Color war is here in full force! Campers and staff alike are walking around in red, yellow, or green, the team colors.

After breakfast, everyone ran around camp looking for crayons in our Crayola hunt. The yellow team got the points for having the most crayons. Then we had races in the social hall: running races, races using ping-pong balls, and even wheelchair races. Of course, everyone was able to take part. All were clapping, cheering, and rooting for their team!

After lunch, the teams presented their cheers and the judges decided points for each team. Team green – pickles – eitz received the most points (25) for their cheer! Updates on more color war races and activities coming soon!

Everyone walked into the social hall tonight, reaching out to catch the laser beams shooting out all over the room. Accompanied by great music, the lasers were “dancing” with the music and it actually felt like we could touch them! Colors were flying across the ceiling and walls. The show was out of this world!

But wait, there’s more to the incredible evening. In the middle of the show, Rivky and Aviva started “fighting” about how long the show was… What was that about? Well, soon everyone started screaming, “Color war is here…!” and they were so right! Laser beams shaped in the words COLOR WAR IS HERE shot out across the room!

The gym is now a baseball stadium! We had an awesome camper-staff baseball game today as a special activity. Everyone was holding up signs rooting and cheering for both teams. There was even a half-time show with all of the head counselors dancing to the Camp Simcha theme song. The completing factor was a concession stand stocked with hot dogs and popcorn.

You know you’re at the leather workshop as soon as you open the door – it smells like leather! Campers love making change purses, headbands, belts, siddur covers, and bracelets. Each camper gets a piece of leather and a variety of letters and shapes which they hammer into the leather. Ilana is making a siddur cover which she plans to give to her friend as a present.

In the fourth of July spirit, we all showed our patriotism to our home-country. Camp Simcha has representation from all over the world. Esther Bracha, Henny, and Samara all sang the entire American national anthem, and the Canadians, Australians, and English all sang their own national anthems. But as patriotic as we are to our country, we are all the more patriotic to Camp Simcha Special!

What a great surprise – a Lipa Shmeltzer concert right before lunch! Lipa made a grand entrance, driving in on a segway. Lipa and his band sang many of our favorite songs, both fast and slow; an especially popular one was “hentelech,” of course. Throughout the concert, the singing and dancing never ceased!

Stickers, letters, glue, scissors, tape, and colored paper cover the tables in the scrapbooking room. We’re making scrapbooks and calendars so we can save our camp memories forever. One camper is working carefully with stickers and foam letters to create a page about canteen. She is looking for x’s and o’s to make a tic-tac-toe board. Scrapbooking gives campers the chance to discover their hidden creativity and that’s why everyone loves it!

It’s raining here in Camp Simcha but that doesn’t stop us from having fun. Everyone gathered together this afternoon in the social hall and the movie room for movie time. A video about Hellen Keller, Monsters, inc., and a concert were playing. We cuddled up on the couches and relaxed on the floor with snacks. Everyone had a wonderful time.

Exciting things were brewing in the Hall of Science. Different booths, exhibits, and experiments were set up in the gym, and all the campers got to take part. Some were decorating posters for the booths and others were helping mix up ingredients. Simi was decorating the poster in front of it at the volcano exhibit, and Danielle was helping make the volcano out of sand and vinegar. She was excited that it was about to erupt! At the ice cream booth, Evelyn and Alexis were whipping up some ice cream using heavy cream, sugar, and salt. Bracha Idy and Bailu were decorating a poster for the rock candy booth, where they were mixing up sugar, food coloring, and water to make sweet candy. At one exhibit, Libby was digging for dinosaur fossils in the rocks. “I am making a science experiment that is glow-in-the-dark silly putty,” Racheli says enthusiastically. Everyone was thrilled with the outcomes of their hard work!