How to Choose a Gift for Your Foster Child

Technically there are no guidelines or limitations on what you can gift to a foster child, provided that it’s something that a minor is allowed to have of course. However, that may complicate the situation more at times, especially if the child is still relatively new to your home. With the festive season upon us, you may want to go through the following suggestions on how to choose a gift for your foster child.

Ask

It may or may not be the standard practice in some homes, but there is truly no better way to ensure that your gift is well received than to simply ask the child. Just ask what they would want for their birthday or Christmas as a gift. Start with figuring out what they want most and then ask what else would they want if that was not an option. Make sure you have a few alternatives to choose from.

Now, children are often shy, especially foster children who hardly know their new foster parents. If they are young, tell them to write about it in a letter to Santa instead. If a child is past the age of writing letters to Santa Claus and too shy to talk about gifts, then you may need to move on to the second suggestion.

Converse

If you don’t want to ask directly, or in case they seem shy, do not force it. Instead, take some time and get to know them. Have a few conversations and find out where their interests lie. One you have a fair idea, choose something along those lines and within your budget that you know will appeal to the child. Conversations themselves are a great way to build connection with your foster child, especially if it’s around their hobbies and interests.

There are more than a thousand children in need of fostering in Essex alone and they need foster parents who will pay such close attention to them. Every time a child under your care finds out that you did pay attention during those conversations and got them something to reflect that, it will always start things off on a good note.

Engage

There are more ways to engage with children than to just converse with them and some of them can be made into genuine gifts as well. For example, most young children and even teenagers tend to like amusement parks and carnivals. Getting tickets to visit their favourite amusement park can be a great gift, but there is more to it.

Riding together on a roller coaster or figuring your way out through a maze together are ways for the foster parent and the foster child to engage with each other in shared amusement. Older children may enjoy their time more inside an escape room, which are real life interactive puzzles built to encourage cooperation between the participants.

If the child is really into video games, it may present a simpler option to find a gift and engage them at the same time. Just get a game that they are looking to play and play it with them!