The holidays can be an exciting and challenging time for any family, so cooking together is one way for foster parents and foster children to connect and have fun. Your big dinners and special treats will taste even more delicious when you make them yourselves. Plus, you’ll create beautiful memories that will endure long after the holiday season ends.
Plan together:
Invite your foster children to join you in planning your holiday activities, including developing menus and grocery shopping. Doing things together creates the opportunity for meaningful conversations and may help your foster child deal with any anxiety and sadness they feel about celebrating the holidays away from their own family.
Divide the work:
Create age-appropriate tasks that each foster child can enjoy doing. They’ll be participating in a valuable learning experience, and they’ll build their confidence when they can show off the dishes that they helped to prepare. Even small children can tear up lettuce, stir the cookie batter, and help load the dishwasher. Older children may be ready to practice baking a pie or making dumplings from scratch. Naturally, you want to discuss the basic safety rules to avoid any accidents with sharp knives and hot ovens.
Stay healthy:
The holidays are actually an excellent time to model healthy eating too. Discuss nutrition while you’re planning and preparing your meals. Look for recipes that will make the most of local seasonal produce. Experiment with snacks and desserts that are low in sugar and salt. Your foster children may like them even more than the standard junk food at the supermarket. If you still do overindulge a bit, you can support each other in getting back to wholesome daily habits.
Make the holiday season even more special by helping us to serve the most vulnerable children and families in our community. Contact us at 2INgage to learn more about becoming a foster parent in Texas.