Kids Decorate a Nursery to Create Sibling Bonds
Have Children Help Prepare a New Baby's Room
Dec 30, 2008
Many parents wonder how to help older siblings feel involved with rather than threatened by the arrival of a new baby. Linda Sonna, Ph.D., notes in The Everything Parent's Guide to Raising Siblings [adams media, 2006] that having children assist in taking care of a new baby helps to create strong sibling bonds, and asking children to take a part in decorating the new nursery is a great way to get kids involved with the baby from the very start.
Furthermore, planning a theme for and decorating the walls of the nursery will foster healthy future sibling relationships by:
- getting older children accustomed to the idea that a new baby will soon join the family and inhabit this prepared space.
- establishing in older siblings a habit of doing nice things for their younger sibling.
- providing firstborn kids with some special quality time with parents before the new baby arrives and starts requiring lots of attention.
If children will be sharing a room with the new baby, it is especially essential that parents allow children a say in the decoration of the room.
Invite Children to Pick a Nursery Theme
Discuss with children what kind of room their new baby brother or sister would like. The suggestions will most likely have more to do with the interests of the older sibling, but children will be excited that their parents are spending time listening to them and then will also grow excited at the thought of sharing their interests with their new sibling.
Make a Plan for Decorating the Nursery
Once a theme has been picked, brainstorm with kids how to transform the room. Discuss how the walls will be decorated and what additional items, such as curtain rods, rugs, or furniture, might need to be purchased or made. With older children, parents can introduce the idea of drawing a floorplan and setting a budget.
Kid-Friendly Ideas for Decorating the Walls of a Baby's Nursery
- A new coat of paint or a wallpaper border can turn a room into anything from a ladybug garden to a racetrack for cars. Let younger children be involved in selecting paint colors and wallpaper patterns and perhaps even in painting test areas on walls. Allow responsible older children to assist with the actual painting or wallpapering.
- Vinyl wall stickers are available in a variety of themes from brands such as Wallies or Wall Slicks. Parents will like vinyl wall stickers because they are inexpensive and easily removable once kids grow tired of one theme. Kids will like them because they are so easily applied to walls that children can help with the process. Wallies Peel & Stick chalkboard murals are especially kid-friendly, offering designs ranging from simple square and rectangular panels (in colors such as gray, grape, and blue) to houses, trees, planes, and clouds.
- Crafty parents can also cover a wall with chalkboard paint to create a chalkboard wall. Paint can be applied over the entire wall or over just a portion shaped like a mountain, city skyline, or other fun shape that kids request. Kids can then use chalk to decorate the wall in different ways each day for the baby.
For a final personal touch, have children create a handmade baby gift or decorative item to complete the nursery's decor. Children may also benefit from the process of sharing their outgrown furniture with the new baby. Then, once the new baby arrives, children will enjoy introducing their new sibling to the room that they have prepared for him or her.
Parents wanting to foster strong sibling bonds from the start may also want to consider the question of whether to give a sibling a present when a new baby is born.
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