5 Activities for siblings who fight

 

The current blogpost will be based on the question “What are the activities for siblings who fight ?”. We will enlist various activities that can be used for siblings who fight. We will also discuss each activity in detail.

What are the activities for siblings who fight ?

Siblings who often fight together a lot seem to feel better in each other’s presence when they bond together for a mutual activity. Often it is difficult for the parents to find out such activities specially if there is a conflict of interest or age gap between the siblings.

Siblings tend to enjoy activities that are based on the following key aspects :

• The activity pleases all the children involved
• The children enjoy interacting with each other during the activity and thus they have pleasant feelings with each other.
• Even if the activity is based on competition the siblings learn that they need to vie for parent’s reassurance and attention. Thus the siblings tend to overcome their conflicts  and fights change into collaboration.

In order to promote collaboration among the siblings who fight, it is always advisable that the parents plan out shared activities at least once a day. It is always suggestible for the parents and the caregiver to not interrupt the play between the siblings and encourage their bonding. 

Some of the activities suggested for siblings who fight are mentioned below :

• Roughhousing
• Reading
• Dancing
• Water play
• Messy art
• Creating a forest
• Let kids be incharge
• Funny animal walks
• Funny face freeze
• Mad libs
• Drawing game
• Memory tray game
• sibling trivia

Roughhousing

Roughhousing, playing WWE or pillow fighting are not much appreciated activities by the parents. However, it is seen that these activities enable the siblings to manage their negative feelings and regulate their aggression for each other. Parents are usually afraid that during roughhousing one of the siblings might get hurt. However parents need to help the kids follow the ground rules so that none of the siblings get hurt. In this way the routine fights of the kids will get channelized .

Reading

When one of the siblings reads to the other sibling or tells a story to the other sibling, the other sibling feels secure and nurtured. Through this activity between the siblings who fight, emotional affiliation and effective communication tends to develop over time.

Dancing

Dancing together is a fun activity for siblings who fight. It promotes collaboration on one hand and at the same time it tends to channelize the negative energy of the siblings that they have for each other. 

Water play

Water play activity for promoting sibling bonding involves any water based activity including water splash and water fights. This activity is pleasant and soothing for the siblings who fight. They are able to enjoy their gentle teasing and fun with water play while being with each other.

In water play activities siblings can use water guns, water sprays and water filled balloons to enjoy maximum.

Messy art

Messy art is a type of art activity that involves free play using colors, papers, sand , play dough, paints, glitters and other art supplies. It is an activity for the siblings who fight and it tends to help them bond together through fun and play. 

Art therapy has always been suggested for emotional bonding among kids and adolescents. Having colored water fights, playing paintballs, drawing each other, painting together family and similar activities tend to decrease the negative feelings siblings have for eachother. 

Creating a forest

This activity is based on arts and drawing. It is aimed at promoting sibling relationships among siblings who fight. Siblings can collaborate with each other to draw paintings and wall hangings that are based on forest themes.  Siblings can  create a forest theme corner in their room or living lounge that is based on models drawn with clay and various other play dough shapes that can be placed in the forest coroner.

Let kids be incharge

Making kids incharge of various activities in the house is also a great way to promote sibling relationships in siblings who fight. Making the siblings incharge of grocery list of the week or grocery items related to the kitchen or laundry can help them collaborate together to achieve the mutual goal.

Funny animal walks

Siblings can participate in funny animal walks. They can collaborate with each other by taking turns and picking up animal names from a list. Each of the siblings then has to walk like that animal. This activity promotes pleasant feelings among siblings who fight.

Funny face freeze

This activity is based on competition between siblings. In this activity siblings who often fight together are asked to make funny faces till the count of 10 and hold it as long as they can. Thus the one sibling who is able to hold the funny face for the longest time wins.

Mad libs

In this activity, the siblings are provided with a list of adverbs and adjectives that they need to pick out and relate to the provided nouns and verbs. This game is fun and engaging as siblings need to interact for a long time together. 

Drawing game

In this activity siblings are asked to draw a same creature divided on separate papers. The sibling number one is asked to draw the upper body, sibling two is asked to draw the middle body and so on.  In the end all the parts of the body are joined to have a final funny figure.

Memory tray game

The memory tray game is based on having a variety of objects on a tray. The siblings gather around the tray and look at the tray for a few minutes. Afterwards each sibling is asked to list down the memory tray items on a paper. The sibling who lists down the most items wins. 

sibling trivia

Sibling trivia is a fun activity. It is based on all the siblings writing their favorite things on a piece of paper. Then all siblings try to guess and answer for each other. Like a sibling would guess what is the favourite dish of the elder sibling. Once all answers have been guessed. The real answers will be shared. In this way all siblings are able to know each other better and connect better instead of fighting with each other. 

Conclusion

The current blogpost was based on the question “What are the activities for siblings who fight ?”. We learned various activities that can be used with siblings who fight and also discussed each activity in detail.

Frequently asked questions :Activities for siblings who fight 

How do you deal with a constant sibling fight?

Constant fighting siblings can be managed by :

• Treat all children fairly
• Avoid negative comparisons
• Identify the cause of fighting
• Use family rules to make expectations about behaviour 
• Plan mutual activities that promote bonding

How do you deal with teenage siblings fighting?

Teenage siblings fights can be managed by:

• Discussing solutions
• Treating even handedly
• Avoiding comparisons
• Showing affection

How do I stop my child hitting siblings?

You can stop children hitting each other through following steps:

• When you have a sense that it’s likely to happen, stay close and be ready to intervene. 

• If he moves toward his brother or sister, be close enough that you can gently wrap an arm around him or hold the hand that’s about to hit. 

Citations

Stop Fighting, Kids! Everyday Activities That Help Siblings Get Along

Ethical Situations in Counselling

https://www.babygaga.com/bonding-activities-siblings-fight-often/

https://kidadl.com/articles/fun-bonding-activities-for-siblings