August 2022

 Welcome to our "Back to School" themed Sibshop.

The start of school is right around the corner so we spent a little time prepping and getting back into a school frame of mind. We started with a little READING and created some fun monster bookmarks to use once we are back in the classroom.

Following welcome and introductions we went outside for RECESS and played an active game of "Tic Tac Toe Relay." It's a much more physical game of the traditional childrens game.

We had some amazing puzzle builders during our GEOGRAPHY class. 

You could even call them dissectologists--they were that good!

LUNCH was definitely in order and a baked potato bar was on the menu. 

We couldn't find rectanglar shaped pizza...

WRITING via video prompt was next on the schedule. Our student Sibshoppers enjoyed watching this video of two brothers named Griffen and Turner. Following the video--which we watched two times at the kids request--we answered some prompts graffiti style. Then our Sibshoppers got to share their answers.

To wrap up our day we finished with our Sibshops version of PE CLASS. Our feet got moving and our hearts got pumping as we chased one another around in a game of Clothespin Tag.

Thanks for playing school with us!

July 2022

Welcome to our July Sibshop. 

As all our friends gathered, we created some Funny Faces together. You get to trace all sorts of silly parts and mix and match till you get your own unique character.

After our introductions and review of expectations and consequences, we headed outside to test our agility with a game of "Pool Noodle Catch." 

The instructions are simple: stand in a circle with your team, everyone gets a pool noodle, count down from 3 and gently let go of your own pool noodle and run to catch your neighbor's before it falls down. You circle gets larger and larger with each successful round.

This is one of those sneaky games that our Sibshoppers thought would be easy, but turns out to be way more challenging than they expect!

Our first discussion activity of the workshop was called "Sound Off."

Our Sibshoppers completed a worksheet that goes like this:

• If I could tell…. (my parents, my friends, my teacher, the whole world)
• Just ONE THING that is …. (good, so-so…)
• About having a sib with special needs it would be….

It's a great opportunity for our Sibshoppers to share their unique experience with their sibling. 

Our Sibshoppers always seem to enjoy a quick game of "4 Corners" where you must quickly, yet quietly, find a corner to inhabit and hope you aren't singled out and can stay in the game. They worked up an appetite--which is a great thing since it was time for lunch. 

After lunch, our Sibshoppers had some new energy to burn so we snuck in a few rounds of the classic "Knots."

"Balloon Foot Volleyball" was up next. This version of Volleyball is played with a balloon and your feet (seems obvious enough) BUT you must also NOT use your hands and MUST be in a crab walk position. The balloon is unpredicatable and on top of that there can be a couple "balls" in play at the same time.

To wrap things up, we enjoyed "The M&M Game." In our small groups we answer differently colored questions and as we do, we get to munch on some tasty chocolate candy. 

We are always grateful for the fun and friendship of each Sibshop workshop.

See you in August for our Back To School themed workshop.

 

June 2022

Summertime!

Welcome to our June Sibshop.

To star things off we took some of our thoughts and made them into some delicious looking ice cream scoops. One scoop represented something you want to learn. The second scoop was something you want your sibling to learn. Your third scoop (a triple scoop!) represented summer fun bucket list activities.

We were so lucky this month to have a special visit from the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind. Debbie came and led us through an excellent discussion and simulation of deafness and blindness. Each Sibshopper got the opportunity both to simulate being deaf/blind and to be a guide for the deaf/blind.

We had to get all prepped for the simulation with ear plugs and noise cancelling headphones to simulate deafness. It is truly hard to hear. To simulate blindness a couple different masks are put over closed eyes.  

Here comes a load of pictures showing our Sibshoppers participating in the simulation. I hope you enjoy!

Thank you Debbie for guiding our Sibshhoppers through this awesome simulation. We are extremely grateful for this unique learning opportunity.

See you in July!