On
the second Saturday of every month, up to 30 siblings
pour through the front doors of Yale New-Haven Hospital,
greeted by familiar volunteer faces and friends. The
squeals from the corner of the main hospital lobby can
be heard as the siblings excitedly share their stories.
An hour prior, the coordinator and volunteers congregate
in a hospital conference room, utilized as sibling workshop
space, to arrange any last minute plans for the day.
This is the way the We're Special Too! workshop morning
begins each month.
Once the volunteers have gathered up the children their
workshop begins at 10:00am and a sample sibling workshop
for our 5-11 year olds would look like this:
10:00am Trickle activity - Name tags and face tags
10:10am Introductory activity- Strengths and Weakness
10:35am Knots game- Team work is the name of this game!
10:45am Do It Dice- Follow the instructions
" Can you name two things you enjoy doing with your brother
or sister?"
11:00am Group Juggle- Team work and patience is the
key to this fast paced game!
11:30am Dear Aunt Blabby- Aunt Blabby is having trouble
answering all her letters from brothers and sisters of
children with special needs. Can you help Aunt Blabby
by answering some of her letters for her?
12:00pm Lunch and Desert time
12:30pm Celebration- What was your favorite activity
of the day?
End of workshop (clean up and head home)
While the 5-11 year olds are busy at work the teens,
12-16 year olds, are having their sibling workshop as
well.
A sample teen group schedule looks like this:
10:00am Name tags
alkaline diet 10:15am Introductory Activity- Panic Word
How many words can you guess in one minute?
10:30am Pushpin Soccer- Team work and strategy are the
key
11:00am- Knot game- Communication and thought is the
ticket to this game.
11:30am Family Floor Cloth- What symbol would you use
to represent each person in your family and why do you
choose that symbol.
12:00pm Lunch
12:20pm Sound Off
Clean up and head home
Other Sibling Workshops during the year include:
- Yoga
- Dances
with Wood
- Adam
Kreiger Adventure Ropes Course
- Duckpin
Bowling
- Sibling
Program Christmas Party
- Drama
workshop
- Photography
workshop
- And
other great new fun ideas!
Sibling workshops are held one Saturday a month from
September through June at 10:00am to 12:30pm.
For more information or to register your child please
contact the program coordinator by calling (203) 688-6880.
We can provide you with everything you need to join in
the fun, either as a sibling of a special needs, terminally
ill or chronically ill child or as a volunteer to help
make it all happen.
We're
Special Too! Sibling Workshops are modeled after
Sibshops by Don Meyer and the Sibling Support Project
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