Sibling Play | Activities for Siblings to Play Together
“What can I do?”
AÂ question I often hear from the mouth of my preschooler. And why is this question always asked at the most inconvenient of times! When I’m making dinner, on the phone or trying to get some housework done.
During these moments I often say something like “Just go play with your brother.”
I love playing with my kids, but there are times when I’m not always available to be their playmate. Instead of feeling guilty about this, I realize it’s a beautiful thing for  kids to explore and learn how to play.
It’s even better when siblings play together! As parents we won’t be able to play every minute of the day. And bonus, sibling play helps children form a lasting sibling bond!
When our son was first born I brainstormed ways for a toddler to interact and “play” with a baby. Now that our kids are getting older I’m continuing to encourage sibling play, but it looks a little bit different.
It’s not always easy coming up with activities for siblings of different ages. For example, our daughter gets frustrated doing a puzzle with her brother because his idea of fun is tearing it all apart.Â
So I’m her eta help you. I’ve created a list of 20+ activities older and younger siblings can play together! You can download a copy of the list at the end of the post.
It doesn’t matter if there is a age difference or sex difference. These brother and sister play ideas are perfect for sibling bonding.
Sibling Play: Activities for Siblings to Play Together Regardless of Age
Simple Kids Activities:
Blow bubbles together
Throw a ball to each other
Run around outside or play tag
Go on a nature walk and look for different animals, leaves, flowers
Play with balloons
Build a tower or fortress with blocks
Read books together
Pick flowers or set up your own flower shop
Do art! Color, stamp, paint, stickers
Some Adult Supervision Required:
Build a fort together out of pillows and blankets
Wash bikes or a cozy coupes together
Make chalk art outside
Have a dance party, alternate who picks the song
Create a foam pit at home with pillows
Go to the park and swing, slide, jump
Jump on the trampoline together
Easy Sensory Activities:
Splash in the water table
Build a sandcastle together in the sandbox
Run through the sprinkler
Make spectacular play dough creations
Dig in dirt with rake, shovel or load dirt into toy dump truck
Make a finger paint creation together
Jump through piles of leaves
It’s such a joy seeing our kids bond and watching their sibling relationship grow. How do you encourage sibling play in your house? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below!
Print a copy of the sibling play activities here.
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I love all of these ideas. It can be tricky sometimes to find things to do with the little ones!!
These are great! My kids are about 4 years apart and my oldest struggles with my youngest always wanting to do what she’s doing. The one thing they can unite in is art and kinetic sand! Lol
I love this so much! We have two girls (5 and 8), and we homeschool, so they are together a lot. Thankfully, they play really well together–but I’m always looking for new ideas to pull out when the bickering starts!
Such a great tips, my daughter she likes going outside playing on her sand box and playing with bubbles . We try to come up with different activities she can do that way she won’t be bored or anything. Definitely saving this post .
I just had my second baby girl and I’m loving all of these ideas!
This is an awesome list. I have 3 kids all 3 years apart for finding activities they can all love to do together can be hard. I find that playing with balls and reading books is something they all love to do together.
Great ideas! My kids do some of these together. but some are new to us and I’ll have to encourage them to give em a try. I love the sensory play; I think that may help my daughters interact more with their older brother who has autism.
These are great tips. I am always looking for ways to get my children and strength their sibling bond. Blowing bubbles is always a big hit, and my daughter lives to “read” to her younger brothers. They also like to set up tea parties and make the food in their play kitchen.