Campers will break into teams and collect information and artifacts related to cities in Israel from counselors, other campers, CITs, and shlichim. The group with the most points at the end wins!
Curriculum Themes:
Materials Required:
Program Duration:
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Number of Campers:
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Core Learnings:
Israel is a small but very diverse country, as seen by the differences between each of the cities and sites campers will encounter
Each city is known for its specific historical or religious characteristics/sites (the Kotel in Jerusalem, the Bahai gardens in Haifa, Kabalah in Tsfat, etc.)
Everyone who has visited or knows about Israel has unique personal stories to share
Explanation:
Stage 1: Getting Ready
- Divide the campers into groups of 3-5 by handing each of them pieces of a puzzle. Ask them to find their team members who will each have the same color paper as them. Instruct the campers to put their puzzles together upside down and tape the back together. When they flip it over, they will see that it is a map of Israel.
- Explain that they will be going on a scavenger hunt to find out facts about different areas of Israel.
Stage 2: The Hunt is On!
- Give each group of campers a scavenger hunt sheet (see attached resource).
- In order to fulfill the tasks, campers will need to interview counselors, staff, CITs, shlichim, and other campers who have visited or know about Israeli cities and sites.
- Each interviewee can only answer two questions. (This may not work for your group. Feel free to change the rules if you need!)
- Before the activity, inform people around camp that campers will be approaching them with questions. Before campers ask a question, they must point to the city or site about which they are asking.
- Give the campers 30 minutes to complete as many tasks as possible without splitting up as a group. The whole team must stay together!
- If each group has a digital camera to record them doing activities then this will help prove their accomplishments (and more challenges can be added to the list).
Stage 3: Wrap-up
- At the end, each of the groups will present their findings and share their stories.
- Ask what were the most surprising facts they learned or the best stories they heard.
- Counselors should add up the points each team achieved.
Variations:
- More questions and challenges can be added to the existing list, along with more cities/sites.
- Staff members can be assigned to answer certain questions about cities with which they are familiar and the campers will need to find that specific counselor.
Background Cards:
