We've been chatting a lot around here about welcoming a new baby, and it's because recently I've hosted a series that I call “Welcoming Baby”. It's where some great bloggers and I have joined together to give you some great tips and tricks that you can use when you’re bringing a new baby home!

Today, we're chatting about all the things kids can learn from a new baby! Whether you homeschool or not, this post can be an asset for you when bringing home a newborn when you have older siblings involved!

Having another child is an exciting time for families, but it's also packed with life lessons your homeschoolers can benefit from! Taking advantage of this time with a new soul in the house is a great way to help your older children learn valuable life skills!

Five Things Kids Can Learn from a New Baby

Basic Anatomy

There is something about all of those tiny time baby features that makes for the perfect opportunity for children to work examining all of the parts of the human body up close and personal.

Explore tiny fingers and toes; name the body parts with your younger children. Pull up a map of the human body and its internal organs and have your older child point out where each organ is in your new baby.

This can feel like a game and makes a great way to encourage your children to remember the lesson. Don't forget to teach them about how they were once babies and they grew up into the little beings they are today. 

You could also remind them that organs grow as we do! The number of things kids can learn from a new baby are endless!

Self-Care

Sometimes, as adults, it's hard for our children to grasp the comparison between us and them. They don't always understand because we are so different- the way we talk, walk, work, live, care, and even look.

Using your baby as an example can be more relatable because they are closer to the size of your child and are still growing- just like they are.

Let your baby be an example to your children. Explain how your child should wash, just like we wash baby. How baby needs healthy food to grow, just like they do. How baby needs proper amounts of sleep, or they become cranky. 

Caring for A Baby

Having a new baby in the house is a great chance to teach your child how to take care of others, and why, as Christians, we should aim to do. Babies are needy and must have full care 24/7. This makes them the perfect tool for teaching children the basics of caring for another living being.

Take time to talk to your child about feedings, explaining breast and bottle to your child. Teach them how to change diapers, hold and soothe a baby. It's important not to sugar coat it, or hide the hard parts of caring for your baby.

Let your child see the rough moments when you are struggling with a crying baby. This will help set a realistic example of what parenting is like.

Communication Skills

Homeschooling with a baby can have its perks. From reading to your children to homeschool in bed while you heal, to having your colder children read aloud to your baby, having a new baby can be a great way to help develop your older children's communication skills.

Literacy is vital for success and using your new baby as an opportunity to build those skills in a non-stressful way can be a huge advantage. This can be even more useful for families with children that have struggles learning.

Let your children read to your baby. Encourage them to recite poems or memory verses to your baby. Maybe even have them talk about their day. Show them how to effectively communicate! 

Homemaking Skills

Having a new baby is a great opportunity to work with older children on basic homemaking skills. Enlist your children to help cook meals, take a bigger role in household tasks, or even encouraging them to learn new skills that will help your family.

Try this list of 159 Kid-Friendly Recipes that are perfect for beginners!

This can be done by sitting in a chair in your kitchen nursing your baby and directing your children on basic cooking and baking projects. Or teaching them to sew and mend while you cuddle with your baby in bed.

Make handicrafts or learn a new skill like crocheting. These lessons help you get more done with a new baby, help your children learn the basic skills that will help them with life, and can even give them something to do, or work on, while you are resting!

You will be amazed at how helpful kids can be when they have something to push them like the drive to help you with your new addition before the excitement wears off.

Did you take advantage to teach your kids more with the addition of your new human? What are some things that your older children learned when your newborn came?