Taking care of foster children involves building positive relationships, making way for more open communication and a higher level of care being provided. A great way to begin building this bond is through shared activities like arts and crafts, which will help with brain development and bring enjoyment as well. Throughout this article, we discuss four affordable crafts that will help build a strong bond with your foster children.
Recycled Crayons
Whether you’re Fostering in Scotland or anywhere else in the UK, the training provided will explore the types of activities that aid child brain development – one of which is art. Naturally, this means you’ll go through an enormous amount of wax crayons, which you can pool together and use to make new crayons.
To do this, you need to find an oven-proof mould that will create suitable shapes for a crayon. Then, you remove wrappers from old crayons and pack them into the mould, which is put into the oven for 20 minutes to melt them down. Next, you take them out of the oven to cool and place them into the freezer for 30 minutes. When they come out, your foster child can get back to creating artistic masterpieces to put on the wall.
Rain Sticks
Something is calming about the sound of rain falling, so why not recreate this for your foster children by making rain sticks? The process is simple and you’ll only need the following equipment:
● Aluminium foil
● Cardboard tube (wrapping paper or paper towels)
● Art glue
● Rice to fill
● Electrical tape to seal
● Decorative art supplies (stickers, crayons, crepe paper, markets, etc.)
● Scissors
Tie-Dye T-Shirts
Tie-dye T-shirts are a crafting classic, and they couldn’t be easier to make. All you need is an old T- shirt, food colouring, and elastic bands to create the pattern and hold the T-shirt together. Once you’ve prepped the shirt, you simply leave it for 24 hours to dry and then they’re ready to be unleashed on the world. This craft is special because it will bring you and your foster child together, and they’ll have something they can take with them and wear out and about.
Flower Pot Chimes
Your foster child will get a great sense of achievement from this one because they’ll hear it whenever the wind blows. For this activity you’ll need the following items:
● Terracotta pot
● Coloured string
● Beads
● Wooden disks
● Rust-proof washers
The general idea is that the pots are turned upside down and decorated, and then the beads are threaded through the string and hung through the holes in the terracotta pot. After, it’s a simple case of attaching a string to hang the chimes up.
Forming strong emotional bonds with your foster children is essential, and this can be done through shared arts and crafts sessions. You don’t need to break the bank to get stuck in, as you most likely have the majority of the materials laying around the house. The most important part is that you’re both having fun and your foster children can show off their achievements.
