A Day in the Life of a Camp Kalsman Camper

This is an illustration of how a great Camp Kalsman camper spends a day, from early morning to late night. We’ll call our example camper "Olivia".

7:30 AM Boker Tov! Olivia’s counselors put on music to wake her and her cabin mates up. They make sure everyone puts on new clothes, brushes their teeth AND their hair, fills up their water bottles, and lather on the sunscreen before leaving the cabin.

7:50 AM Mifkad Boker (Morning Ritual) All of the campers and staff in Olivia’s unit meet in the Pavilion for Mifkad Boker, the Camp Kalsman morning ritual. Olivia’s unit head tells them about the value of the day, Ometz Lev (Courage), and tells the story of David and Goliath.

8:00 AM Aruchat Boker (Breakfast) Joining the entire camp for Modeh Ani means Olivia gets in a nice stretch before breakfast. Her cabin gets called in first to go get breakfast, it’s pancakes!

8:45 AM Morning Shira (Song Session) Olivia loves to sing her favorite songs each morning during song session. She’s energized and ready to go for her busy day ahead!

9:00 AM First Chug (Elective) Olivia heads to her first chug, Chug Omanut (Arts Elective). Olivia is in Improv chug and is excited to play improv games with other campers her age.

10:00 AM Second Chug (Elective) It’s time for Olivia to head to her SLAM Chug (Sports, Lifeguards/Waterfront, Archery, Mountain Biking Elective). For this chug, Olivia selected Ultimate Frisbee. She loves learning the rules of the game and practicing throwing the disc the right way. They end the chug with a scrimmage and her team wins!

11:00 AM Third Chug (Elective) For her last chug of the day, Olivia heads to her Chavaya Chug (Experience Elective). Teva (Nature) Art is Olivia’s favorite chug! She gets to explore Camp Kalsman and make cool art projects like moss graffiti.

12:00 PM Nikayon Part of taking responsibility at Camp Kalsman means keeping your cabin clean. Olivia is assigned a chore for Nikayon each day and is in charge of keeping her own bunk area tidy. Today, Olivia is in charge of sweeping the bathroom.

12:30 Aruchat Tzohorayim (Lunch) It’s grilled cheese for lunch! Olivia sits with her cabin and tells her counselors about her day while she eats. After lunch, all of camp does the Mishlachat Dance, a dance the Israeli staff teach each year. Olivia is proud of herself for learning all the steps already!

1:30 Menucha (Rest Hour) Olivia decides that she wants to take a nap so she reads a few pages of her book before resting for a while. Eventually, her counselors wake her up and make sure she has time to get ready for the pool.

2:30 Bunk Bonding Olivia’s cabin has some bunk time before they head to free swim. Today, they take a walk to the garden to pick blueberries. Her counselors surprise the cabin with whipped cream to go with their fresh picked berries.

3:00 Free Swim Free swim is one of Olivia’s favorite parts of the day. Sometimes if she doesn’t feel like swimming, Olivia will play basketball or gaga. Most of the time though, Olivia chooses to swim with her counselors and friends. She loves diving in the deep end of the pool!

3:45 Snack Olivia is ready to nosh on something. Good thing it’s snack time! Each day after pool time, all of camp gets a healthy snack to get them through the day. Olivia’s favorite snack is goldfish crackers.

4:00 Shower Hour Olivia waits her turn to shower in the cabin and spends the rest of the hour hanging out with her friends.

5:00 Unit Program Today is Olivia’s cabin’s day to climb the tower. It’s a privilege she gets because she’s finally in Nemerim! Olivia is nervous but decides to try to make it at least to the first platform. When she gets there, her cabin mates cheer her on until she makes it all the way to the top. Olivia can’t wait to write home about it and tell her parents that she used Ometz Lev (courage), the daily value, to surpass her goals!

6:00 T'filah During T'filah with all of camp, Olivia loves singing along with the songleaders. Even though she’s still learning some of the prayers, Olivia sits next to a friend who doesn’t know any of them and helps her follow along. It’s fun to be the teacher!

6:45 Aruchat Erev (Dinner) Dinner tonight is spaghetti, garlic bread, and broccoli. Yum! For dessert, all of camp gets peach pie. Olivia eats her food and asks for seconds!

7:45 Evening Shira Evening shira is rocking and tonight they sing Olivia’s favorite song, Ana El Na. It’s the perfect transition to evening programs.

8:00 Evening Programs For her unit’s evening program, Olivia’s counselors have planned an Israeli Army Night. The Israeli counselor in Olivia’s unit tells them about the values of the Israeli Army before they get sent on missions around camp. Olivia loves learning about Israel!

8:45 Siyum Olivia’s had a long day so she’s happy that it’s finally time for Siyum (evening prayers). Her unit gathers to sing Hashkiveinu and sh’ma before they head to bed. Their unit head wishes them a Lilah Tov (Good Night) and everyone heads to their cabins.

9:30 Lights out! After Siyum, everyone brushes their teeth, puts on pajamas, uses the bathroom, and gathers in the middle of the cabin for Bed Time/Bunk Time. Olivia’s counselors have everyone share the best part of their day, their rose, and a part of their day that was kind of hard, their thorn. Olivia says her rose was climbing the tower and her thorn was that she had the last shower today. Olivia’s friends laugh and give her a hug. When everyone finishes, they climb into bed and have a few minutes to read before the counselor on duty says it’s time to go to sleep. One counselor will be in the cabin all night just in case Olivia or her friends need something.