Fine Motor Skills, Sensory, Visual Motor Skills

New Baby Sensory Play for Siblings

Colleen Beck OTR/L

Colleen Beck, OTR/L is a pediatric occupational therapist and the owner and author of The OT Toolbox website. She manages all of The OT Toolbox social media accounts and runs the popular newsletter. Colleen created The OT Toolbox in 2011 and since then has written thousands of blog posts designed to support therapy providers, educators, parents, counselors, admin, and caregivers in promoting the healthy development of kids. Check out Colleen's blog posts below:

by Colleen Beck OTR/L
December 8, 2014

We’ve had a new baby in our house for six months now. Those six months have gone by in a blur.

Just last week, my three year old asked, “Mom, are we keeping (the baby) for ever?” I think it finally hit her that baby is here to stay. Sometimes it’s difficult for kids to understand a new baby coming into the house and family and staying (forever!) with all of it’s stuff, and cries, and messy diapers. Life sure does change when a new baby is introduced to a family!

We love sensory play for it’s simple ways to teach concepts, exploration, language development, and ideas that are developed. We did this new baby sensory play activity a few months back…but maybe it’s time to play again with the new baby sensory bin, just to help the older siblings understand the new family dynamic we’ve got going on!

Sensory play for siblings of new babies. This is a great way to introduce new big brothers and big sisters to a new baby.

Sensory Play for Siblings of a New Baby

We needed to wash a bunch of baby supplies a few months ago, and anytime washing is involved, Little Sister (age 3) jumps at the chance to help out. This sensory bin kind of just happened because of a job that needed done anyway, but it turned out to be a fun way to explore the new baby’s supplies and talk about things that a new baby needs.

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Using bottles and lids to develop fine motor skills

I pulled out a big box of bottles
and lids, bottle nipples
, and a few bottle brushes that all needed washing. Instead of putting them in the sink, I put them in our baby bath tub right on the dining room floor. Some warm soapy water and we were ready to clean and explore baby’s things.

Little Sister had fun matching up the lids to the bottles. Twisting them on and off was a fun way to work on many fine motor skills: bilateral hand coordination, hand-eye coordination skills, motor planning, and translation in the palm.

Time goes by at lightning speed when you’re a parent…but at the same time, the days draaaaaag. How can my sweet little baby already be six months old? But certain hours of the day can seem to last twice as long. This baby sensory bin was perfect for spending time with my three year old while doing a job that needed done anyway. She liked talking about all the supplies, the lids that cover bottles, and the bottle brushes that are used to clean bottles.

Cleaning the bottles was a hit for her! She loved cleaning the bottles with the bottle brush and the warm soapy water was a great sensory experience for her.

This little sweetie watched the fun from her infant seat.

It’s always a bonus when sensory play leads to cleaning rather than messes! This one was a big hit and we’ll be pulling out all of the bottles again soon. Let us know if you play and explore baby items with a big brother or big sister. We would love to hear about it!