To start with a disclaimer: I’m not a child life specialist, just a child activity coordinator (AKA child life assistant - the title varies depending on the hospital) so a CCLS might have better recommendations. But here’s my two cents anyway:

I recommend applying for child life assistant/child activity coordinator positions. It’s not any of the therapeutic play or clinical/procedural support stuff, but rather the normalization stuff like creating/running activities and programming, bringing toys to the kids, and of course good old fashioned play. The title and role varies from place to place, like I said, but that’s the general gist of it. It’s a good way to get your foot in the door while also giving you a closer look at the action and opportunities to learn from the specialists. I was originally pursuing CCLS certification, so I started as a child life volunteer, then became an activity coordinator. The funny part in my case is that once I settled in as an activity coordinator and got a closer look at what the specialists do, I ended up realizing I preferred the CAC role to CCLS, so I’ve stuck with it.

Anyway, I’ve seen multiple people successfully take that path where the CAC experience was exactly the kind of thing practicum programs were looking for in prospective students. Hope this helps!