The Wayfarer: Ethiopian Adoption Resources: Photos to send to your child

How to Use This Blog

A Wayfarer is a person who is traveling through......life, a particular place, a circumstance, a stage of life, etc. Let's walk the road of adoption together. The journey is so much better with company!
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Much of this information is useful for any adoption, but this blog is designed to be a RESOURCE BLOG for ETHIOPIAN ADOPTION. I hope this blog will be helpful to you in your adoption whether you are considering, waiting or home. I started this blog when we were adopting and found there was next to nothing on the web in any orderly manner. I set about to collect information for myself and then for others. Now, there are more sites for resources, but still not much that brings it all together. I hope this blog will serve as a sort of clearing house for Ethiopian Adoption Information. Please feel free to contribute your knowledge through commenting.
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You can search by topic in three ways. 1. Go to the "key word" tabs on top and open pages of links in those topics. 2. Use the "labels list" in the side bar or 3. use the "search bar" above the labels list. You can also browse the blog by month and year in the Posts section or in any of the above as well. The sidebar links are to sites outside of this blog. While I feel they provide good information, I can not vouch for each site with an approval rating. Use your own discernment for each. If you have more to add to the topic, please add it in the comment section of that page or post.
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And, please link to The Wayfarer Adoption Blog by putting my button on your blog so others can use this resource too. Please link to this blog when ever you can and whenever you re-post things (or images) you have found here. Thanks!
The solid tabs are links to my other blogs for books and family. Check them out if you are interested. Welcome to the journey!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Photos to send to your child

Photo books are a question everyone of us have to consider at some point in this process. What do we send? A lot of it depends on what your agency allows, so find out first. Second, you will need to determine what is appropriate for the age and ability of your child. Remember that kids in orphanages tend to be younger in some respects and older in others. They have not likely had experience with toys and photos. This makes them on the younger scale here.

There are a lot of cool options for kids of all ages.
For a child over the age of 5 you could:

Send a paper album like one you make on Snapfish or Photobucket and that sort of online photo storing and crafting site. A good binding is important because of use. Spiral bound pages may tear out more easily.
You can make your own on Publisher or some such program, or use a digital scrapbook tool. You can take the file on a disk or zip/thumb drive to a printer and have it printed. Usually these are spiral bound but could be done as individual pages and put into a book with plastic sleeves.
You could make one your self in an actual album with slip in sleeves or creative memory style. I would strongly suggest using page protectors and taping the tops shut for retention.
Laminate the photos with your words on the back of each photo, use fun paper. Put them on a ring and lanyard so your child can carry his or her new family with them everywhere. Use wallet sized photos. You can have any photo printed in that size.

This is a photo of our son wearing his laminated photos on a ring on a lanyard.

For the toddler/preschool set you could:

Use any of the ideas from the baby set, all would be very appropriate, other than the cube which would turn into a ball. The Sesame Street albums linked at the end of the post are a cute idea for this age group.
The laminated photo idea from above.
I would suggest not using paper for this age group. Preschool maybe, but certainly not toddler.

For babies, there are TONS of great ideas out there.

The laminated idea from above NO lanyard. I would choose a plastic ring.
You could even put the laminated photos into another album that is fabric or soft plastic.
You can make a fabric photo book. Or you can buy one. Amazon has tons of cute ones available. See links at end of post.
Vtech has a talking album that is super cool. If you are allowed this it is awesome. It lets your child learn your voice too. http://www.vtechkids.com/product/detail/1784/Record-and-Learn-Photo-Album
Fabric photo cube. This is cute and good for a baby or very young toddler. It does not require page turning and can be held. However, it is stuffed. Stuffed things are often discouraged and removed because they harbor germs, bacteria and bugs. They are hard to wash and dry adequately by hand. Check with the care center first before sending this otherwise very cool photo idea.