Educational clowning – a serious development in the educational work with children receiving inpatient hospital treatment

Children and youth, receiving inpatient hospital treatment, are living under exceptional physical, psychological, and social circumstances. The engagement of clinic clowns has recently been established as an educational outreach program in many hospitals. Clinic clowns are responsive to the special educational needs of young patients and, according to experience, are able to lastingly influence their state of health in a positive way. Based on an anecdote of a visit from a clinic clown, a description of the professional role of a clown, respectively a clinic clown, the effects and the beneficial results of clowns’ work are explained. The article ends with a discussion on how and to what extent educational clowning can be considered as a new discipline in the extracurricular educational work with sick children.