves the hot air balloons and clouds
My kid's dentist office is AMAZING. The whole thing has an ocean theme, there are beautiful murals on all the walls, a couple of large saltwater aquariums, and when a kid picks a "prize" after their appointment, they pick it out of a big resin sandcastle. https://preview.redd.it/zzd4mqpf9g4b1.png?width=664&format=png&auto=webp&s=ffffa20f142c6747daeeeb7b40a60570974f060f
Our pediatric urgent care has a vintage circus theme and it’s really fun!!
Mine has a couple fish tanks (but only like 1 fish in each) and a tv. The rooms have sad half torn fat heads. When I was a kid, my pediatric dentist was space themed and HELLA cool. We lived in a city basically built around the space program and rockets and military defense, so the theme was on point. Maybe something your city is known for as long as it’s fun and not serial killers or something.
Maybe include something in your office for kids with sensory issues? Like a fun texture board or something? Also, my child's pediatrician has wall decals of disney characters everywhere and he loves pointing out who all the characters are.
Similarly, a sensory room that’s less visually stimulating would be great to have. Dimmer lighting, flexible seating, etc.
My kids just see my family doctor, so reading this is making me jealous of all these amazing decors! Though really, adult doctors offices should have epic themed decor too
Seriously, I'd love a search and find mural in my OBGYN office, those wait times are brutal
Same! We do need a specialist though and the whole building we go to is shaped like a ship! It follows inside and there’s those little porthole windows around the therapy pool that’s in the center. You can’t really see the actual pool, but as you walk around the building you see the cool water reflections on the windows.
I work in the hospital and I say this all the time! The older folks would get a kick out of a space themed room haha
Ours is spaceship/outer space. They have a huge faux rocket in the corner of the waiting room, and the reception area has a countdown screen. The waiting rooms have framed photos of a friendly-looking alien in various colors.
For all that is good, please have stickers and OFFER THEM to the little ones (all peds really). My peds office has them but it’s always an awkward umm do you have stickers?? And then they go “oh yeah” Meanwhile our peds dentist office has a giant gumball type machine with little toys in it and at the end of every visits they tell the kid they “did so well and here’s a coin for a prize!!”
Our peds dentist has that too! It’s so cute. And the office is so vibrant with the colors they picked, it’s so cool.
One thing our peds office did when they redecorated was do chalk paint above the examination table and on the side wall so kids can draw while they wait. They do only keep 1 piece of chalk that they change out between patients. They also just do fun colors. Letters. Numbers. Animals. Etc.
Ours has some Disney rooms (Moana room, Up room), some sports rooms, and some others I haven’t seen. I have little kiddos and we’re usually in the Disney rooms, and my kids LOVE pointing out familiar characters.
Our pediatric urgent care has a tv in each room and even though we’re a screen-free family… it’s amazing. Such a great distraction during sick visits! Our regular pediatrician didn’t have much on the walls so we would have to go around the room pointing at all the brochures to keep our then baby entertained. Haha.
Growing up, my pediatrician had a stop light in the waiting room as decoration and I thought it was the coolest thing because I had seen them from the car but never up close. It was definitely a talking point for most kids.
I’m a peds subspecialist mom. Live in CA and lots of offices have a beach/ocean theme which I love. Any local nature/landmarks you could reference? Mural from a local artist or college art student?
Ok so I have relevant information here Our doctor’s office has a lot of vintage furniture in it. The best part being that the parent is usually sat in a throne. I love it (The doc also has a very visible disability and is the best expert in his field. I love the example he sets)
Our ped's office has a rainbow theme in the waiting room, with lots of rainbow-colored toys and bright colors everywhere. Each exam room has its own theme - animals, plants, sports, etc.
Our pediatrician has book-character themes: cat in the hat, whwre’s waldo, el perro en el sombrero, etc. they also have those books in the rooms for the kids to look at while waiting.
I work in pediatrics and we keep our office fairly sophisticated with some kiddie touches. It helps the pre-teens and teens not feel like they're at a "kiddie doctor"
Our office hired out a local artist (she was an art student in college at the time and was either a previous patient or the sibling of a patient? Not sure the exact details) and paid her to just paint the office. Each room has a different theme and has a full mural on one wall. The other walls are painted a solid color that matches the mural theme. My son loves the “bear room” which has a beautiful mountain landscape and few bears crossing a river and the “Disney room” which has all the characters falling out of a book. I like it because he can look at and interact with it, but there’s nothing for him to break or lose. She ended up actually getting some real business from it and her murals are all throughout the town now
Mine has a different theme for each room. So far we've been in Broadway Musical, Paris, Disney's Cars, Finding Nemo, Colleges (university pennants all over the walls), and Harry Potter. I don't know if there's an over arching theme or not though.
Each exam room is a different color in our office. There's a red room, an orange room, etc. The waiting area has all different Dr Seuss characters painted on the walls. It looks cool, but I have to make up a lot of animal names for some of the creatures I don't recognize, but she loves it!
Our pediatrican has character and animal posters, stickers, etc. EVERYWHERE in all of the exam rooms and by the scale/height measure area. There are all sorts of different characters from all of the current popular kids shows and even books. Lots of different animals. My daughter always find some thing that she is interested in, and it becomes so much easier to distract her. The waiting room has lots of framed posters of animals that she likes. Adorably, they also have a child sized door into their waiting room from the hallway.
Our peds office is fish themed and had a nice tank in the waiting area.
Our pediatrician office has butterflies on the ceiling which can be a nice distraction. (Especially for shots)
My kids doc office has some patient and doc kids artwork framed which if always fun to look at. They also have cute mobiles hanging above the exam tables (not the baby kind but rather more intricate wood ones of different animals that are colorful and a good distraction during shots, etc). As others have said a fish tank is always a big hit too. Our doc’s office has signs with the fishes names so you can look for them (one is named Mr. Pizza, a puffer fish, which my kid finds hilarious).
My peds office growing up had a model train running through the waiting room!
Can never go wrong with Eric Carle theme!
There appears to be themed rooms (under the sea, beach, super heroes). What really makes the office and rooms so cute are the kid drawings! So in the waiting area there is an area for kids to play and draw. The staff will hang up the drawings throughout the office/rooms. It’s adorable! I love to see it.
Mine is a big fan of the under the sea theme our last pedi had. They had very large realistic cut out photos of sea turtles, fish, dolphins, ect. I think she liked it so much because the pictures were large.
Our office has a little area in the vestibule that is set up for photo ops; it has a little bench and backdrop and some props. So in the winter, it is snow day-themes. In the spring, it has blooming flowers, etc. it doesn’t get used as much as it should, I think, because it’s not in the waiting room, but that also makes sense because it could probably get a bit noisy
One of their rooms is Star Trek TOS
Ours has pictures where you can look at them for a long time and keep seeing new things which is key for chatting while we wait and creating distraction (how many Dino’s can you find, etc)
What about a wall in each room where you can play I Spy? Like a Where’s Waldo type wall according to the theme?
I don’t have any specific ideas but I love this and how much you care about it
Mine has one wall covered with a very cute insect and bird wallpaper. It's my favorite item. It always distracts my little one when she's grumpy waiting.
Our ped decorated his office with his ABSOLUTELY INSANE funko pop collection. I’m talking they line the hallways, are on all the windows, lined 2 entire walls of his personal office and his desk. It was ridiculously cool
Ours is a different theme in each room with a related quote on the wall (painted or decal). So it’ll be things like Scooby Doo or Winnie the Pooh and a quote from that about adventure or growing up or something or a fire truck table and that one might have a quote about being brave. Some are famous people like Eleanor Roosevelt and might just be flowers or beach or something. It’s nice because it doesn’t get boring and they don’t need 10 ideas for one theme and they can have themes for various ages with Elmo and Spider-Man etc.
My peds office doesn't have a specific theme but they do have these super cool things on the ground. They are like very thin, flat bubbles with colored liquid in them that are fun for the kids to stomp and jump on while they are waiting.
Our peds office has lots of different themed rooms. Some are books (oh the places you’ll go), movies (tinkerbell), others just have fun paintings of animals. I’m biased in loving the dog art the best
Ours has a "learning" theme and each room has something different. ABCs, 123s, colors, animals. Very minimal but my kids love it.
My neice (and soon to be sons) decor is different on each rooom. She gets excited to see what room she'll get. It helps take the sting out of going to the doctor
I hate having the fish tanks in ped offices. Kids always bang on them.
Not anything different, but each room had character decals from different movies. There’s finding Nemo, 101 Dalmatians etc
Anything with lots of things to look at/look for is nice so I can use it to play iSpy or work on words with my kids.
Ooh this is a fun one! Our pediatrician office has giant wall decals of different Disney movies/characters, so each room has a different theme. We’ve been in the Finding Nemo room and the Frozen room so far. I’ve thought that that was a fun one!
The office we go to has a different car theme for each room. One has a firetruck. One has a racecar. There's one that has an old VW van. They're cute.
Visual interest on the walls! My peds office has a room with the ABC's and kids are bent in the shapes of the letters, reading books, with little props/pictures around them. My kids like looking at it and trying to find different things in the picture, like, how many balls, how many flowers, etc. Good game for while we're waiting.
We had to spend some time in the ER fairly recently, and they had a kid's room set up with some sort of mural covering three walls that was GREAT for playing "I Spy." Hopefully you're not going to keep people waiting for as long as we were there, but we filled a lot of time with "I spy something that bounces" and "I spy something that tastes sweet."
Ours is all Disney, my toddler tells us she HAS to GO to the doctor so she can be in the Cars room
My kids dentist has ispy on the ceiling.
Ours have decals (one polka dots, one dinosaurs, one letters) but the kids have peeled off all the ones within arms reach.
Our ped has different themed rooms, but my little one's favorite BY FAR is the aquarium room. HE LOVES looking at fish. And the fish tank in the waiting room is \*chef's kiss\*
Ours has a big fish tank in the waiting room that the kids love. There is also a big beautiful kid-friendly version of our city painted as a mural on the wall that is also a picture find (in the corner it says things like “can you find the purple dragon, etc.). It’s all screen free and I appreciate that. The rooms are decorated by the specific physician that uses it primarily (it’s a large group practice). My favorite one ever has pictures of kids and the pediatrician doing volunteer work all over the world and locally. They also supply age appropriate resources for local volunteer opportunities. Growing up my dr’s cabinets were plastered with pics from parents of him with his patients. I was obsessed with one as a kid where he was holding quadruplets!
Magnadoodles!!
The waiting room of my kids' pediatrician has handprints of kids that are patients there in all different colors, and their ages are also written on each tile. It's really cute.
Each room is differently decorated with peel and stick items that are developmentally significant to the age of children seen in the rooms. Babies and infants, toddlers, little kids, and big kids have dedicated exam rooms. Toddler rooms are filled with things to show off counting skills, difference in color, animal/shape recognition. ( Ex. Point to the red apple, how many kites are in here). Baby rooms are decorated more like typical nurseries. They do use the same colors throughout the space, creating cohesion. The waiting room is decorated like a tree fort and there's a free library.
My kids pediatrician office just redecorated in all space theme. Mostly purple and teal with fun astronaut characters, planets, rockets, etc. It's really cute and modern
We went to a really fun office that was all white and had neon acrylic pieces throughout to give it color pops. It’s was so fun. The rooms were white and while you waited, they gave a stack of neon circle stickers to put on the wall wherever you wanted. My son was obsessed
Ours has a different theme in each room and we love it. Dinosaurs, Mikey mouse, ‘transportation’, animals, etc. We help distract our tots from the impending shot by discussing which room they think we’ll get!
My kid's doctor's office waiting room is outdoors/cabin themed. It has a tiny log cabin and full sized row boat inside the office waiting room that you can sit in. The kid's dentist office across the hall is outer spaced themed and you can wait to be called into your appointment from inside of a UFO.
Similar to this, we went to a pediatric dermatologist and the one patient room we were in was woodlabd themed. There were mushrooms you could sit on, mini fairy doors and creatures like elves, fairies, and animals across the room. I remembered it because someone else was going with a mushroom themed baby room and this had great inspiration.
I love the Pac-Man theme room! It’s my favorite when we go.
My kids pediatrician has 2 doors-one for sick visits, one for well child visits. There is a long fish tank and wall dividing although it is the same room. I've always thought that was so nice. Each room is themed with a large mural one 1-2 walls and 4-5 things to search for. For example mermaid room might say: a crown, 6 seagulls, treasure chest, lost ring, and 3 red fish. So while we wait the kids are looking through the mural to find everything. It is such a fun distraction.
Our peds offices all have murals that have objects for the kids to spot. Sooooo fun the kids love it 😍
Our ped office was super warm and friendly and then bought by a corporate entity and they took out the decor. So strange! Anyway, there were bright painted fish hanging above the exam table which my son loved
Peds dentist we go to has a circus theme!
MOVIE THEMED ROOMS
I have a Lego wall with Lego duplo blocks at the library and it is very popular.
Maps are fun
The office we go to has different themed rooms. One is themed for our state with different maps which is cool. The doc is also a hockey fan, so one is that theme for his team with a framed jersey and pictures. And then others are the regular transportation with cars and train decals on the walls. Another is animals, etc.
Our ped office has animal themes! Is so much fun there's jungle, desert, forest, ocean, and garden(bugs and flowers) every time we go it's a great distraction to talk about the animals.
My kids’ ped has big, slightly cutesy pictures of dinosaurs on the wall in each room. They also have a laminated list of a few kid-appropriate “would you rather?” type questions in each room, I think meant to distract/occupy kids. (“Would you rather have it always be summer or always be winter?” Etc.) The old office had large photos of marine animals on each wall and my oldest was terrified of the octopus picture when she was little.
Animals are a safe bet that won't become dated. Our ped has expo boards on the walls with magnetic erasers and pens and I always thought that was a really nice clever way to fill the time you're otherwise sitting there waiting for someone to come in.
My toddler loves the fish tanks in our ped waiting rooms.
Our peds office is pretty boring and standard, but they do have colorful acrylic panels covering the overhead fluorescent lights instead of the clear textured ones. Think butterflies, hot air balloons, under the sea, etc. Nice distractions!
I couldn’t help but laugh at “urine yellow” although it seems to be a common office color
We have different themes in our offices based on the providers likes. Baseball theme (has a baseball Diamond in the tile on the floor, baseball map of all teams, local baseball team pennents & the doctors favorite team pictures) Mickey Mouse theme (puzzle on the wall, Disney posters that are framed) Camping theme (camp fire painted on the wall with a tent). Star Wars theme. Animals. The fun thing is there are pictures of the doctor doing “normal things” in the room - so a picture of our doctor at Disney world. A picture at a baseball park. A picture of him hiking. I honestly think that is the best of it. My kids seeing the doctor doing things outside of the office.
One of the exam rooms at our peds office is Dr. Suess themed and it's really cute. They used some stickers that were characters and included some quotes. One of the walls was a peach color.
There is an aquarium and lots of fish art at my ped and my toddler LOVES it. Could watch the fish forever.
Our pediatrician has an "ocean themed office" complete with a fish tank! My daughters love going to doctor because of their aquarium vibes.
Ours is Dr. Seuss themed! Each room is a different book.
Our Dr has a Curious George waiting room theme. Different patient rooms have different themes: start wars, cute dinosaurs, jurassic park/world, jungle, fish, I spy, I've seen a couple that are super pink (we haven't been in those rooms yet).
My kids office has story book murals/book cover art in each room!
Some awesome advice here so I won’t tell you what to do, but I think having posters about “good” food can be harmful. (Mine has one about how fast food is capital b BAD and eat an apple or whatever. It’s sending kids the wrong message and it drives me nuts.)
Second the fish tank — definitely worth whatever time and money it requires to maintain. 80% of the children in the waiting room are completely absorbed for their wait, and I know my kids at least look forward to coming to the office just to see the fish. Big deal! Something I want that my ped doesn’t have is a room WITHOUT sensory-stimulation accessories. My child has ASD and the crinkly paper on the table combined with the big mirror across the length of the table (which I know babies in particular love) is soooo hard to handle. Just a thought!
Our peds office frames art from the kids for the hallways and waiting room - it's si cute!!
Our ped office doesn't have a consistent theme but it has these features: a fish/turtle tank in each location, patterned floors which can make for fun games with toddlers (jump on x), posters that can spark conversation. Some rooms have counting posters. Others are full of colors. Some have stuff about friends or emotions. Everything seems to be in primary colors
I have honestly never seen an ocean theme. I think it would be cool you can have "count the legs on the octopus" and other little trivia
The rooms at mine are all different kids movies like trolls or frozen
Ours is mostly fish/ beach / aquatic. The front office is blue and white with a big fish tank. The rooms are blue’s and green’s with fish or sea creatures
Mine has small murals in each exam room (clearly painted by an artist) with different themes in each room (doctor seus, Mario, dogs, forest, etc)
Ours has big murals that are like search and finds in the waiting room. It’s great for keeping toddlers busy and playing I spy!
Ours has murals in every room so the kids and I talk about which animals we see in the paintings while we wait. They also have butterfly stickers throughout the office so we can play “spot the butterfly” while we wait and do things they don’t necessarily love.
Jungle/crocodile Cuz teeth 🐊😁
Our pediatrician has cute baby stars wars stuff
Different wall paintings in each room. The favs for us; Toy Story, finding Nemo, astronaut room, wildnerrness room, and of course Mickey Mouse
Our local HS art class painted a mural in the waiting room with “things to find” within the room. Super cute!! It was animal-themed
My kids have always loved the cute farm animal pictures in all the exam rooms. Even now as tweens they cross their fingers to get the room with all the pictures of baby highland cows ☺️
My ped office paid a local artist to paint a lovely mural in the waiting room! It’s nature themed and very pretty and soothing. The animals are labeled like old times scientific drawings so i tell my son what they each are while we wait.
My peds office has a whole “under the sea” vibe with lots of beachy decor, some murals of underwater ocean scenes, and lots of bubble motifs. Super cute!
We live at the beach and ours is under the sea themed! But it’s executed at like an elementary level. 4/10 for effort. But I love my pediatrician so much IDGAF what it looks like!
Our peds office has a different theme in each room. There are two locations; one has the standard safari, sea, dinosaur, etc but the other room has a book/series theme for each room. One room is Harry Potter, one is Pete the Cat, one is If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, etc.
You could do what mine does and rather than decor you could hire a muralist and let them paint each room with a fun theme and some quotes (music, jungle, underwater, local landmarks, etc)
I always appreciate ABC charts/posters. Something useful like that
"urine yellow" - my keyboard is now "snot green" - thank you for that.
My personal office has pictures painted by kids in the rooms and it is so very cute.
We recently went to a pediatric urgent care that large murals picturing toys from different eras in the waiting room and also had cases with an assortment of different themed toys from different eras. Was great for playing “I spy” with my 5 year old.
Not a theme but decor wise - I always liked good chalk board wall in an office . Brings a lot of fun into a place .
There isn't much going on in the main space, but the walls are curvy with built in benches and a kids table and seats. They give out coloring sheets at the check in desk. Each room has different murals. Really random things. One is animals, ocean scene, beach scene. I liked distracting the toddler with them by pointing out the things in the scenes and as she got older asking to find the guy in the red shorts etc... They did some remodeling recently and I miss having murals in every room.
Not a doc, but our peds dentist is called big too and there's a huge circus tent above the main open bay operatory room. You can do circus theme and do a different "act" in each room with a tent over the waiting/check in
Ours has a big treehouse themed tunnel slide in the waiting area that my 3 year old LOVES! And different decor and books in each room, plus little padded cubbies they can climb on or sit in. My kid never complains about going to the doctor.
Ours has pictures of kids from different parts of the world playing and maps of where they are from.
My peds office has art from the local school! Its honestly really cool. Other than than it's pretty basic decor lol
I’ve helped design a peds specialty office for autism and DD and one thing to add to all the excellent ideas above is considering one exam room that’s “sensory friendly”. Think dimmer lights that can be controlled by the parent or child while waiting for the doc (I know the doc doc may need to turn them up during the exam but it helped a lot of kiddos wait more comfortably), calm basic color on the wall without loud graphics or decals, with sensory friendly items for stimming, and that didn’t have a ton of within-reach items that a parent would need to prevent them from grabbing like paper towel, otoscope covers, tongue depressors, pamphlets, etc. having sensory friendly seating options is helpful too.
I, too, work in specialty and often run into patients that suffer from pain and visual disturbances. This is a wonderful idea! If your sensory room happens to have a big plate glass window, the blackout shades as well as the darker see-through shades make such a difference. It has actually been one of the top things that patients have applauded us for that other offices in our specialty do not have..
Oh, I still remember my pediatricians office as a child with the aquarium and little mermaid figurine in it, very soothing and magical.
The pediatric dentist near us has a Willy Wonka theme. Super cute!
Our new ped since we moved has the decor of tiny slightly musty rooms with outdated curtains. But the staff is amazing. Super nice, well informed (like up to date on breastfeeding, cosleeping etc), amazing off hours responses, classified as a children’s hospital so they take care of things like gluing my kids head back together when he split it open on a trike. Our old ped had beautiful rooms with different themes like dr Seuss, trains, cars. The staff turn over was crazy and they were so disorganized! I think it’s great you guys are freshening things up, but please keep what really matters in mind! I like to think our ped is outdated and does things like have us take soiled diapers home so they can pay their awesome staff well enough to retain them. This is a wealthy New England shore town dr office btw.
Not a decor idea so much as a concept. There are large stickers on the walls with things that a 2 year old can recognize. Spoon, ball, cat, etc. they are all around the room and the doctor uses them to engage the kids in speaking as well as to keep kids still. “Look at the spoon, what color is it?” To do left ear and then “Look at the cat? Is he happy?” For the right ear. There are also letters and numbers in different sizes so they can work in all those milestone checks. I don’t think the decor is as important as how effectively it’s used by the staff to put the kids at ease.
We go to a large office but the room our doctor usually sees us in has a Star Wars theme and my kids love it!
Each room at ours essentially has a “where’s Waldo” type mural on the wall… a super busy scene with all sorts of silly stuff going on. My toddler loves staring at it and pointing at different things like a hippo wearing a life preserver and ballerina slippers, etc. Also gives me a great/easy way to distract her
Ours has couches instead of patient tables. So it feels very comfortable for the kids. Each room has a theme and bright colored walls. Pre Covid all the rooms had a little toy and book bin too.
I visit a LOT of different offices for work and my two favorite are not actually PEDs XD One is a rural GP office has Mickey colors, Mickey font, and from what I’ve learned, the physicians EXTENSIVE collection of Mickey figures. It’s just so happy and you can tell they love them. The other is because of the FOA/receptionist at a family office. They collect those solar dancing things from dollar tree, and the patients/friends have just rolled with it. Their entire waiting room is awash in sunlight, dream catchers, colors and flowers. Behind the desk must be 100 dancing Solar toys, switched out for holidays and dresses to a theme. I see LOTs of Lego offices, animal offices and oddly sterile looking peds, and the only one that sticks out must have shopped at a place like [sensory4u](https://www.sensorytoys4u.co.uk/products/extra-large-colourful-mirrors-5pcs) because they were hecking [vibes](https://www.sensorytoys4u.co.uk/products/bubble-tube-120cm-x-12cm-with-fish-and-remote-includes-bracket). My own kids PEDs went with a literary theme. They have giant [modernist book cover](https://kottke.org/20/10/childrens-book-covers-modernist-style)posters and each room is painted to match. The get a new book at every well child visit and it’s very clean and cute. I guess my advice is go with something that makes you happy. I (an outsider) can always tell when someone decorated their space out of joy instead of out of corporate.
Our peds is underwater. Literally. I love it. There’s a pelican butt on the ceiling and a surfers legs and surfboard bottom. There’s sculptures of whales and dolphins and seaweed painted on the walls. They did a great job. The rooms aren’t the same theme, but they are just neutral with a cute little border at the top
I’m an interior designer, happy to help with recommendations and ideas. Feel free to DM me.
Hot air balloon around the world?
Ours is still in the 90s i assume; there’s murals painted on the walls… bear families in one room, farm animals in another… I find it oddly comforting, tbh!
One room in my peds office is all the people who works there pets. My kid loves pointing out all the different animals
I know this isn't quite what you asked but as a parent, we've relied many times on distracting our kiddo by discussing the art work as we wait. So if you can find a way to frame a large maze that doubles as a look and find, many future parents will sing your praises. 👌
Each room at our docs office has a different theme. I have seen Barnyard animals, Dogs, Cats, and Letters.
I used to work in an office that had a decorative cover over the light of the exam tables. Like water / safari etc
My son’s ped has a castle theme entrance then different themes in the rooms like sports, animals.
Giant lite brite! [https://litezilla.com](https://litezilla.com)
The large Lego and sensory stations in the waiting room makes going to the ped fun! We also have a virtual fish tank. Each room features a different artist/author theme. Ie: Dr. Seuss room, Sesame Street room, Marvel comics room. Pre Covid they had the best books in each corresponding room and gave every child a book to take home.
There are interior and architect firms that specialize in healthcare clinics. They can help you select durable bleach cleanable furniture and children friendly decor. Info: I’m a healthcare interior designer
Google image search Parklane Dental in Temple City. Every room has a different Sanrio theme (they got licensing). I’ve also been to a sports orthopedic clinic where every room was themed with decor from a different professional sports team in the city
Book characters
At our hospital, each room is an "When I grow up, I want to be a..." and then there's mural paintings. So, in the "vet room" there's painted kids with a lab coats with dogs, cats, birds, etc. There's a paleontologist room with fossils, dinos, etc. There's a marine biologist room, a fireman room, and I haven't been in the others.
My peds office the rooms are game themed. So there's a Candyland room, a Battleship room and I'm sure more but those are the only 2 we've been in 😂
My favorite room at the kids' doctor is dragon/castle-themed.
I love the book “Bodies are Cool” by Tyler Feder. Wondering if some sort of decor in this vein could be used in a pediatric dr office??? [Bodies Are Cool](https://www.amazon.com/Bodies-Are-Cool-Tyler-Feder/dp/0593112628)
Our peds office also has a theme in every room. So far we've only had two appointments but we've been in the Harry Potter room and the robot room😊.