Sloth image from stock.adobe.com
Learning about different animals is interesting and an effective way to engage Cloverbuds. Being able to relate to animals is a way to connect to nature and generate excitement about being outdoors. Even when the animals are more exotic than our pets and farm animals, we can still have fun learning about them.
Show the Cloverbuds a plush toy sloth and talk about their appearance. Ask the Cloverbuds: Do you like hanging upside down from the monkey bars or laying on a tree branch in the back yard? Are you a good swimmer? Do you like walking very, very slowly…. especially when it is time to brush your teeth? Then you might just like to hang out with sloths!
Ask your Cloverbuds to share what they know about sloths. Then talk with your Cloverbuds about the characteristics of a sloth, such as what they look like, where they live, what they eat, and so forth. There are many great videos on youtube.com which talk about sloths. Share one of these videos with your Cloverbuds if your meeting space allows.
Sloths live in central and south America and are related to anteaters and armadillos. They like to live alone and do not usually hang out much with other sloths. They live most of their lives in treetops, moving slowly from place to place. You can ride your bike about seven miles per hour, while a sloth moves about four miles per hour. Sloths are surprisingly good swimmers; they move faster in the water than on land.
Sloths weigh between 13 and 17 pounds. That is about the same as a small dog or a really big house cat. A baby sloth is called a pup. It weighs about the same as a box of cereal (have an example to show) when it is born. They are born with their eyes open. Baby sloths like to explore but they always keep one foot on their moms during their first 6 months of life. After that mom moves away and finds a new tree to live in; baby gets the tree where it was born.
If you like to eat, then you might not want to hang out with the sloths. They only eat about the same amount as two and a half slices of bread a day (have available to show). They eat leaves that can take 30 days to digest. You digest your food in one to two days. It can take a sloth hours to go from the treetops to the ground. That is why they only make the trip once a week to poop. Some sloths even bury their poop by doing a poop dance!
We hope your Cloverbuds enjoy learning about sloths. Ask them what other animals they would like to learn about and make plans to share about that animal during a future meeting.
Things to do:
- Try making a sloth on a stick. You will find instructions here.
- Have the Cloverbuds make a sloth handprint craft for a fun keepsake.
- Ask your Cloverbuds to color the sloth coloring page. Begin by asking them what colors they think they will need. Tell them that a sloth’s fur stays wet in the rain forest, so sloths often have algae growing on them. Where else do we find algae? (in ponds, lakes and even fish aquariums)
Books to share:
The Weird, Wild and Wonderful Adventures of Austin the Zookeeper: Sloths. Written by Tammy Gegel (This book honors the memory of Austin Gegel, an Auglaize County, Ohio 4-H alumnus. The author, Tammy, is a former Auglaize County 4-H volunteer.)
“Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth by Eric Carle
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The Cloverbud Engineering Adventure culminated in a one-day showcase event in which teams presented their solution to an engineering problem. The requirements included constructing a model on a 15” X 15” baseplate with interlocking parts such as Legos ® or Mega Bloks®, having at least one moving part or simple machine and creating a poster to highlight the overall engineering challenge.
about this year’s challenge, visit the 
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HOW CAN WE TEACH STEM WITH 4-H CLOVERBUDS?
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