July 2018

Welcome to July!

 Expand-a-Picture was our trickle in activity of choice on this warm summer Saturday.  Each Sibshopper choose a paper to complete the drawing. They had to work with what little they were given and create a complete work of art.

 This rocket ship sailed right past the earth and some happy stars as it made its way to the moon.

 The bats on this paper found a friend in a cave but had to protect themselves from frightening forces outside.

 "Annoying Orange!" Of course.

 The wrapped box became a present for delighted 12 year old birthday girl.

 What are these Sibshoppers up to?  They are playing a silly game of "Commons".  Each group identifies three different signs they will make in the circle.  When all four group members make the same sign after the countdown they win a point.  Hard part it, no communicating allowed! You just choose a sign and hope your group chooses the same.

A point for the Dab!

 Our Sibshoppers are experts; their expertise is in being a sibling of a brother or sister with special needs. We read some letters, "Dear Abby" style, asking for advice on how to deal with certain experiences in regards to being a sib.  Our Sibshoppers gave their best advice.  They sure know a lot about handling embarrassment, fear, parents, and friends.

1.) I sang for the Pope in Rome, Italy.

2.) I have fished for Halibut in Alaska.

3.) I broke my collarbone rolling down a hill at Girl Scout Camp.

Can you guess which one is a lie and which 2 are truths? We got to know each other a little better as we played "Two Truths and a Lie."

 "Clothespin Tag" got our blood flowing.  Nothing like running and attempting to grab clothespins off your opponents shirts.  It is way tricky and a great way to get in some cardio.

All that running definitely worked up our appetites.  After lunch we got started on an activity called "All Fired Up/Cool Down."  We'll have more to show you next month as we wrap up this discussion, so stay tuned!

June 2018

Welcome to our June Sibshop!

Our trickle in activity this go round was to create foil sculptures. The Sibshoppers get some lengths of foil all to their own, some tape, a piece of cardstock and a marker to create whatever their imagination can conjure up.

As always, I find our Sibshoppers to be incredibly creative!

Among other things, we ended up with human figures, dinosaurs, dogs, an octupus and even a burrito!

 The kids got up close and personal playing a silly game called "Freckle Frenzy!" No traditional freckles required. All you need is a partner, a bowl full of fake freckles (just holes punched out of paper) and a tiny bit of water. The goal is to get the greatest number of freckles on your partner's face in the allotted time.

We had a request last month for ice cream sundaes and we happily obliged. (You don't have to twist our arm!) But if we were going to eat some sweet treats, we thought it appropriate to think of some sweet things about our siblings and share them with the group. Identifying three ways in which your sibling is sweet earned you your own delicious ice cream sundae!

We played a couple other games and had another discussion activity that we didn't get pictures of this time around. Sibshops keeps us busy!

Happy Summer Friends!

See you in July. 

May 2018

Welcome to May! This year it turns out that April showers bring May showers. We are grateful for the rain, but sure had hoped to get outside and play. Hopefully June will bring some sunshine!

 Our Sibshoppers created some Mothers Day Cards to honor their moms who give so very much to their families. 

 After our welcome and introductions, we spent some time down on our haunches playing some Crab Volleyball.  Maintaining a crab walk position is a challenge even for our young able bodied Sibshoppers.

 If you violate the no hands rule or go over the boundary, you must curl up into the scared crab position and maintain it for 30 seconds time. Our good friend is demonstrating the position below! :)

 For our first discussion activity, the kids were asked to walk a mile in their siblings shoes.  "Moccasins" helps our Sibshoppers practice developing empathy as they try to truly understand what it feels like to be their sibling with special needs.

 We brought our fun "Color Guard" game inside due to the wet weather. We cleared some space and had some fun trying to get our colored eggs into the Color Guards basket.

 After lunch we played a fun game of "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Cups!".  This is a simple game that our Sibshoppers love. All you have to do is listen to the commands, complete them quickly and when "Cup!" is called be the first in your pair to grab it from the ground.  It is so much fun! Try it with your families--you'll love it.

 Talking out loud about our experience as a sib is sometimes a little daunting, so sometimes we just provide an opportunity to write about it.  (Double click the photos below to get a closer view of our Sibshoppers responses.)

Looking forward to June! We hope to see you then.