The Senior Campers

The "Senior" Campers

     What a fun concept!  This summer at IJP we have a "bunk" exclusively designed for rising first and second graders. We're a small, tight-knit group.  We're busy with learning new skills, acquiring new information, socializing, and simply enjoying our summer.

(Above, Ruthie and Shaya share some thoughts while working in their journals.)

     During our Arrival Time, we have a choice of activities.  We write, build or participate in crafts.  We can choose one activity, or all of them--it's up to us.  It's a great time to meet and greet our friends as they arrive.  We attend three different schools during the year.  Now that it's summer, we hang-out with our old friends and we make new ones.  

Above:  Ruthie uses a mixture of glue, water and newspaper to paper mache her bowl.  (Below:  Shai, Levi, Hannah, and other Kitah Hey campers prepare their bowls.)

     We made paper mache bowls.  A Styrofoam bowl was our basic mold, and our wet mixture was half water and half Elmer's school glue.  We ripped newspaper, dipped it into our mixture, and then spread it on our mold.  

Above, David releases his bowl from the hardened paper mache.  Below:  the finished product, painted and ready to go home.

     After a day or two, the bowls were dry.  Then came the fun part:  releasing our paper mache bowls from the molds. We  then painted our bowls.  You can do this at home with almost any kind of mold, including blown-up balloons, wire armature or clay structures.  (As a child, my sisters and I made a paste of flour and water, wet and gunky.  We used the mixture with torn-up newspapers.)

    

     Painting at the easel is an option, too.  Dovid was painting our sun-shape one morning, and he noticed the blending of reds and yellows.  "Look, I made orange!" he told us.

Above:  Henia and Pearl work with their dough.    

     Another choice is our home-made dough.  Here's our recipe:  1 cup flour, 1/4 cup salt, 1/2 cup water, 3 tbsp. oil, 3 tsp vinegar or lemon juice, a few drops of food coloring.  Henia told us, "The part about being an artist is getting your hands dirty."

Above:  the Morahs's personal stash of the best beads ever.  Metal, plastic, small rocks from the North Georgia mountains--they're all here, along with seashells from Tybee and natural wood beads . . .

     This week, we made wind chimes using a variety of natural materials.  We included some bells, too.  Ruth was engaged with designing the wooden balls for her chimes.  She told the Morahs, "It's fun.  I like coloring."

Below:  our wind chimes, almost completed!  On Thursday, we sewed little burlap bags, to use for coins or lip balm, or whatever!  Shai told us, "I never used a real needle before!"

    

   Dovid comes early each day.   As one of the oldest campers, he usually has an important job or two to do.  He's become a pro at setting up the ramps and balls.  One morning, he set them up and said, "I'm pretty sure this will work."  It didn't.  There was one area that wasn't smooth and the ball couldn't progress down the chute.  What to do?  Dovid thought about it, and then added a small wooden spool that lifted the ramp up.  Problem solved.  (Above, Levi works with the balls, chutes and ramps.)

   Shaya joined in as some of the children experimented with the ramps and balls.  Dovid asked him, "Are you ready?"  "Yes!!!" said Shaya and the balls went flying!  Wow!
   

     Of course, summer isn't summer unless it includes water play.  Morah Jessica plans a gamut of outdoor water activities for us.  Usually, it's good and messy--with paint, shaving cream and mud as ingredients.  And if we don't want to get too messy?  No problem.  There's always the sprinklers and the pools.

     Hannah told us, "I like the sprinklers!"  Pearl also told us about lovin' water play.  On Monday, Pearl let us know that the water balloon sprinkler was great, and then she gave us a heads-up:  the water slide will make it's appearance on the playground very soon.  (And it did, the very next day--see above.)

     We have "specials", too.  We team up with Kitah Dalet when we visit Morah Mussy for art, science or a food prep activity. (Below, painting with Epsom salt and glue; preparing rainbow fruit skewers.) Levi described one of Morah Mussy's experiments:  "It looks like a roasted marshmallow that burnt!"  (It was actually an egg, but it did look like a marshmallow!)

         If we have a few minutes after finishing our "special" of the day, we hang out in the mat room.  We like to reconfigure all the mats, get our energy out, and have a fun time.  Then we head back to our room.  We're the mature, responsible campers, so we always straighten up before we leave.

     We're working with the science of water in our classroom.  We performed one fun experiment with the marble run and water--it was similar to a stream running down a mountain.  Later, we experienced sink-and-float with objects that we chose.  (Below, water experiment.)

      We asked the group, "Where does water come from?"  Henia said, "It comes from rain, when's water's on the ground.  Clouds don't sift the water, a company sifts it."  Pearl clarified, "It's actually called 'filtering'.  The plastic water bottle company and the water company, they work together."

At other times, we get together with buddies to build (below) or dress-up for some pretend play.

  

     Once a week or so, we  experience an "in-house" field trip.  On Monday, an acting troupe from the Atlanta Children's Museum visited us. 

     What a blast!  The theme was :  Around the World in 20 Minutes.   First, the actors "took" us to Timbuktu, Mali, Australia and Atlanta. Shai was one of the first volunteers called up to roll out the fishing net.

   

     Then, the troupe led us in some dancing.  Some serious-get-into-it dancing.  We did an East Asian Fan Dance, designed to show honor and respect to ourselves and our neighbors.  And, an African trade dance.  And, a Mexican hat dance.  Whew! And finally, just as we thought the fun would never end--the American classic--the Twist!  (Above, twisting the night away, and wearing the tie-dye T-shirts we made at camp.  It's the 60's all over again.)

    Later that day, Chana told us, "I want Camp to end at 4:00."  We wondered about this.  Then she added, "Then we could have more fun--the day would end later!"

     It's all good.

Morah Susan, Morah Penina and the Kitah Hey "Hip, Hip, Hooray" campers

Magical Painting with Kitah Alef

 Last week Morah Kim brought in a magical painting board to the class. Today Morah Myriam took the board down to see if our friends in Kitah Alef would like to try painting on it. The board sits on a  wooden box with with small rocks in it. We poured a little water into the box.

 Zoey was the first to try painting on the board. She carefully dipped the paint brush in to the water and started moving the brush across the board. At first the brush strokes make a light mark on the board. Slowly the lines turn darker and darker.

 Zoey points to the box and says: "There's water in there!"

 Everyone gathers around with curiosity to see what designs are appearing as the brush moves across the board.

 Now Yisroel wants a turn. He dips the brush in the water and starts to paint. It's Magic!

 Logan wants a turn and moves the paint brush back and forth all over the board making very interesting designs. Zoey stands next to him watching closely.

 The rocks in the box are also interesting. Yisroel grabs a few to play with on the table.

 Our new friend Yaakov Meir also wants a turn to paint. We know how to take turns in Kitah Alef.

 Morah Myriam: "What a beautiful painting we have made!"

 Avraham Chaim runs over and adds some brush strokes to the board.

 Morah Myriam paints a circle on the board. Morah: "Circle!" Avraham Chaim repeats: "Circle!"

 Now its Gaby's turn. Gaby had already painted with feathers today on the easel and still had paint in his hair. Now its time to paint with water!

 We love our magical art board and hope to spend more time painting on it. By tomorrow all of our brush strokes will have disappeared again and the board will be ready for a brand new painting.

It's Raining in Pre KA

When we came to school on Wednesday, the children couldn't help but notice and be intrigued by the rain that was pouring down outside. The children kept on going to look out the windows and doors to watch and admire the rain. 

Yonah even managed to venture outside to get a feel of the rain

Since we couldn't exactly go out and play in the rain, we decided to bring the rain to us, in our classroom. We filled our sensory bin with water and put in all sorts of sponges, cups, spoons, and scoopers. 

We even used a Colander to make rain in the sensory bin. The children took turns using the colander to make it rain.

Eli put his hand under to get a feel of the 'rain'

Then we added some blue and purple liquid watercolors to the water. The children watched intently as the watercolors started mixing and swirling in the water, and stuck their hands and utensils in the places where the colors started mixing in. 

Adom poured his water from one cup to the other. And plenty on the floor as well! :)

We made rain pictures with the colorful water from our sensory bins, using the utensils from the bin to place the water onto the paper.

Levi figured out that he could use one of the sponges to make his picture!

We then added some soapy bubbles to the water! The children started excitedly saying "bubbles, bubbles!" and started splashing the bubbles around. The children each took turns adding some bubbles to the bin as well. 

  

When we were all done, Yonah and Eli decided to take the mop and try and help to clean up! Thanks Eli and Yonah ;)

 What a wonderful, wet rainy day it turned out to be! 

(And don't worry, we changed all of their clothes at the end ;)

Have a wonderful Shabbat!