This summer, Country Fun returns for mobile camp programs around Ottawa!
Contact us if you’re interested in booking the program!
Country Fun Nature Camp is a unique ecumenical environmental (eco-faith!) day camp for children ages 5-13 that focuses on nurturing children’s love for our environment and everyone in it, in an inclusive faith-based outdoor setting.
Country Fun is held on the historic estate of Tucker House, where campers enjoy a week of outdoor fun and learning in 30 acres of parkland, forests, wetlands, and organic gardens. A typical day at Country fun includes theme based eco-activities and games, arts and crafts, sports, nature walks, stories, skits, and water games with sprinklers and sometimes pool time. We have inclusive, faith-based Bible story time with a focus on themes of care for Creation and ecological stewardship. Campers also enjoy two nut-free snacks daily, including fresh vegetables from our organic gardens and home-made cookies.
Summer 2022:
This summer, Country Fun Nature Camp will be organizing mobile programs in areas around Ottawa with camp-style activities including games, songs, story times, crafts, STEM activities, nature-walks and more designed to engage and enrich children’s minds and bodies. Our nature-themed sessions celebrate biodiversity and human diversity!
If you are interested in booking a fun, educational program, please email us at countryfunnaturecamp@gmail.com
Job openings: Summer 2022
Job Opening: Country Fun Nature Camp Co-Director, and Leaders
Looking to join the Country Fun team this year?
Current positions include a Camp Coordinator (Co-Director-style), and Camp Leaders
Paid staff will help raise awareness of Country Fun and Tucker House and our partners through social media and online platforms, and help us stay in touch with our donors, alumni, and campers.
As usual, we’re looking for people who are motivated, and want to encourage campers to:
- spend time in nature,
- learn about how our actions affect nature, and
- consider how they can help preserve the environment
Skills, knowledge, and talent you will need for these jobs include excellent time management, camp leadership experience, reliability and responsibility for ensuring safe, caring programming, comfort with inclusive faith and knowledge of environmental issues.
Location: Our official offices are in two churches in Ottawa South and Ottawa Centre. Much of our planning work is done remotely but you will need access to transportation for team meetings, with occasional travel within the city for pop-up programming. The camp site in Rockland has a bus for camp days but you’ll need transportation for training days (there is no OC Transpo going TO Rockland during the day!) Staff might go to the office or partner sites to print, pack activity kits, or pick up/drop off materials. Any in-person or on-site work will follow all relevant Covid-19 guidelines for the area.
Telework jobs must still be done with diligence and responsibly; we’ll be expecting self-motivation, reliability, and regular check-ins.
Eligibility: Because these are funded by Canada Summer Jobs, applicants must be between the ages of 15-30* as of the start of employment, a Canadian citizen or holding refugee status, and legally allowed to work in Ontario.
* Note: We take Duty of Care seriously when working with the vulnerable sector, including our responsibility to our own staff team. These jobs are virtual, so they include video and social media outreach and virtual gatherings. If you are a minor (under 18) we will ask for you and your parent/guardian to both give signed permission for you to do this online work. All staff of any age will review online safety protocols and guidelines for appropriate interactions online.
How to apply:
- Email a resume to Diana Brushey at ecoprograms@maisontuckerhouse.ca with your name and the job title in the subject line. ** applications sent via Facebook will NOT be reviewed **
- If you are a new applicant, please have three references ready, including two people who have seen you work with kids, and at least one person who knows how you work independently. We’ll need to be able to get in touch with at least two, very quickly.
- Include a cover letter and give some ideas of how you would make this work.
- Include something fun or interesting that shows what you would try (your photo collage from your own backyard bio-blitz, or a sample blog or social media post you think would really engage campers and their parents).
- Send a short video or multimedia application. It can be in mp4 format, and in a zip file (or if you want to share it another way, email me and we’ll arrange it). Make it creative and relevant to this job in at least two ways. It could be you showing how you would lead a camp sing-a-long, or your video “how-to” demo for camp families of how to do a neat nature craft, you reading a story for kids, or something about history and nature – anything relevant to Tucker House, the camp, that gives us a good idea of the kind of activity programming and online content you would share.
Top candidates will be invited to participate in a brief phone or video interview.
We will not discriminate based on background, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. when going through the hiring process.
Volunteering opportunities: June 2022
If you’d like to apply for a volunteering position with us, pease fill out the following form: Volunteer application.
Support Country Fun
Your donations directly support subsidies for campers in need, as well as helping to train and support an exceptional team of volunteers who are dedicated to caring for our environment and everyone in it.
Donate online and indicate Country Fun Nature Camp to support a long-standing program of faith, fun, and friendship. Country Fun also accepts gifts of time and gifts in-kind. Donations that are most needed are listed below:
Country Fun Wish List:
- Lifejackets and PFDs in good condition
- Walkie-talkies (battery-powered, 3-4)
- Extra shelter (canopy, tent, etc.), large enough to fit a group of children
- Giftcards to Terra 20, Canadian Tire, grocery stores
- Compasses and binoculars – please ask us for specifications
- Butterfly nets and dip-nets
- Sprinklers, water buckets, and sponges
- Rubber Boots
Leaders & LITs
Country Fun welcomes applications from youth and young adults ready to be energetic and enthusiastic leaders and leaders-in-training! Our youth and young adult volunteers develop leadership skills and earn volunteer hours or an honorarium, while having a great experience as part of a well-trained, supportive team. Our youth come back year after year to be part of the Country Fun family. Our Leaders participate in intensive training and team-building to provide high quality outdoor education (and fun!), supervised by experienced environmental educators and supported by our keen young Leaders-In-Training (14 yrs+).
Contact Country Fun
You can reach us at :
countryfun@maisontuckerhouse.ca
(613) 446-2117, ext. 6 (or 1)