When a new baby comes into the home it can be a trying time for everyone – including siblings. Sometimes any uncertainty or uneasiness on the sibling’s part can be lessened by making it something fun to look forward to. A lot of parents buy presents for new baby and siblings, which I love the idea of, especially if the sibling is able to give the gift to new baby or vice versa. Another really nice touch that the sibling can be proud of and look forward to showing new baby is by making some personalised paintings that can be hung in the nursery.
When babies are very young they respond the best to bold, contrasting colours (mainly blacks, whites and reds) so to incorporate these tones into paintings will spike baby’s interest (which can be lovely when such interest is pointed out to the helpful sibling).
I recently did some paintings with these ideas in mind and had a whole lot of fun coming up with different designs/patterns with only the three colours. All kids of different ages can help with this and for younger ones you could forgo the ‘straight lines’ etc for hand prints, squiggly lines etc., which can be just as visually appealing and makes it easier for them to get involved.
All you will need is some blank canvas blocks (I purchased a pack of different sizes from The Warehouse for roughly $10.00), Black/white/red paint (NON TOXIC!), paint brushes and removable tape (scotch removable tape works well).
You can do a base colour of paint if you want the background coloured in, otherwise just start sticking down the tape where you want to create the straight lines.
Be careful when painting your
colours that they dont ‘bleed’ by making sure the tape is firmly stuck down and only remove once the paint is completely dry.
Try a few different shapes and lines like I did – see what creative ideas you and your little ones can come up with! Try having a canvas dedicated to each family member’s efforts, and have fun with it.
Date and sign the canvases too for you and your kids to look back on in years to come. This is a lovely memento – baby’s first welcome home gift from his/her brother/sister.
