Even though many children are lucky enough to become establish strong sibling bond with their brothers or sisters, it is common for siblings to fight. Sibling rivalry is unavoidable as long as there is more than one kid in your house.
Sibling rivalry usually starts when the second child is born. As the children grow to reach different phases of development, the way they relate to one another would be significantly affected by their evolving needs.
It certainly is upsetting and frustrating to watch your children fighting with one another. When a family is full of conflicts, the growing environment can sometime become stressful and toxic to the kids.
If your kids fight often, you might be worried about their sibling bond.
Check out the following video and article now for the sibling bonding activities you could try to improve the sibling bond in your little ones.
Via Playtivities: 20 Sibling Games to Bond, Compete and Cooperate
Activities for siblings that are easy to set up, can be played independently, help siblings bond, be a team member and even have some healthy competition. I picked our favorite sibling activities to share with you today. Honestly, they are life savers during colder weather when play time outdoors is limited.
Activities for Siblings
Lava game. It’s fun active game for at least 2 players/siblings. Let the kids jump from couch to couch without touching the floor unless it’s a pillow. The players must keep moving and try to hit and make other person touch the floor and melt (in lava).
T-shirt walk. Put both kids in one t-shirt and let them walk in the house. Ideally pick a room or place with less sharp furniture edges in case they fall. This sibling activity would be perfect to play in the backyard on the grass.
Pillow sumomo. We have played this so many times already. Find the rules here.
Apple roll. Give your kids an apple and tell them to roll the apple between their bodies without dropping it. Great team work!
Twister game is a classic, but perfect to play on a family night or on a rainy afternoon.
The ball roll. Let 2 kids hold long piece of cardboard with their hands and roll ball back and forward and try not to let it fall on the floor. The longer they will keep it on the cardboard – the better.
Freeze game. Perfect activity to lift up the mood in the house. Turn on favorite music and let your kids dance. Then stop the music, the kids must freeze until the music starts playing again. If anyone budges before you start the music again, they get a point.
Catchy Catch. Get a beach ball (balloon could work too) and toss it in the air. The players cannot touch the ball with hands and cannot let the ball fall on the floor. Advise them touch it with their noses, heads, feet, tummy.
Balloon pop. Ready for some loud fun? This sibling game is perfect if you have more players and bigger space to play in. Tie a balloon to the right leg of each player’s leg and leave a three foot long string. Then tell the kids that they have to pop each other’s balloons by stepping on them. Whoever is left with the balloon on their feet that is not popped – wins the game!
Balloon walk. Stand your kids side by side and but the balloon between their hips. Tell them to walk across the room without dropping the balloon (and without using their hands to help hold it). If they drop it, they need to start all over again.
Together we stand. Sit your kids on the floor, touching their backs and their arms linked at the elbows. Now tell the kids to get themselves up and standing without ruining the position (their backs touching and elbows linked). There will be some pushing against each other. To make the game more challenging leave some treats on the floor around the house for them to pick it up (while linked together). My kids had so much fun doing it!
Potato drop. This sibling activity is great for kids who are competitive and can handle the race. Put 2 bowls at the finish line. Then mark starting point across the room and give each child a potato. The task is to race while carrying the potato between their knees and drop it in the bowl at the finish line. They can’t use hands!
Touch my po-po (pom pom). This fun activity was created by my kids. I am not sure if they saw it somewhere, but they have been playing it for a while now. Attach pom pom to kids’ backs and tell them to try to catch each other’s pom poms. Lots of fun and laughter!
Beach ball towel game. Grab a beach towel and and a ball. Let your kids hold the towel stretched from both ends and drop the ball. The goal is to let the ball bounce on the towel on not fall on the floor. This is a great boredom buster activity for siblings.
Cardboard Slide Indoors. This is one of the favorite activities for siblings in our house up to this day. They play on it the entire day. See how we made our ultimate indoor slide.
Engineers. Let your kids explore with different ”building materials”. Let them build a tower together from what’s around the house. Then knock it down. How fun is that. My kids used pillows, trash cans, pots and pans, even their Lego blocks.
Blind Treasure Hunt. Place some treats around the house and blindfold one of the siblings. Let the other one (who is not blindfolded) guide the ”blind one” to the treat with words.
Spider Game. Tie some rope on the hall between the walls and let them get out of there.
Large Paper Painting – Tape some paper to a large piece of cardboard, put it on the ground outside and let the fun begin!
Scavenger hunt. Get these 30 free printable scavenger hunts for indoors and outdoors that are perfect for siblings. It’s great for teamwork practice.
