Frequently Asked Questions
Moshava Ba’ir is centrally located in the beautiful Toronto Heschel School, at 819 Sheppard Avenue West in Toronto.
Moshava Ba’ir is for children entering JK through entering 6th grade. Our program is carefully and thoughtfully developed to be age and developmentally appropriate for these ages across the board, from swim and sports, to chinuch, specialties and arts.
Campers at Moshava Ba’ir enjoy a rich and well-rounded experience. Each day will include swim, sports (basketball, baseball, hockey, soccer, football, archery), specialties (music, dance, arts & crafts, yoga, jewelry making, drama, cooking, baking, gardening, nature, animals, fitness and more), and our unique experiential education program.
All campers enjoy a full camp experience, and our tailored scheduling allows for more sports-weighted schedules for bunks that enjoy sports and specialty-weighted schedules for others.
We offer both instructional and free swim. This summer, we are using the Swim for Life program created by Lifesaving Society. Swim for Life is a comprehensive swim instruction program that focuses on the acquisition and development of fundamental swim strokes and skills for learners of all ages and abilities. Swim for Life is accessible, flexible, success-oriented and fun. Instructors ensure swimmers get lots of in-water practice every lesson. The program incorporates valuable water safety education that provides information and experiences that help participants make safe choices when in, on and around water and ice.
Our bunks range in size from 10-15 campers each, with at least 2 counselors per bunk. Each grade is a separate Edah (division), with its own experienced and capable Rosh Eidah (Division Head). Our Rosh Moshava (Head Counselor) oversees the Roshei Edah. This camp structure allows each child to feel at home and cared for, while enjoying the excitement of being part of a big program!
Our bunks are separate gender, with the exception of campers entering JK and SK, which is co–ed. In our younger divisions we maintain a 1:5/6 ratio of campers to counselors and a 1:6/7 campers to counselors in our older divisions, following or exceeding OCA standards.
We understand that the experience your child will have at camp will be largely impacted by their wonderful counselors. We take pride in the maturity and responsibility of our staff.
We run an intensive counselor training program in advance of the summer, as well as regular follow up workshops that offer professional development to our staff over the course of the summer. In addition to the supervision our division heads and Rosh Moshava offer, our Camp Ima mentors and offers guidance to our counselors.
We believe that Moshava Ba’ir offers the strongest, best trained, and best supported madrichim of any day camp out there!
Each session, every Eidah takes one major trip, and we also have one exciting on campus event. Examples of trips include berry picking, laser tag and Skyzone. On campus events include carnivals, petting zoos, rock climbing and blow ups!
Our older campers have the opportunity to go on day trips to Camp Moshava Ennismore.
#MBTrips is our 8th week of camp, with a different AMAZING full day trip each day.
Moshava Ba’ir offers an excellent sports program that includes baseball, basketball, soccer, football, hockey, gaga, dodgeball, archery, and wacky wild sports games.
Every effort is made to ensure that sports activities are age and developmentally appropriate, and are structured to incorporate instruction, play, and competition.
Moshava Ba’ir is a nut–sensitive camp. Our policy is that any food sent along with your children to camp contain no nuts or trace of nuts. Kosher hot lunches are available to pre-order at www.alphabetkids.ca.
At Moshava Ba’ir, we believe deeply in the unique Bnei Akiva culture of camping as a learning and growing experience. One important manifestation of this is the camp “Noseh” or educational program. Throughout the summer, our endlessly creative staff employ art, music, dance, and theater to re–create and re–experience powerful moments and places of our history.
We have a daily “chinuch” activity that campers love, facilitated by an exciting and dynamic staff of young educators. In past summers, we enjoyed a camp-wide scavenger hunt for Shaul’s donkeys, we learned to make slings to fight Goliath with David, we met a real harpist and wrote our own Tehillim, we experienced a full-on archaeological dig, and we built a Bet Hamikdash with David Hamelech!
Our number one priority at Moshava Ba’ir is always the safety and security of your children. The Heschel campus is in a suburban area. We are staffed by a full time security guard. In addition to the experienced camp professionals running the program and the many staff with CPR and First Aid training, we employ a full time nurse as camp health director for the summer.
Our application process is first–come, first–served. Once an age group is full, applicants are placed on a waiting list. In the event that space becomes available, spots in the program are allocated on a first come, first–served basis. When multiple applicants are in the same position on the waiting list, spots are allocated by lottery. In all cases, we will not cash an applicant’s deposit check if we cannot offer the applicant a place in the program.