Sibling Shower

Sibling Shower

By Jennifer Auer, Fairytale Entertainment, LLC

Are you expecting a new sibling to your first-born? Do you want to make your first child feel extra special before the arrival of a new sibling? Then a Sibling Shower maybe just the thing.  Here are some ideas from Fairytale Entertainment (www.Fairytaleentertainmentnj.com) on how to make a special shower unique to your first-born.

Determine your guest list. Remember this is going to be a party for a child. Grandparents, cousins, friends from playgroup, mommy & me classes, or school make good guests. Depending on the age of your guest of honor you may need to keep your guest list small as not to overwhelm your child.

Then you will need to decide the specifics: when, where, time. Will you serve food? Will the party be a surprise? If you are holding the party for your own child it should be easy to keep the party a surprise. If you are hosting the party for someone else, you will need to decide if you are surprising the guest of honor and their parents or just the guest of honor. What plan do you have for getting them to the party location? Is it at a time and place they are already going to be at or is this something that will take them outside of their typical routine? A bit of advice, the more people in on the surprise the harder it gets to work the logistics and get mailing addresses for invitations and such. It can be done but you will need to take full advantage of your creativity and networking to get the invitations out to your guest list.

As you plan your menu, again consider your guests. You will have children and most likely some parents. You will want the food to be child-friendly, finger foods work best. Any menu that works for a birthday party could be used here. You can also play it up with foods and drinks in the blue and pink color scheme.

Now you are probably ready to design an invitation.  Remember to include those specifics of who, when, where, and time. If it’s a surprise include that important information. If you need people to respond by a particular date and enter your house or event location by a certain door make sure you include that information for them.  Make sure the purpose of the party is clear. This is still a unique event and your guests might not understand that the party is for the first born. In the past, we’ve used wording like “You’re invited to a Big & Little Shower”, “Join us for fun, games, and food, as we gather to celebrate ??’s Big Brother (Sister)-to-Be Status. Including a photo of the guest of honor and printing in blue or pink inks can make your invitation all the more special.

Decorations – The traditional pink and blue streamers, ribbons, and balloons will work. But special centerpieces and wall hangings can enhance them.  Print out pictures of your guest of honor and add quotes on becoming a sibling either that have been said by the guest of honor or that you’ve found online or read elsewhere.  You can print them on heavy card stock and laminate to make them sturdy enough to use as centerpieces and later they can be saved as an additional keepsake (see below.)

Special keepsakes are a way to make to make the memories of your special party last forever.  We have two favorites, matching shirts and a message album.

• Matching Shirts –Matching plain shirts can be purchased at almost any craft store. Before your guests arrive add a special decoration to them. “Big Brother/Sister”, “Little Brother/Sister”, “I love my big brother/big sister”, “I love my little brother/sister”, etc are all a cute addition. One of our favorites, “Big Brother/Sister to one, but loved by many” and Little Brother/Sister to one, but loved by many”, emphasizes the fact that many are coming together to honor your children. When your guests arrive, young and old, have them sign the shirts with their name as a remembrance for the children of all who came to honor them at the party.
• Message Album – Our other favorite idea. Create an album with pages for each of your guests to sign with a special message for the big sibling, little sibling, or parents. To make a special touch to the books include quotes on sisterhood, brotherhood, and being siblings. You can find several to use by searching online.

Ready for some games? They always keep a party moving and kids from being bored. Here are a few of our favorites.

• Diaper Derby – Have kids compete to see who can diaper a baby doll the best and fastest.
• Crawling Races- Kids remember their baby days and crawl. Who can get to the other side of the room or yard the quickest?
• What’s that – Kids are blindfolded, as they taste 4 – 6 baby foods and try to identify what they are. The child that identifies the most correct wins.

Take Home Favors – We like favors that have kids thinking about what comes with a new baby. It’s a new life with new responsibilities. Our most popular idea sends kids home with seeds and a special poem. We ask them to plant the seeds on the babies due date and say a special blessing for the family. As the new baby grows and develops so will their plant. Other ideas that could work are baby trees and plants.

Gifts – Many questions come up when your guests start thinking about bringing gifts. Do they bring gifts for the guest of honor, the new baby, the parents? This is your call. We have encouraged guests to bring gifts for the guest of honor that will help them in their role of a new sibling. You will find some ideas at the end of this article. After that it is up to you, if your guests bring gifts for the others. People get very excited about the arrival of a new baby so we generally tell them it is up to them who they would like to buy for, they don’t have to buy for anyone, but they are certainly welcome to. For some it is almost as exciting as coming to the party itself. Be prepared to answer questions from your guests about the clothing size of the guest of honor and the gender of the new baby (if possible).

Big Sibling Gift Ideas

• I’m the Big Brother/I’m the little Brother t-shirts or baseball caps.
• Matching outfits
• Special photo frames that are meant for siblings
• Disposable cameras for older child to take pictures of younger child
• A photo album/scrapbook/journal the older child can use to take/keep pictures of them, the new sibling, and the excitement and memories that happen as a result.
• Kid’s Busy Basket (a collection of activities the older child can do while the parents attend to the new baby)
• Books the older child can read to the baby or books about being a sibling or having a new baby in the house. There are many suggestions available online. Many of the descriptions will let you know the intended age for the reader as well.

We hope you have found this article helpful as you or someone you know prepares to welcome a new child into the home. If we can help you at all as you plan for this special event, please email us at fairytaleentertainment@comcast.net.