It’s finally here! A giant welcome to all our Camp Simcha Special campers! As the campers arrived, they were welcomed by staff with dancing and singing. A special staff dance was performed and the band kept the music rocking! Life-size game boards of Shoots-and-Ladders, Connect-Four, Checkers, Operation, and Scrabble decorated the front yard, making it look like an giant game room! Popcorn, cotton candy, and cold drinks awaited the campers as they unloaded the bus. Everyone get ready to P-L-A-Y, we’re excited to have a great time in a summer of games!

Camp Simcha Special staff members have been attending orientations at camp the past two days, but the grounds are empty without the campers and everyone eagerly awaits them! The hours are ticking by and we can’t believe it’s almost here… get pumped for Camp Simcha Special 2012!

Before the session begins, we would like to clarify some things about our Facebook galleries, public galleries on our website, and ParentSpace galleries.

Firstly, if your child is photo-release “in camp only”, he or she will only appear in the ParentSpace gallery. Your child will not appear on Facebook, nor on the public side of the site. So if your child is a camper, go ahead and sign up for ParentSpace. Not only will you see more pictures (2x more pictures than on FB), but you will also be privy to a video that will be produced special for you every day, a special blog, the daily camp newsletter, camp schedule, and forums where you can communicate with other parents.

Secondly, we have received emails from some parents who were having difficulty signing into ParentSpace. Please follow the instructions below for the proper way to log in to your account. If you haven’t applied for an account, please go ahead and apply for an account. You should be verified within 24 hours.

To log into your ParentSpace account please click go to campsimcha.org and click on LOGIN in the top right corner.

Then type in your username and password.

You will automatically land on the ParentSpace site.

From this page you can access a special blog just for parents, the daily schedule, and daily pictures and videos.

A COMMON PROBLEM: If you attempt to visit campsimcha.org/parentspace directly, and login there, you will be bounced to another login page. If you type in your username and password there you, will be granted access to ParentSpace. However, until we correct this glitch, we ask that you instead login by going to campsimcha.org and clicking login in the top right corner.

If you are still having trouble with parentspace, or if you have any questions, comments, requests, or suggestions for the blogs, please contact zahavah@campsimcha.org

You can also follow us on twitter @CampSimcha

Are you game? We can’t wait to see you real soon!

Camp Simcha Special Girls: Are you READY??

Who’s ready for another terrific season? Looking forward to seeing you there!

CAMP SIMCHA SPECIAL GIRLS! Are you ready? Are you set? Camp Simcha Special is, so let’s GO! At Camp Simcha Special, we are super excited, and ready for some fun and games! So get your pawns and pieces ready to GAME ON!

Each and every day, we will participate in games galore, from Battleship to Life. With tons of toys and games, Camp Simcha Special will be a place where the fun never ends.

Pick a card, any card, as we set out to move our way up in Candyland past Grandma Nut. Watch out for Gumdrop Mountain as we approach Princess Lollipop, make sure you are dressed for a black tie affair, looking like a Pretty Pretty Princess (any princess would want a Monopoly of Hello Kitty and Dolls). By the time we reach Queen Frostine, we’ll be ready to Break the Ice and maybe even catch a glimpse of the Winter Olympic Games. Take cover from the Twister and watch out for those Angry Birds as you collect your Apples to Apples, Bananagrams, and Fruit Ninjas. Make sure to protect all the animals from Farmville and try to keep up with them as they definitely go Jungle Speed. Sometimes, in the Battleship of Life, it’s challenging to find all the correct clues and we may then need to take risks. Be a good sport, ‘cuz it’s all just a game!

Can’t wait to see you in less than 2 weeks!
Rivky Schwartz and Shaindy Lowenthal

Camp Simcha alum Matthew Arbess speaks about his camp experience at Chai Lifeline’s Awards Dinner 2012.

Sibs club girls enjoyed a wonderful weekend in Monsey hosted by the Fischl Family. On Friday, they had a ball at Funplex followed by a refreshing swim. After an uplifting Shabbat, the girls got to ride on a horse and swim yet again. Each girl received a sibs club sweatshirt to remember the wonderful weekend.

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CLL kids and sibs have two exciting shabbatons planned for this weekend, June 2nd.

• 40 Camp Simcha Special girls and counselors will be hosted by Miriam Gordon and the Gordon family in Staten Island. This is the second CLL shabbaton taking place in the Staten Island community.

• Our “Just Us Girls” sibs club is having their end of year shabbaton at the Fischel house in Monsey.  40 counselors and sibs will be hosted by the Fischel family from Friday morning until Saturday night.