Missing you!

 

Hello

Dear friends of Sibshops,

Long time no see! You are missed by each one of us at Sibshops of Utah County. We sure miss being with you.  Unfortunately, we have no new news on when we might be able to gather again. I will keep you posted here on the blog and via email with any new information.

Take care of one another, take care of yourselves and stay healthy and happy!

MARCH SIBSHOP CANCELLED

Dear friends of Sibshops,

Our March Sibshop has been cancelled. Let's hope this social distancing works to keep our community healthy!

We will be in contact about future events.

Thanks!

February 2020

The last day of Chinese New Year 2020 landed on the second Saturday of the month, which meant we got to celebrate in style at this months Sibshop!

We started by making a fun and clever rat craft since it is indeed the Year of the Rat!

Hula Hoop Showdown is one of our most requested games at Sibshops of Utah County.  It is definitely a fun one.  The first round of this game did go one for quite some time--it took a long while to declare a winner!

A game of Chinese Checkers was up next. When any Sibshopper was able to move one of their marbles into their home triangle, they were asked to answer a question about life at home with their sibling with special needs.

Since it was a special day of celebration, we let Panda Express do all the work in providing lunch for our Sibshoppers. It was definitely a win win! We loved the food and the facilitators loved the break from prepping the lunch! 

We got the Sibshoppers up and moving following lunch with 'The Numbers Game." It's important to keep moving and dance while the music is playing but then to stop a find a group of people when the music stops.  That group of people must match the number called out by the Game Master.  If you don't find yourself in a group of the correct size, you are eliminated till the following round.

"Pong hau ki'i" is a traditional Chinese game.  It is played by two people and looks like a version of Tic-Tac-Toe.  It was challenging at first, but most Sibshoppers started to figure it out and enjoy it!

Our final Sibshop activity involved the traditional giving of Red Envelopes during Chinese New Year.  Although we didn't fill the envelopes with money as is the Chinese tradition, we did fill our envelopes with wishes for those we love. 

January 2020

2020 Sibshops are a go!

We started our January Sibshop thinking about our hopes, dreams, wishes and resolutions for the upcoming year.  We encouraged our Sibshoppers to think of a goal for themselves and a goal for their sibling with special needs.  We used black paper, colored chalk and some glue and salt and watercolor paints to create a fun poster.

We then did a traditional welcome and went over our rules and expectations.  As we did so, the Sibshoppers were very active in introducing themselves to one another and quickly started sharing the good, bad and the so-so of having a sibling with special needs. 

Then we moved on to a winter themed classic of "Pin the Nose on the Snowman!" 

"Would you rather?" had our Sibshoppers declaring their preferences for all sorts of things! Since we were so busy making up our minds about things, we didn't get any photos.  Oops.  Then we were too busy eating lunch to get any photos of that either.  Sorry.  Not Sorry! ;)

After lunch we introduced a game called "Happiness Charades." Each Sibshopper had to write a least one thing that made them feel happy on a slip of paper.  We then used those slips for a fun game of charades.

"Let's Play The Vegetable Game!" This ridiculous nonsense game takes a fair share of adequate rhythm and beat. Some of our Sibshoppers were able to get it, while others struggled to get it all together. A few of our friends thought it was a super fun game and the rest of our group may have to mature into it.

Before we sent everyone home we pulled out a much easier game of "Keep the Balloon in the Air!" The Sibshoppers partnered up to alternate touching the balloon and keeping it from hitting the ground.  It takes teamwork and trust and good communication to get a high score on this one. We were glad to send our Sibshoppers home smiling!