children in a hot air balloon

Call 781-624-8919 to learn more about the program and to register for a group or individual session. Leave your name and contact information on the program's secure message line. A program leader will return your call.

Schedules and Locations

Weymouth

First Tuesday of each month, 4:30-6:30 pm
Tufts Public Library
46 Broad Street
Weymouth, MA 02188
Jones Room

Hingham

First Thursday of each month, 4:30-6:30 pm
Hingham Public Library
66 Leavitt Street
Hingham, MA 02043
Whiton Room

The Moon Balloon Song by Ken Read-Brown is based on the book The Moon Balloon by Joan Drescher. Produced with assistance by Helping Children Cope and Friends of Hope at South Shore Hospital.

Talking to children about a loved one’s cancer isn’t easy. That’s why South Shore Hospital’s Friends of Hope offers a free, 2 hour, communication enhancement program to help children ages 4-10 and their families.family learning together

Our story and art program engages young children in an imaginative, creative experience that enables them to talk comfortably about feelings through their drawings.

Using The Moon Balloon™ book, by Joan Drescher, children can express feelings through symbols and images that they may be unable to say in words. Children and adults learn together, and later can use the same methods and materials at home to discuss feelings about a loved one’s illness.

  • Group sessions from October to June
  • Individual sessions by appointment year round
  • 4:30 to 6:30 pm - free parking

HCC and Joan Drescher Featured in the Plymouth and Cape Business Journal

moon balloon

Rising to the occasion - The Moon Balloon draws out kids’ emotions

For the past two years, Joan Drescher has taught South Shore Hospital’s Helping Children Cope’s volunteers how to provide children with a safe way to explore and express their feelings when dealing with a loved one’s cancer as well as to model ways for parents to open the lines of communication with their children. Read more (pdf).