d e
a m
Rena Weintraub watches 5-year-olds Ilan Elrom, Hallie Bittker and Yael Elrom, all of West Bloomfield, build a creative structure from wooden blocks.
The
Great
utdoors
Day camp for the
youngest set expands
on pre-school themes.
Alan Hitsky
Associate Editor
T
here's a new day camp for
young musicians coming
to Detroit this summer.
And there are all kinds of
themed camps for kids, including
arts camps, sports camps, even
weight-loss camps.
But for Rena Weintraub at
Congregation Shaarey Zedek's
B'nai Israel Center in West
Bloomfield, there is only one kind
of camp. It takes her children and
teachers in her pre-:school pro-
gram outside.
"You want day camp to be dif-
ferent from the rest of the year:'
said Weintraub, who has been
teaching 2-5-year-olds for nearly
40 years. "We use special themes
for summer — under the sea,
Maccabi, wild, wild West and
expand our Israel immersion
program. But we try to be outside
as much as possible."
The camps also like to bring in
resource people, nature special-
ists, magicians and others. And to
add to the summer fun, the chil-
dren enjoy picnics, Hot Dog Day,
Backwards Day and other special
activities. "Nursery school is fun:'
said Weintraub,"but camp is
Great Outdoors on page 56
February 23 . 2006
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