Photo Album ideas?

Hi. We started out with a picture of our house and then came up the stairs and into each room. I photographed the kids along with the animals in their rooms and doing things in the other rooms. Then I went into the back yard and took some pictures out there. In an earlier alblum we photographed some activities we enjoy like camping, swimming, birthday parties, ect. and put those in after the house photos. I had a regular photo album and took pens that write on plastic and drew pictures, used stickers, and wrote on the pages about how much we enjoy our home, love our animals, what we hope to do with the child and other things like a poem, named relatives at the birthday party ect. Now I have a digital camera and do this all on the computer but it is the same idea. Good luck and Have Fun! :D

hi well, we didnt use a regular photo album, we used a scrap book with plastic pages around it. we didnt over load the book with tons of pictures, we put our pictures first, then a picture of the house and a few pictures of the interior, plus we took pictures of their new rooms. the backyard, and the playground. we found out that they loved to play with kites, so we took a picture of the open field and drew picuture of a kite. we used alot of stickers and cut outs of things we heard they liked. it was pretty simple, pending on the age of the child i would recomend dont bombard them with tons of pictures and keep to the basics. Its just a way for a child to have some comfort when they come to see their new house, being familiar. make it real playful. thats my suggestion anyway good luck, usually the child wants a forever family more then the greeting book, but the book is great for when they get older.

We made sure to include a cheerful full face shot of each family member as well as photos of the house, the pets, the yard, etc. We also included photos of our car. Kids like to know what to expect, so include photos (if you have time/inclination) of your local school, church (if applicable) Dad/Mom's workplace(s) and any place your family goes to on a daily or weekly basis. You can get TOO detailed, but knowing what to expect is helpful, especially for an older (non-toddler) child. Also be sure to include shots of any work uniforms the parents might wear. I usually include special pages in the middle of the book with a paper slipped in to say "This page is for pictures of you" kind of thing. We also had the kids help us make the albums. You know, make little drawings to include, etc. The committee who chose us for our youngest DS really liked the "Sibling Touch" as expressed in original art done by our DD. She had a really touching picture of Our Family, with labelled figures of Mom, Dad, Sister, Brother and another little figure that said "YOU". Soft research suggests that children like: full face shots of SMILING family members; lots of color; only a couple of pix per page; stickers, smiley faces, short captions.

oh, i forgot, one more thing. we included a few pages and kept them blank and gave them a camera for them to take pictures of their favorite things, ex: foster mom, their bedrooms, their backyard.... it was a fun day on our first visit and it was fun for the little guy to take pictures...(of course what ever he took a picture of, we took a picture of with our camera in case it didnt come out...it also gave us all something to do and an insight of what was important for the child of what he was living behind....

Try and get baby pictures and as many pictures of sibs, birthparents, and birthgrandparents. I have no baby pictures of my kids and this really bothers at least one of them.. I also have no pictures of my son's b-mom and this too could bother him some day. They will usually do a "close out" or "goodbye" meeting with b-parents and children and if you can get them to get pictures you will want them some day.

My worker suggested that, since so many kids have food issues, I include a picture of my full refrigerator! I do remember taking the picture, but don't remember if it made it to the final album. Otherwise, I duplicate what others have said: smiling faces, this is your room, this is the yard, this will be your school, this is where we'll go to church, these are my friends, here's the dog and the cat . . . stuff like that. Good luck!

When I was doing my photo book, I was told to keep the description kind of generic. This is especially true for older children. Examples would include using "house" vs "our house" and "school" vs "your school". The reason is that many older children look at the possesive and feel that they may not "fit" in the "our" set. Also, older children like to feel ownership, not be owned. I was told not to use the term "your room". Children in my state over the age of 14 have the right to choose adoption. By saying "your room" means that the choice has been made for them. I feel that the advice that I was given was very good. I have gone to 3 committees and have been "first" choice at all three. And as always, just my opinion on what has been successful for me.

I know this is an old thread but thought this might help anyone looking. I make fabric photo albums for adoptive parents to give to babies and toddlers -They're fabric, customisable and safe for babies.