A new baby sibling coloring page is a printable page made from the first photo of the older child holding or meeting the baby. It gives a two to six-year-old something that is theirs in a week when the attention has moved elsewhere, and it ends up as a dated keepsake of the day they became a big brother or sister. Here is how to choose the photo, which detail level suits the older child's age, and a few ways to turn the page into a gift.
Why give the older child a coloring page?
The first weeks with a newborn are hard on the older sibling. Visitors arrive with gifts for the baby, parents are tired, and the toddler who was the center of the house is suddenly asked to be quiet. A "big sister gift" is a common way to soften that, and a coloring page has two advantages over a toy:
- It is about them. The page shows the older child with the baby, name on the page, age on the page.
- It is a calm activity, which is exactly what a house with a newborn needs. Twenty minutes at the kitchen table while the baby feeds is twenty minutes of peace for everyone.
It also costs very little, so you can make one for the hospital bag and another for the first week at home.
Which photo works best?
The first photo of the two children together is the obvious choice, and it is often a good one, but hospital photos have problems: fluorescent light, busy backgrounds, a baby wrapped so tightly only a nose shows. If the first photo is not great, wait a day or two and take one at home.
Look for:
- Both faces visible. The older child looking at the baby, or at the camera, with the baby's face turned up. A sleeping baby is fine; a baby's face hidden in a blanket turns into a blank oval.
- Daylight from a window. Flat, soft light keeps the lines clean.
- A plain background. A sofa, a bed, a wall. Hospital equipment and patterned curtains add lines that confuse the drawing.
- The older child's hands on the baby. That is the detail parents love years later.
- A close crop. Two faces and two pairs of hands, not a whole room.
Our guide on photos that make good coloring pages goes into more detail on lighting and framing.
Which detail level for the older child?
- Age 2 to 3: Simple. Thick lines, big sections. They will color the baby's blanket blue and their own hair green, and that is the point.
- Age 4 to 6: Simple or Medium. Medium keeps enough facial detail that the older child recognizes themselves, which matters at this age.
- Age 7 and up: Medium or Detailed. Older children often want to do it "properly" and give it to the baby later.
Print two copies. The first gets colored with enthusiasm and crayons in the first week. The second can be kept blank for a calmer attempt months later, or for the baby to color at age three with the sibling helping.
How to turn the page into a gift
A page on its own is nice. A little packaging makes it a gift the older child remembers:
- Add a keepsake border with a title such as "The day I met Noah," the older child's name and age, and the photo date. The age stamp ("Mia, 3") is the detail that makes grandparents go quiet.
- Print on 160 gsm card so it survives being carried around the house.
- Roll it with a ribbon and tuck in a box of eight chunky crayons.
- Give it "from the baby." Many families have the baby bring a present for the older sibling. A page of the two of them, from the baby, lands well with a three-year-old.
- Frame the colored page in the older child's room, at their eye level, not above the cot.
Five pages let you make one for the older child, one for each set of grandparents and one spare, for A$7.44$5.21€4.54£3.74CA$7.49NZ$9.09CHF 4.34 in total; see pricing.
A small ritual for the first month
Some families make one page a week for the first four weeks: baby at one week, two weeks, three, four. The older child colors each one and you date them. By the end of the month there is a tiny book of the baby growing, drawn by the person who watched it closest. It takes ten minutes to set up each week and gives the older child a job that is only theirs.
Frequently asked
When should I give the older child the coloring page?
The first day home from hospital, or the day the baby arrives if the birth is at home. That is when the older child most needs something of their own. A second page in week two or three, when visitors have stopped and the novelty has worn off, is often even more welcome.
What if the older child refuses to color it?
Leave it on the table and say nothing. Toddlers often reject anything connected to the baby for a few days, then quietly pick it up. If it stays untouched after two weeks, put it away and try again at the baby's first birthday, when the older child is usually proud of the "when you were tiny" photo.
Can I make a page from a photo of the baby alone?
Yes, and a Simple page of a sleeping newborn is a lovely thing for a toddler to color. But for a sibling gift, the photo with both children is stronger: it tells the older child that they are in the picture too, which is the whole point.
Try it with your own photo
If you are expecting, or have just come home with a newborn, you could make a page from the first photo of your children together. Coolorio turns a photo into a printable coloring page in four detail levels, with a keepsake border, a title and a name and age stamp if you want them. Photos are deleted after 7 days. See how it works to make one today.
Try it with your own photo
One phone photo becomes a page that looks like your family. The first one is free.
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