Organized by a group of Niverville parents, MoveNGroove is a unique program designed with special needs kids and their caregivers in mind. The program is designed for children from four to fourteen and hosts events geared around having fun, getting active, grooving to music, and sharing a snack with friends.

Kids and their caregivers can drop in for a night of moving and grooving on the first Thursday of every month from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. at the Fourth Avenue Bible Church in Niverville.

Regardless of a child’s physical capabilities or social proclivities, everyone is welcome. Kids can choose to participate in activities or just hang out and do their own thing. There is no pressure to interact or perform.

Leah Dyck organizes the program along with Lisa Sakwi, Laurie Loeppky, Lyndsay Eidse, and Chantal Todd, the recreation director for the Town of Niverville.

“Typically, we don’t have siblings or other kids come because we want it to be a night where our kids don’t have to compete,” Dyck says. “Most of our other kids are involved in sports.”

Todd has long had a passion for kids with special needs and has helped the group access a number of grants over the four years that the program has been running. The initial grant provided for the purchase of $2,700 worth of play equipment such as balls, hoops, pylons, scooter boards, parachutes, and safe indoor hockey equipment.

“We’ll have Hockey Night in Canada where we play the hockey theme, and some of our kids are super into hockey so they have their fantasy ‘skate’ around the perimeter [of the room]… and then we just play floor hockey together,” Dyck says.

The second grant, received this past year, allows the group to enjoy special outings such as bowling, swimming, and trips to Niverville’s ShopGym for some great activities on the fitness equipment.

The organizers also make a point of inviting special guests for children’s book readings or leading in arts and crafts, like shaving cream painting. One night per year, they throw a collective birthday party, complete with a clown and cake.

“Birthday party invites are not very common for our kids,” Dyck says. “That’s life. It’s not a self-pity thing, it’s just a reality. So we created a birthday party where kids can come [and celebrate together].”

This coming spring, the group will take a field trip to the Lil’ Steps Wellness Farm in St. Malo. Lil’ Steps is a hobby farm run by child therapist Lucy Sloan.

Dyck says there is a core group of five to nine kids who attend every month. Others come on a more casual basis throughout the year from as far away as Steinbach, Blumenort, and Ste. Anne.

This fall, Dyck also began a second group for special needs kids ages 12 and up. She calls it Hang Ten and they meet one Saturday per month at the Youth for Christ drop-in centre.

“It’s not a drop-in sponsored event, but we meet there because that might be a branch for our kids into the community,” Dyck says.

Average attendance so far of Hang Ten, she says, is around five to six kids. This age group is encouraged to bring a friend or sibling along. Hang Ten kids can expect an afternoon of table games, puzzles, indoor hockey or soccer, and high-spirited rounds of Guitar Hero.

“Some of our kids can drum like you would not believe and so they have a blast with that,” Dyck says. “[Our daughter] gets on the guitar and one boy likes to sing so they are their own rock band.”

Every activity they do can be modified to the abilities of the kids who attend. Kids in wheelchairs can get involved in hockey or soccer right alongside the others. The rules are lax in order to make room for anyone at any level of ability.

Organizers for these two programs chose the locations based on their mobility-friendly access and washroom facilities.

Sometimes, though, it’s the parents of special needs kids who have a need for support and socializing. Dyck is also responsible for organizing a caregiver support group called Common Ground. This group meets every second Thursday of the month in the youth room at Fourth Avenue Bible Church.

At Common Ground, organizers invite special speakers from a variety of advocacy groups to cover topics such as safe housing and standardized care, things each parent needs to consider before their child enters adulthood.

As well, they focus on self-care for the caregiver, and the activities planned around mutual interests. Dyck says that about eight to 12 parents show up each month for these gatherings but, like MoveNGroove and Hang Ten, there’s always room for more.

“We always say, ‘You establish your core and you invite one more,’” says Dyck. “There’s always room for one more [in our groups].”