Hi, we've been asked to prepare a story book as part of introductions. Introducing the child to us and their new home. We've to use real photos for this and create the book. I was wondering if anyone else has done the same and if so has any ideas on which software to use for this?
Thanks
We just got a basic photo album and had pics of us, pets, key family members and their new bedroom
Just one thing I thought of... depending on the age of child and how long they have been in FC, ask for the same back.
Our eldest was in FC for 13 months and all we got was piles of photo's with no dates of reference etc. But our youngest was in for 9 weeks and we got a beautiful memory box with details about a trip to the beach etc.
Yeah same as the comment above, I found a scrap book I loved on amazon and used that. We were told to not use software and do it all ourselves, add stickers and coloured writing make it totally fun and eye catching for your potential child/children. Gives off more of yoru personailty too. Our little one loves hers, she likes to touch all the stickers too as I used ones with different textures.
I would do it any way you feel comfortable with. Just make sure, it is sturdy and something you could recreate. My children got their Welcome books 8 years ago (they are 13 now) and they still occasionally look at them. These books are very important for children.
Back in the dark ages - well, nearly 12 years ago when I was preparing to meet my elder child - I used a Tomy talking photo album, on the strong recommendation of experienced posters here.
I don’t know if such a thing exists anymore but basically it was a child-friendly, sturdy plastic photo album in primary colours in which you could slot photos AND record a message for each page. The beauty of this was that my daughter recognised my voice as well as my face the first time I met her at her foster carers’ home.
The easy-flip album also lit up and made silly noises each time the page was turned. So it doubled as an interactive toy as well as an information tool. This meant that the foster carers could leave the album within reach of my daughter (then a baby) to engage with on her own terms rather than formally sitting down with her to ‘read’ her a book about her new mummy.
It still works perfectly after all this time - after a few squillion battery changes!
I’ve just had a search on eBay and Amazon and the Tomy album is no longer available (except for silly prices).
But I think the following recordable photo album looks good - and affordable.
I’m about to start working on this too. Other people in my training group are slightly ahead of me. One couple used Mix Book online and the other couple did a home made scrap book type book. They both sent me videos of their respective books and both types look great. I will probably do mine on Mix Book. I’m just waiting for answers to some of my questions around this to help inform the content though. As a single adopter I’m not sure whether to include some of my immediate family (mum, gran and best friend) as they will be significantly involved once little one is settled. I’ve therefore asked this question to the child’s SW via my SW and will be led by them.
Exciting times ?
Hi Smudge
I’m a single adopter too (and to two). I did include photos of my parents, plus recordings of their voices, as well as pictures of my child’s new bedroom (featuring some of her favourite and familiar toys borrowed from her foster carers for the purpose) and my car (in which I would be driving her home forever).
On the final day of introductions, the foster carers replaced one of the photos with one of themselves, plus they recorded a message telling little one that they’d really miss her but they hoped she’d be very happy in her new home.
It worked very well for us and the album is still a treasured memory book.
Good luck!
We're in the same boat preparing a photo book for a five year old coming to us. We've been advised to include about a dozen photos. We'll print them all off and put them into a book and annotate them. We also did a video set to music of our environment and of us and dog.
Sorry for the late reply. Busy busy busy few weeks at work!
Thank you so much for the great advice. I’ve finally got a few days off work coming up next week so it will be spent working on my book?
This topic is read-only. You must log in to reply.
