Photo by Gabe Pierce on Unsplash
If you are a foster carer, you play a vital role in the lives of children who need a safe and loving home. Fostering a child can be challenging, but it can also be incredibly rewarding. One of the most important things you can do as a foster carer is to engage your foster child in learning. In this post, we’ll share some fun, hands-on activities that you can try with your foster child to support their learning and growth.
Cooking Together
Foster agencies like Fostering People often encourage cooking together, as a fun and educational activity that you can enjoy with your foster child. Cooking together isn’t just a fun way to spend time, but it can also help your foster child learn more about different foods and nutrition, along with helping them develop basic kitchen skills that they can use for life. Start with simple recipes like cookies, smoothies or pancakes and involve your foster child in every step of the process, from measuring the ingredients to mixing and baking. Along with being educational, cooking together can also be a great bonding experience and it’s an excellent way to build trust and connection.
Building with Blocks
Building with blocks is another engaging activity that can help your foster child learn and develop important skills. Building blocks or toys like LEGO can be excellent for improving your foster child’s spatial awareness, problem-solving skills, and creativity. You can start with simple block sets and gradually increase the complexity of the structures that you build together. Block building can also be a great opportunity to teach your foster child about shapes, colours, and counting, depending on their age.
Gardening Together
Gardening is a fantastic way to encourage your foster child to spend more time outside and engage with nature. Gardening can help your foster child learn more about plant life cycles, how plants grow, and taking care of the environment. There are lots of projects you can do together, from simple seed planting in a pot, to planting your own vegetables, or building a small, raised bed.
Making Art Together
Making art is a fun, creative activity that can be an excellent way to help your foster child express themselves while learning about different art forms. Art can also help your foster child develop their hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, and creative thinking. Start with simple art projects like colouring books or finger painting, and as your foster child becomes more comfortable with art, introduce more complex art forms like painting, drawing, or even making simple sculptures.
Photo by Jerry Wang on Unsplash
Engaging your foster child in learning in a way that is fun and interesting for them is an important part of being a foster carer. By trying these four fun hands-on activities, you can help your foster child learn and grow in a way that they will enjoy. Along with being an excellent way to help them build essential skills for life, doing these activities together can also help strengthen the bond between you, improving your relationship and communication with your foster child.