And The Winner Is….

 Everyone!!

After watching all of the talented athletes competing in this year’s Olympic games, our littlest campers couldn’t wait to get in on the action! Lucky for us, it was Maccabee Week here at the JCC. We all found out that playing sports and running relay races is not only a really good time, but it makes us healthy and feel good too!

Our Long Beach campers prepared for the Maccabee Games by creating their own torches, banners and medals with Ms. Fran. Orange and yellow tissue paper made great flames, and paper plates painted with gold sparkly paint turned into beautiful medals! Our banners included Olympic rings, Jewish stars, and our summertime ocean theme- fish. Everyone was so proud to sport them in our building!

One of our littlest campers making his gold medal!

One of the highlights of the week in Long Beach was when our counselors taught us about the different types of sports that have been played for thousands of years. We also reviewed the skills of a great athlete, and talked about how helping other members of your team and being a good winner are just as important as practice and skill. We then put our new knowledge to the test by going outside to try the diskus throw, shot put, backwards relay, and long jump. Later, everyone came into our auditorium and cheered each other on as we held our gymnastics and judo events. Of course, no Maccabee Games would be complete without the reciting of the National Anthem and Hatikvah!

In Oceanside, all of our campers had so much fun running relay races with our friends. We also had a great time in Yoga, and this week Miss Sharon had us pose as different circus animals. Our swimming skills are improving daily, and after seeing the talented divers at the Olympic Games, we were so excited to have Miss Vanessa help us jump from the diving board!

We'll be ready for the Olympic diving team in no time! 

Our Oceanside campers had a great time learning about the Maccabees and where they came from- Israel!  We learned a fun song about the Maccabees in music with Miss Diane, and later she taught us all about Israel in Judaica. We read a story about Sammy the Spider’s first trip to Israel, and we learned that Israel is a desert. Everyone made their own Sally the Camels to represent the camels that live there!

At Merrick/Bellmore, everyone had fun celebrating the Maccabee Games and the Olympics. The threes and fours practiced their soccer skills by dribbling the ball and slowly pushing it towards the net. They also practiced kicking the ball from further away, aiming for the net. Some of the threes were even able to dribble the basketball with two hands and shoot hoops!

Hey, Kobe Bryant! Check out our moves! 

In Yoga, the children turned their bodies into different ocean animals, including octopus, dolphins, and starfish. Some of our threes and fours would make Michael Phelps proud as we continue to practice their water skills. We are now able to put our heads in the water, and even swim under the water! Everyone made torches and banners to show their team spirit, and the twos especially enjoyed pasting sport stickers all over their banners. We had a wonderful parade with our banners and ended our week with a Shabbat celebration full of singing and dancing!

Of course all of our Pre-K campers had a great time at the campgrounds again last Friday! Some of us got to make beautiful sun catchers, while those of us who didn’t get to make teddy bears last week had so much fun stuffing our new friends. Yummy macaroni and cheese made a scrumptious lunch. But as always, splashing around and practicing our swimming skills in the big pool was the real highlight of the day! We can’t wait until we can be there every day next summer!

We love the big pool!

Check out our new cuddly friends!

This was certainly a winning week! Stay up to date on our Friedberg JCC Early Childhood and Friedberg JCC Summer Camps Facebook pages, and check out tons of great photos on Bunk 1! Happy Camping!