Fun Activities for Siblings to Make for a New Baby

An older sibling's involvement in the events surrounding a newborn's arrival can help mold the bond between the older and younger siblings.

For children of reading, or even memorization of story, age reading or reciting a story can make a fun activity for the older sibling to participate in the raising of the newborn. The older ones also can make sketches and other motifs for the nursery based on favorite stories. Even infants love having a story read to them. Involve older siblings with a new arrival by making the newborn a whole-family project or by showcasing talents of the older siblings in some form of welcoming activity for the new arrival.

Family Book

Each family book will have a uniqueness. Also, family book activities have the potential to connect past, present and future by involving several generations and preserving heirlooms. Family books can include scrapbooking of family memories or heirlooms, photographs, and journal or diary-style writing by different family members. Get older siblings of a new or about-to-be-born baby sibling involved in family book activities by getting them to think about and then act on what the new baby would like to know about the family as the infant begins to grow up. Starting with involvement in a family book can lead to the older siblings having more interest in welcoming activities geared specifically to the new arrival.

Nursery Decorating

Read up on what babies like in their décor, such as bright colors for visual stimulation, and read the research findings to your older children. Once your older children understand what makes good nursery décor, enlist their assistance in choosing the nursery décor for the new baby. Young children have much creativity, and they just might come up with a more suitable decorating scheme for the nursery than you and your spouse would on your own. Consider allowing very artistic older siblings to do wall painting of bright color splashes or to allow very meticulous types to do some stenciling of fairy tale motifs around the nursery walls.

Welcome Items

New arrivals typically come into the family by way of two different “welcome” stages: three if you practice a religion that involves some form of infant initiation into the faith such as baptism. The infant first gets welcomed at its physical arrival at a hospital or birthing center and then gets welcomed into the home and the family. Older siblings can participate in creating any number of welcome items for any or all of these occasions. Any kind of activity, from creating a card to providing a small gift in the older sibling’s name, can involve your older children in celebration of the arrival of a new baby. Let your older children choose some gifts, with your guidance for safety factors, in advance of the birth to present to the new arrival as soon as possible after the birth and once again at the time of the baby’s arrival at the home and initiation into the family.

Crafts

Older children, which with the refinement of craft learn-to materials as of 2011 can mean from as young as 5 or so up, can get involved in activities for the new arrival by way of crafts. Large knitting needles and crochet hooks and simple patterns can allow the older sibling to get involved in crafting such seamless crafts as baby blankets. More advanced older siblings might choose to work on more sophisticated projects such as sweaters, booties, caps and christening outfits.

References

• Scholastic: Welcoming a New Sibling
• Family History is Fun