Rockin' Our Socks for World Down Syndrome Day

Today, March 21st, is World Down Syndrome Day! It’s a day when people all over the world join in the celebration by rockin’ brightly-colored or delightfully mismatched socks to raise awareness for the rights, inclusion, and well being of people with Down syndrome. We’re rockin’ our “I heart VBS” socks today and praying that God will use VBS to help churches discover and enfold families impacted by special needs.
The heartbeat of VBS is the gospel … and the gospel is for EVERYONE. So when VBS cranks up this summer, don’t forget about differently-abled children. Begin preparing now and praying that each and every child will have an amazing encounter with Jesus.
Lifeway VBS offers a fantastic resource for teaching children who have intellectual and developmental special needs. It’s called Special Friends and it’s incredibly versatile. One leader guide has everything you need to tailor Bible Study to the individual learning styles and specific developmental abilities of participants—both children and adults. Any activity in any teaching plan may be adapted and used with any learner in any age group setting!
Inside the leader guide is an administrative section to help you choose among three types of approaches:

• INCLUSION: Relies on one-on-one teachers to assist learners in a typically-graded class.
• SELF-CONTAINED: Adapts VBS for individuals or small groups. The leader guide offers a list of resources leaders may use to supplement Bible study with music and worship, missions, snacks, recreation, and crafts experiences within the Special Friends classroom.
• COMBINATION APPROACH: Allows learners to spend a portion of their day in a self-contained setting (perhaps for Bible study), but participate with peer groups in rotations for crafts, music, missions, and recreation.

Then there are two different sets of teaching plans—one for children with special needs and one for adults—which use the same Bible stories as the other VBS resources.

• TEACHING PLANS FOR KIDS sessions are designed in a pick-and-choose format similar to Bible Studies For Life: Special Buddies. Accommodations may be made to allow kids to work at their own pace, even if it means multiple supervised activities are happening at the same time.
• TEACHING PLANS FOR STUDENTS/ADULTS are designed in a linear format, with bonus activities to be used as needed to meet the needs of individuals, small groups, or the group as a whole.

Visuals can be printed from the CD-ROM (included in the leader guide) or by purchasing separate VBS leader packs.
Families with special needs need love and support, just like any other family. But many express that it can be challenging to find a place where they feel welcome or like they truly belong. As the body of Christ, we have to do a better job. VBS is a great place to start. It’s worth the extra effort!
I hope that on this World Down Syndrome Day you’ll put on some funky socks and think about all the children and families who are special to you. I challenge you to seriously pray about how God may be leading you to make your VBS more welcoming and accommodating to learners with special needs. Trust me, it’ll be worth it!