After taking the first steps on your foster carer journey, you’ll most likely have questions about welcoming your first child in need.
Child Bedroom Design Tips
For example, you may need support with decorating the bedroom because you’ll never be 100% sure how long each child will be in your care for. Therefore, it’s recommended that bedrooms are kept neutral and then added to for personality. Throughout this article, we’ll help you set up your foster child’s bedroom with five simple design tips.
Providing Creative Areas
Childhood development and creativity are intrinsically linked, which is why you should make sure your foster child’s bedroom has an area designed to let the creative juices flow. Using blackboard paint is a fantastic way to facilitate this need, and it’ll save the walls from being drawn all over.
Consider Getting a “Worry Monster”
When you’re learning about becoming a foster carer with Fosterplus, you’ll discover that every single foster child will have lived through the trauma of some kind. This means there is likely to be a range of emotions circling their mind, but they may not feel 100% comfortable talking to you about them.
A fantastic strategy for helping new foster children deal with their emotions is with a Worry Monster, which they can “feed” with their thoughts written down on a piece of paper. The Worry Monster can be anything from a stuffed character to a fun bedroom bin.
Without having to communicate face-to-face, any child in your care will have a channel for expressing their feelings and you’ll be able to gain insights into how you can help.
Allow for Sensory Development
If you think back to when you were a child, you most likely spent hours at school playing in sand and water. This is all part of sensory play, which is any activity that includes the senses. As well as being extremely fun, it helps to enhance memory skills, brain functioning, and problem-solving. When it comes to the bedroom, you can introduce toys that feel and look different.
Opt for Natural Color
When people think about decorating a child’s room, vibrant colors, artwork, and patterns often come to mind. Although this can be true in biological parent/child relationships, things aren’t as clear-cut when it comes to foster children. For example, you won’t know what your foster children like before they arrive and you won’t know how long they’re staying with you. Therefore, it’s always best to use neutral paint colors, which you can jazz up with personality once you know more about the foster child staying there.
Build Play Tents and Forts
Being a foster child in a new environment can be scary, which is why there should be a quiet place for them to escape. You can do this by putting up a play tent or building a fort, which you can pack with comforting blankets and pillows.
If you’ve decided to become a foster carer, there’s no time like the present to make sure you’re prepared for the arrival of your first foster child.
