Ilanot Celebrates Yom Unbirthday!

Today in Ilanot we celebrated each individual child and their strengths! It was everyone's birthday in Ilanot today and we made sure that everyone had a moment to shine!

We began our day by decorating our moadon (meeting place) for an extravagant birthday party-whose birthday it was… nobody knew! Then, the chanichim were told to return to their bunks to change into "Party clothes." 

As the chanichim arrived back at the moadon, our tzevet (staff) announced that it was everyone's birthday today and that we would spend the day learning from each other's talents as well as learning about the Hebrew calendar, Hebrew months, and even our own Hebrew birthdays! 

From there we gathered in the moadon for a bit of entertainment and snack to begin the birthday celebration. Madrichim (counselors) performed improv games which left us all giggling! Next, we played games like musical chairs, pin the tail on the donkey, freeze dance, and hug-a-bear. 

We ended our party by learning the Happy Birthday song in many different languages!

Later in the day, we had a chance to showcase individual talent in an Ilanot Talent Show! We enjoyed performances such as story telling, singing, dancing, gymnastics, magic, poetry reading, and joke telling! After the show each Ilanot camper received an award for something he/she has contributed to his/her bunk or the edah. 

After finding out when each camper's Hebrew birthday was (thank you HebCal), we got into teams based on which Hebrew month we were born. In our teams, we then talked about the time of year we were born in and all the ways that we connect with that time of year. Then, we created a calendar with all of the Hebrew months and our connections! This calendar was put on display in Moadon Ilanot for all to admire! 

The day was filled with warmth and pride and we each had our chance to shine in Ilanot 2010!