Boosting and improving a foster child’s communication skills

Many children and young people who enter foster care struggle to express themselves. It is the role of a foster carer to help give them a voice or an outlet where they can express themselves and how they feel, which can open up gateways to other areas such as maths, problem solving and critical thinking.

Here are some tips from Beacon Fostering about how you can help a child hone their communication skills.

Bedtime stories

Reading stories at bedtime provides great moments to bond with your foster child when they are young, and helps with expanding their vocabulary. It also improves their listening, concentration and comprehension skills

Journaling

Keeping a journal is a way for a child to express their feelings, thoughts and responses to things that they have seen and experienced, as recommended by psychologists. They can even draw or stick things in the pages, making it their own.

This can even evolve into fiction writing, using their own lives and experiences as inspiration for a short story, novella or novel. There is a writing competition and resources from the children’s charity Coram that’s aimed at care-experienced children and young people.

The power of play

Role playing is an excellent way for children to develop their problem-solving skills, creativity and social interactions, regardless of age. While you may use dolls, teddy bears and/or action figures for younger children, you could act out scenarios with older children (such as preparing for interviews and responding to important people), or play board games. These will help boost their confidence, vocabulary, collaboration and teamwork.