WELCOME  CAMPERS!

Welcome campers! Whether you are a first time camper or you've been coming for five years, this webpage has something for you! 

WHAT TO  EXPECT

Attending camp for the first time or after a year can be a bit nerve-wracking. But not to worry, you are guaranteed a fun week! You will be paired up with a counsellor who is trained in the expertise of fun-making. If you are lucky enough, there will also be a CIT (Counsellor-In-Training) in your cabin who is there to learn from your counsellor on how he or she can be an expert fun-maker too!

In the morning, you will participate in sessions! Crafts, games, nature, Christian Education, and swimming! In the afternoon, junior campers choose their own adventure with our passports program (sports, crafts, low ropes, and games), and seniors and intermediates practice their coached activities (archery, basketball, soccer, dance, or beach volleyball).

After dinner, we play an all camp game, and then go for a swim, and then have a loud and rowdy campfire before snack, toothy time and bedtime!

Why Camp TANNER  is  Awesome

The camp experience is different for each person who comes to camp. That being said there are a lot of things we hear year after year from both our campers and staff as their favourite things about camp. These are the things you can hope to experience at a week of camp. 

• ​The ability to be yourself without judgement. Be silly, wear a "weird" hat, dance like no one is watching, sing a song about eating toast, tell everyone that moose drink juice. At Camp Tanner all of these things are everyday occurrences. When we do weird things all day long, nothing seems weird anymore. you can just do what feels right for you.
  
• Make new friends, and meet people outside of your normal social groups. We have campers coming as far as a 2 hour radius from Camp Tanner. That's a lot of new people you may never otherwise meet. Who knows, one of them could end up being a life long best friend.
  
• Be safe and free of bullies. Camp Tanner is committed to a bully-free environment. We partner with the local OPP officers to teach both staff and campers about bullying, how to recognize it, and how to prevent it to keep all of our campers having the best experience they can.
  
• Unplug from electronics for a week. We have no cell phones, no computers and no electronic games. This means kids can unplug for a week and be free to be kids the good old fashioned way. Learn to play and explore in nature and learn about the environment they live in. They also spend hours of quality face to face human interactions without the complications of technology. 
  
• Gain some independence. For many campers this is the first time they have been away from their parents for an extended time. While this can be scary at first, it can also be great for their development. Campers learn to do more things for themselves while at camp and learn to take on responsibility. It can be simple things like having to pick out their own clothes that day, or learning to do their own hair. Or, it can be bigger responsibilities like taking part in gophers and learning the set the table and clean dishes. This all teaches campers how to be part of a small team (cabin) and how to take responsibility for their share of work. 

CAMP  TANNER  SLANG

 You will see a lot of interesting photos, unique costume dress-ups, and meal themes on this website and our Camp Tanner dictionary will help explain it all!

Be sure to brief yourself before you come
and you'll be well in the know!

"CIT"
Our CITs (pronounced C-I-T or "sit") are our youngest members of staff (at 16 years old) and are called CITs because they are "Counsellors-In-Training". They are learning how to be our next generation of awesome staff! They also really like it when campers paint them and do other silly things! 

Regatta
An afternoon of cabin cheers, cabin synchros, a run and splash on our slip n' slide, painting the CITs, and other water-based games!

Cabin Clean Up
A way to be tidy, as well as creative! Points are given out
to campers according to cleanliness! Bonus points are given
out to campers who decorate in a theme.

Fred the Moose
The friendly moose who greets staff on the staff path!

Morning Exercises
The big sun comes up! The dew goes away! Morning exercises are fun stretches, exercises, cheers, and activities to wake up camp.

Sports Activities
Senior and intermediate campers choose from a list of activities that are being offered at that week. They change a little from week to week based on availability of our coaches. Activities can include: musical theatre, dance, beach volleyball, baseball, basketball, soccer, and archery; which are coached by our activities staff. 

Challenge Meal
At Camp Tanner, we don't just eat, we play!
Counselors challenge each other to earn their seat in the dining hall. The luckiest of them all well get to head table!

Morning Watch and Vespers
A wonderful way to spend time with God each morning
and every night ensures that we start and end our days right. Overlooking the gorgeous pond, our devotional area at camp
is a quiet and serene place to spend time with
God during devotions.

Mac N Cheese
A delicious and nutritious meal we serve each week!
This ain't no KD...this is the homemade good stuff!

Co-Cabin
Each cabin is paired together with a co-cabin. For example cabin 1 and cabin 2 will be co-cabin. They each have their own counsellor and their own campers however co-cabins spend a fair amount of time together as well. At co-ed weeks your co-cabin will be of the opposite gender. 

Unit
A cabin and their co-cabin together makes a unit. In the mornings campers travel to sessions with their units.