August 2018

Welcome to our Summer Fun Sibshop. The kids have been requesting slime for months and months.  We adult facilitators finally caved in and decided to give it a try.  Let's just say that our slime making activity was more of a slime making experiment!

While the ingredients were all the same, the execution was not.  We ended up with all sorts of versions of "slime". Bumpy, dry, sticky, putty, watery....You name a variation, we definitely had it!

We did learn that the order of ingredients is especially important as is mixing skill.  Ingrid followed her recipe exactly and produced some super slimey slime! Mission Accomplished!

 In July we had a good discussion activity about things that happen with our siblings that might make us feel "All Fired Up!"  These are events that might cause us to feel angry, upset or annoyed.  We then talked about strategies we can use to "Cool Down" when we are starting to feel some stress.

Here are some things that make our Sibshoppers "All Fired Up!"

Ever since my brother was born, we don't go to fun places anymore.

My sister cries for anything.

When I play with my sister, she gets mad.  But when I have stuff to do, she wants to play.

He cries for everything.

He gets all the attention.

When my brother gets more computer time than me.

He takes my stuff.

He gets to watch TV.

Eats all the food and hogs all the electronics.

Here are some strategies our Sibshoppers identified as possibly being helpful in "Cooling Down."

Go away.

Play with him (the sibling.)

Write in a diary.

Video games

Ask for him to stop.

Take a break and listen to some music.

Talk to my mom about it and she finds a way to make it better.

Know that he's always caring about me and my family.

We wanted to continue our start to this discussion in August at our event so we invited the social worker from Kids On The Move to come talk to the Sibshoppers more in depth about "Cooling Down" strategies.  Jared was great in teaching some strategies to the kids and in letting them practice them as well.

Here Jared is demonstrating a deep breathing technique.  We practiced taking a deep breath in for 4 counts, holding it for 6 counts and then slowing releasing for 8 counts.  A release of breath that is longer than your intake of breath will actually help your body and brain relax.

The kinetic sand was a huge hit with the kids! It is a sensory approach to calming and the kids loved it.  You can add some elements of breathing and clearing one's mind and it is a perfect way to relax and calm.  Put kinetic sand on your Christmas Toy List! 

As always, we love to just have fun and games at each Sibshop.  This activity is called "Keep the Balloon in the Air" and requires one balloon per 2 person team.  The game is simple as you just have to keep the balloon in the air! It does get a little more complicated as you add commands however.  Keep the balloon in the air as you spin around and touch the ground or as you clap hands with your partner.  It gets a little tricky!

"Cups & Downs" is a quick fun game with little to no prep. All one needs is some paper cups and people to play.  Divide into two teams--one team is Up and the other is Down.  You spend two minutes (or more or less) just trying to get all the cups facing the direction you are assigned--either up or down.  It is a frantic game as everyone is trying to get their cups how they want them!

We had some lunch and then went out to enjoy the warm summer weather and play a few water games.  "Roll 6 & Splash" and a Water Balloon Toss kept our Sibshoppers busy and got a few of them quite wet!

Summer fun is never complete without a delicious popsicle!