What an amazing first day of camp!!! Loaded with non stop fun! The counselors are incredible, full of Ruach - Jewish energy and spirit! After a fun game of introduction, they did Tefillah thanking Hashem for all the gifts of life and learnt about the Mitzvah of Kosher. We made delicious cookies and decorated our own baking aprons and had a great game of kickball! Roller skating was super fun with many leaning for the first time and working hard! SO beautiful to see teamwork and how new friends were there to help each other out! The highlight was the scavenger hunt at Trader Joe's. We split in to groups finding a bunch of kosher symbols and learning about Kosher in the most hands on way. The
The second day was jam packed with activities and adventures! The campers got to display their own unique talents, from singing and dancing, to quoting Torah by heart, lego building and Basketball layups. It reminded us that each person is special and has their own way that Hashem entrusted them to make this world a place of goodness. We beautifully shaped our cookies! We enjoyed a sweet trip to the Jelly Belly factory, seeing first hand how they are made and getting to taste some of the wackiest flavors. We swam in a beautiful pool to refresh ourselves on a warm day.
I think we did more in a day then most camps can do in a week!! Try not to be exhausted just from reading about the crazy fun filled day! After greeting campers with creative and silly hats, we learnt about all the Jewish holidays. Scandia was a HUGE HIT among the campers "This is the funnest trip" and "I hope we come back here next year in camp" were some of the feedback. Between mini golf (Yossi even got a hole in one) and the jungle gym, the kids were ready to cool off in the pool. We then had Tzahal teach us real martial arts. The kids were really in to. We capped off the day with a Jewish Holiday carnival, learning how to observe each holiday by playing a fun game at that booth. See pic
So much learning and fun all intertwined!! We learned about blessings we say to Hashem before eating. Giving gratitude and appreciation. The funnest game was played that had the kids rolling in laughter and shock. Watch the video to see for yourself. We decorated beautiful cookies and made a loud blessing before enjoying them. We played a fun bean hunt, reminding us to clean up and appreciate the beautiful world Hashem gives us. Bowling was incredible. While the score was impressive, was I enjoyed most was seeing the high fives and cheering, no matter how many pins were knocked down. We did really cool experiments in mad science. The day ended with a fantastic auction that had the kids LITER
An incredible day!!! After learning about Shabbat, we had a tour of the Novato Fire Station. We had extra special perks since Ryan is our Jewish firefighter, he gave our campers the time of their life!! We even saw - hanging on the walls of the station - special thank you letters notes of made 4 years ago at our Jewish Kids Club. We got to go on the fire engine, even practice pulling out a fire fighter from a building. The campers creativity were in full display as we made cool sand art sundaes. We refreshed ourselves in a cool pool. We wrapped up the day with Challah making and a special hand on Shabbat party.
We began the day with most important part! Studying Torah and tefillah (Prayer). We explored different prayers, Modeh Ani - Thanking Hashem for our souls and life, the Shema, and several others. Just like Prayer connects us to the heavens, we took that message quite literally with crazy jumping and bouncers as we had the time of our life at Rebounderz!! The excitement and fun was so fun to watch! The Rebounderz really enjoyed our groups energy and manners. After a great workout, we jumped into the cool pool to refresh and relax. All in another fun day at Camp Gan Izzy!!
Jam packed day at Camp Gan Izzy! We celebrated our very own Jewish mock wedding!! If you want to see authentic joy of being Jewish, you gotta see these pictures. Pure joy expressed through song and dance. We had every character at the wedding from the Bubby, to the brides maid and flower girls walking down the aisle to the Chuppah. We had a dun trip to Snoopy's Ice Skating, where we got to skate and even play the hokey pokey! We alos got to celebrate Chloe's 7th birthday with a birthday cake, blessings and more!
The much anticipated trip to six flags lived up to expectations and then some!! The weather was perfect and the child had the most enjoyable and fun time! From cool tiger and dolphin shows, an endless list of fun rides, with many campers doing roller coasters for their first time!! Thank you to our dedicated counselors Mussy & Chaya for being able to give the campers the most memorable time while staying safe and together! A big thank you to Rose Viggiano and Ora Shoshan for volunteering to help with chaperoning groups
WOWWW!! What an incredible day! We met up with other Gan Israels across the Bay area. We were over 300 campers on a cruise ship which we rented. We got to see stunning views, and share the special camp energy, and we shared some words of Torah, danced with a Live Jewish music band (The Ferris Wheels) and enjoyed a magic show!! We came back to camp and learnt about the significance of a Jewish birthday. The special Neshoma that are gifted with and the trust Hashem has in us to fulfill our unique purpose and mission. We played a really fun game with each camper getting a prize after sharing something they learnt.
And that's a wrap!! What an AMAZING 10 days!! Was such a special day. We learnt about preparing Shabbat. The girls had a full spa, from massages, hair styling, make up and manicures! We had the funnest time swimming at the pool. Our Shabbat party was epic. The couselors had a handwritten letter for each camper, which a very thoughtful gift in hat, "Hats off to you"...