Four Ways to Bond with Adoptive Children

Are you searching for ways to strengthen your relationship with your child? The staff at Kids First are available to help you! The activities listed below are only a sample of the many you can do with your foster or adoptive children to strengthen their bonds.In fact, you can utilize any of these ideas and methods to enhance your interactions with any of your kids.

Hang their photos alongside your other family photographs

Four Ways to Bond with Adoptive Children - Kids First, Inc. - Fort Worth, TX

Soon after your new child arrives, hang pictures of them along with the rest of your family throughout the house. Encourage your child to help you choose which photos to use. Help your child create a special message or drawing that they may hang on their bedroom door.

Allow them to have private spaces as well!

In their foster home, your child may have experienced a lack of privacy. Allow them to have a private area where they may spend time, ask people to knock before entering, and allow them decorate it however they like. They will ultimately let go of their barriers as a result of feeling more at ease.

Let them participate in minor family decisions

Your child needs a sense of control in a life that has previously been out of control. Allow children to pick a weekly family activity, a game to play, a movie to watch, or a family meal. Including your child in decision-making will make them feel valued and also accepted.

Establish good eye contact with them!

Make eye contact with them when you praise them as well as when you correct them. You want to make eye contact with the child and show that pleasant things are happening. Hugging them while they are in front of a mirror can be quite helpful.It’s perfectly common for adoptive parents to wonder whether their new child will ever get used to life in their new home. If you are looking for more ideas on bonding with your adoptive children, contact us at Kids First. We would love to help you.