How to Become a Child Life Specialist

February 27, 2025

child life specialist how to become salary

Going to the hospital to heal from an illness or undergo surgery can be scary for anyone at any age. That’s especially true for children. When a child is hospitalized, they are often met with a team of specialized healthcare workers dedicated to their wellbeing. Certified Child Life Specialists are a part of this team.

If you’re a particularly caring and empathetic individual who loves working with children, you might find yourself curious about how you can become a Child Life Specialist. In this article, we’ll walk you through: 

  • The steps you need to take to become a Child Life Specialist 
  • The certification process to becoming a Child Life Specialist. 
  • What salary you might be able to make as a Child Life Specialist, and 
  • Books that can help you on your journey to becoming a Child Life Specialist. 

What does a Child Life Specialist do?

A Child Life Specialist’s goal is to prepare not only the child but also their family to undergo the medical processes at the hospital with as little stress as possible. They teach kids and families techniques and practices that can help them smoothly navigate the experience. Child Life Specialists are also there to support a child’s development, so that they don’t miss a beat in their social and emotional growth, despite the time they spend physically healing. 

Sometimes, that looks like play. Child Life Specialists can give kids the opportunity to just be kids while they’re in a decidedly unplayful environment. Sometimes, that looks like emotional support. Child Life Specialists are trained at helping kids overcome the specific stresses that come from being in the hospital. 

Other times, the support they provide comes in the form of supporting those around the hospitalized child. Child Life Specialists can teach siblings how to care for their family member. They can also help parents learn how to navigate the often turbulent and emotionally distressing experience of having their child undergo surgery or a major medical intervention. 

How to Become a Child Life Specialist

The first step to becoming a Certified Child Life Specialist (CCLS) is your education. You need to meet two specific educational criteria before you can become certified as a Child Life Specialist, as laid out by the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP) and the Child Life Certification Commission (CLCC). The ACLP is the organization that creates and manages all of the rules and standards around the certification of Child Life Specialists. If you want to work in the field, you have to follow the guidelines set out by the ACLP. 

As far as education goes, you need: 

  • A bachelor’s degree from an accredited university, and 
  • Completion of 10 specific college courses within the discipline of child life that will enable you to do the job.
    • This coursework can be completed by obtaining your bachelor’s degree through an ACLP-endorsed academic program. 
    • You can also complete this coursework outside of an ACLP-endorsed academic program by simply taking the required courses at your accredited college or university.  
    • Note: You don’t actually have to major in child life in order to become a CCLS, but you do need to accumulate and complete the 10 courses (outlined below), no matter what you major in. 

When the Bureau of Labor Statistics asked Child Life Specialist Heather Rossi of Richmond, Virginia, her best advice for someone who wants to become a Child Life Specialist, Rossi said: “Volunteer, volunteer, volunteer! As with any career, you should learn as much about it as you can before you go into it to help figure out if it’s for you.” 

It’s a great idea to log volunteer hours at a hospital, shadowing or assisting other CCLSs, in order to learn more about the career. 

ACLP-Endorsed Undergraduate Programs

If you attend one of these eight undergraduate programs, you’ll automatically take the 10 college courses that you need to eventually apply for certification to become a CCLS: 

ACLP-Endorsed Graduate Programs

If you want to pursue a graduate degree that will prepare you to become a CCLS, you could attend one of the following ACLP-Endorsed Graduate Programs. Just like the undergraduate programs above, you can rest assured from the outset that you’re attending a program that includes all of the curricular requirements you need to meet in order to eventually get your certification: 

Ten College Courses You Need to Take to Become a CCLS

If you don’t major in Child Development or Child Life, but you want to become a CCLS, you need to take the following 10 college courses to eventually get your certification: 

  • 1 child life course taught by a CCLS
  • 2 child development courses
  • 1 family systems course
  • 1 play course
  • 1 loss/bereavement or death/dying course
  • 1 research course
  • 3 additional courses in related areas

There are specific programs that offer courses pre-approved by the ACLP to contain all the necessary academic information for eventual certification. They’re not necessarily ACLP-endorsed (which requires programs to undergo a different application process), but you’ll still be able to find everything you need in these programs to eventually get certified: 

Child Life Specialist Clinical Internship

After or during the completion of the required college coursework, you need to complete a clinical internship under the direction of another Certified Child Life Specialist. That internship must meet certain requirements that will prepare you for the job ahead. 

One big benefit of attending an undergraduate or graduate program designed to prepare you to become a Child Life Specialist is that you will be guided in the process of finding and applying for internships that fit the criteria for CLS certification. 

“Child life specialists also need practicum hours or an internship. Internship programs are more competitive than when I started because the field is more competitive now. I don’t think some people realize how hard it is to get into this field,” Rossi said. 

Child Life Specialist Certification

Once you complete all of your academic training and your clinical internship, you can then go up for certification. Certification will allow you to find a job as a CCLS. Not only is the certification required for the vast majority of jobs, it will also grant you the credibility you need to help families feel at ease when you’re working together. 

What steps do you need to follow to become certified? 

  1. Complete the Eligibility Assessment 
    1. Complete an ACLP eligibility assessment to ensure that you have completed all the verified coursework and the internship necessary to apply for certification. 
  2. Prepare for the Certification Exam 
    1. Pay and register for the certification exam. 
    2. Choose your exam date and location.
    3. Study, study, study! 
  3. Take the Certification Exam  
    1. Once you take and successfully pass your certification exam, you’ll be a Certified Child Life Specialist! 

When speaking about her training, Rossi said, “Our background is [often] in child development, and we’re using that to help children understand what’s happening to them. Communication skills and listening skills are important. I have a bachelor’s degree in human development and family studies, with an emphasis in child life. Many people have a master’s degree; they might have a bachelor’s in a child-development field and a master’s in, say, recreational therapy.” 

If you’re not already certified when you go to apply for jobs, most hospitals will require that you are at least eligible to sit for the CLP Certification Examination. So, following the steps above and ensuring your eligibility are super important to your future career prospects. Don’t skip these steps. 

Child Life Specialist Salary

What can you expect to earn as a Certified Child Life Specialist? That will depend on what kind of institution you work for, and salaries will vary between public hospitals, private hospitals, and other agencies that employ CCLS. 

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) counts child life specialists among healthcare social workers in hospitals or other private settings. So the BLS data comes from the larger social worker category. 

  • As of 2016, there were 53,500 Child Life Specialists in the United States. 
  • The field has been expected to grow 7% between 2016 and 2026. 
  • The median annual wage for Child Life Specialists in 2017 was $60,380. 
    • The BLS notes that this is higher than the roughly $38,000 median annual wage for all workers combined. 

Books for Child Life Specialists

There are a ton of great books out there that will help you on your journey to becoming a Certified Child Life Specialist. 

One great way to find books that will actually help you is by researching the top experts in the field and then finding the books that they have published. You can also look for general books on childhood development and books that are intended to help children in times of stress. 

Our suggestions contain a mix of all of these types of books: 

 

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Brittany Borghi

After earning a BA in Journalism and an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from the University of Iowa, Brittany spent five years as a full-time lecturer in the Rhetoric Department at the University of Iowa. Additionally, she’s held previous roles as a researcher, full-time daily journalist, and book editor. Brittany’s work has been featured in The Iowa Review, The Hopkins Review, and the Pittsburgh City Paper, among others, and she was also a 2021 Pushcart Prize nominee.

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