If this is the first year you’ve become a foster parent, you know that you have much to learn. You’ve taken in kids because you love them and want them to have a family in which they can feel safe and secure. Whether they are there temporarily or have been placed with you in long-term care, you’d like to take them on a family holiday this year but aren’t quite sure where to go and what would be best for them. Here are some tips to make the planning so much easier.

Start with the People in the Know

If this is a spontaneous idea, it might not be something you’ve thought about during those sessions on learning how to foster. Maybe it just never came up. You never thought about the possibility of going somewhere on holiday, so you don’t even know if it’s allowed and what kinds of permission you would need. The place to get these types of questions answered would be the fostering agency you are working with, like thefca.co.uk.

While it is generally allowed to travel to places close to home, within your own region, travelling to other countries in the UK might need special permissions and arrangements. Then there are those family visits with their birth families. What if a scheduled visit falls within the time you can set aside to travel? Should you change your plans or perhaps have the agency reschedule a family visit? These are things only the agency can answer with any kind of accuracy.

Choose Places Special for Them

One of the things you might want to avoid would be travelling to visit family or friends who live out of your district. If you haven’t seen them in any length of time, there will always be a great deal of catching up to do. Sadly, foster kids can easily get lost in the shuffle. This is even the case with your own children as you’ve probably experienced in the past.

The whole idea of travelling for the holiday was to do something fun and interesting for them. There are plenty of Christmas attractions situated throughout the UK or if you are of a mind for something a bit more entertaining than that, Disneyland Paris is right across the Channel. No matter where you go or what you do, always keep in mind that this is for them. This is something you want to do so that their holiday is special, so your plans should revolve around that.

Ask Them Where They Would Like to Go!

Finally, you might even want to ask them where they would like to go on a Christmas holiday. While some things might be totally impossible like climbing a mountain in Nepal, visiting a Christmas village might not be out of the realm of possibilities.Bear in mind that many of the kids placed in foster care maybe never had a Christmas holiday like the one you want them to enjoy this year. They may have always dreamed of a visit to Disneyland or an overnight stay in a Scottish Castle for Christmas. You never know the dreams they’ve had of where they’d like to spend Christmas, so the only thing left to do is ask them. You just might be surprised at how simple their requests can be.