July 2016

Welcome to Sibshops July 2016.  Our trickle in activity was to create some "Ferocious Beings".  Sometimes what you see on the outside is not always what is happening on the inside!

 After going over the rules and expectations for Sibshop, we encouraged the Sibshoppers to get to know one anothers names better.  They did this by establishing a bean bag toss pattern that seemed easy at first.  You call out a name and toss the beanbag to that same person every time and then you are prepared to catch the toss from the person who is throwing the bean bag to you every time.  No biggie, right? Well, once you add a few beanbags to the mix and you have kids calling out names constantly, you get a little loud and exciting chaos.  That chaos is then complicated by what we call the "Useless Machine." You keep the same pattern, but this time there is no tossing--just up close and personal handing the bean bag from person to person.  Multiple beanbags really does make our machine useless!

 

 We then spent some time walking a mile in our sibling's moccasins. This activity provides the opportunity for our Sibshoppers to take the perspective of their sibling with a special need.  They get to share what they think their sibling feels about school, or making friends, or even having them as a sibling!

 

 Balloon Foot Volleyball is a favorite, although tiring game. Maintaining a crab walk and only using your feet to propel the balloon balls can wear you out.

 We spent the rest of the afternoon playing some board games, eating lunch and trying out a new game called 'Bridge Ball."  We sure like to play and have fun at each Sibshop!

 Sishops of Utah County works hard to build friendships, share experience and make memories!

June 2016

Take a look at some of the fun activities we enjoyed in June!

 

"Sticky Note Frenzy!"

 

 Since our June Sibshop fell so close to Father's Day, we spent some time thinking about our Dads! We created some fun gifts for them.

 Our Sibshoppers are such great sports!  Even with a simple game like
"Pin the Tie on the Dad" they can have a lot of fun!

 "Don't Eat Pete!" is a silly game all our Sibshoppers enjoy.  This time it was "Don't eat Dad!" and if the odds are with our Sibshoppers, they get a lot of yummy treats to eat.  If the odds aren't in their favor, it isn't so delicious a game.

May 2016

Welcome May!



 Our creative Sibshoppers made some awesomely fun foil sculptures for our trickle in activity.

 We were so lucky to have local occupational therapist, Heidi Woolley, join us for what turned out to be an exceptionally fun Sibshop!  Heidi's presentation focused on our sensory system and what it may feel like for our siblings whose sensory systems may be underwhelmed or overwhelmed by all the stimuli out in the environment. 

 She shared this excellent video on what it feels like to have Sensory Processing Disorder.

Our Sibshoppers then had numerous opportunities to experience a variety of sensory activities related to taste, vision, smell, touch, hearing, proprioception and the vestibular system.

 This super sour taste taste had at least one Sibshopper in an intense pucker!

 Watch where you're going!  With their vision impaired, our Sibshoppers found it a bit tricky to walk a straight line.

 The Sibshoppers really enjoyed all their opportunities for sensory exploration and discovery provided by Heidi.  Again, we were so lucky to have her join us!

 It can be a bit challenging to complete a task when your tactile system is on high alert!  These scratchy scarfs certainly didn't help.

 When is the last time you played in some shaving cream?!

 Snug as a bug in a rug!

We often take for granted how wonderfully our bodies work!  How they take in information, sort it and help us figure out what is important is truly amazing!

 

 



April 2016

Welcome April! A last minute illness meant we had to switch things around a bit.  Unfortunately, our special guest was unable to be with us at this months Sibshop, but we were able to plan and enjoy some fun activities regardless.

 The 3D Hand Art proved challenging for some of our Sibshoppers.  They still seemed to enjoy it and with a little practice will get even better and better at this fun art project. It is just straight lines across the paper till you meet the outline of your hand.  Then you create a curved line till you meet the outline of your hand and then draw a straight line across the paper to finish it off!

 Here are some of their finished and semi-finished projects.  

 It's always fun to gather and welcome one another to our Sibshop.  Tina challenged the kids by seeing if anyone could name every Sibshopper in the group! We have both familiar and new faces pretty much every time, so the task proved daunting.

 Our first game had the kids shooting basketballs at Sean's face.  Okay, not really Sean's face--they were shooting at the hoop right in front of Sean's face.  Can I say that we have the BEST volunteers at Sibshops of Utah County! We are so blessed to have found Sean.

 So the kids shot basketballs and the first to make it through the hoop was given the opportunity to share advice about a scenario involving a family with a sibling with special needs. Each Sibshopper should have brought home a scenario to share with their family!

 Ingrid is our most creative game finder! She found another winner in this game called "All Out".  The kids were put into four teams and had to both defend their area and get objects in the others teams areas as well. It was a fast paced game that kept them busy with flying balloons, paper snowballs and beanbags.

 This silly relay made the kids giggle and giggle.  The name "Huckle Buckle" is pretty ridiculous! Simply put, they have a partner that they meet in the middle to touch some sort of body parts together (like arms, knees, feet, elbows) when "Huckle Buckle" is called and then they race back to their starting lines.  

 If "Huckle Buckle Buckle" is called then the partners are to link arms behind their backs and sit down! Easy Peasey and so fun!

 Our final discussion activity is called "Strengths and Weaknesses".  The Sibshoppers were paired up and asked to interview another Sibshopper about their own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of their sibling with special needs.

We hope our Sibshoppers enjoyed April's activities and we look forward to seeing everyone in May!