Celebrating Valentine’s Day as a foster family

The 14th of February is Valentine’s Day – and while this has traditionally been about romance and couples, it has expanded in recent years to include platonic friendships and familial love as well.

As foster carers, you might be wondering what you can do to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your foster child or children. Here are some tips from us at Beacon Fostering about how you can celebrate this day as a family with children in foster care.

Movie night

Make some homemade popcorn and gather the family around for a movie night (or afternoon). You could watch a family friendly romcom, or even a fairytale film like Beauty and the Beast or The Little Mermaid. Alternatively, you could take a trip to the cinema to see what’s showing.

Craft activities

Valentine’s Day is also a great opportunity to unleash your inner crafter and make heart themed items. Design greeting cards, create paintings with a heart/love theme or sew hearts made of felt and fabric. If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you could knit hearts or paint them on stones to use as paperweights or garden decorations.

Baking

This is an excellent activity you can do with your foster child or children, as you can teach them about the process of making cakes, cookies and other sweet treats while also being able to eat what you’ve made and share it with the rest of the family. You can use heart-shaped tins and cutters, and decorate your bakes with pink or red icing or frosting. Alternatively, you could use a heart-shaped template made of card or paper to cut your cake or biscuits into this shape.