2019 Ohio 4-H Cloverbot Challenge

Remember when you were six years old? Grown-ups were giants, the world was big, and in your imagination, you could be whatever you wanted to be! This year’s 4-H Cloverbot Challenge will focus on those childhood career goals with the theme “When I Grow Up…”

The 4-H Cloverbot Challenge is a statewide event designed just for our youngest 4-H’ers. Teams work together to research a topic, build a model out of interlocking bricks and create a poster highlighting their experience. On June 29, the teams will come together at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center to share their work, visit with one another, participate in kid-friendly activities, and celebrate their efforts with a closing celebration and award ceremony.

What’s the best way to learn about careers? Invite a firefighter, veterinarian, mechanic, or author (or whatever job might interest your Cloverbuds) to a team meeting, so they can learn firsthand what a day in the life looks like. Take a field trip for an on-the-job view of the career. Or of course, help them search the internet to get all the details about what it takes to excel in the selected profession.

Teams may have a minimum of two members, but no more than eight, and are coached by an adult team leader. Details and registration information can be found at https://ohio4h.org/families/cloverbuds/cloverbot-challenge

Questions? Contact Beth Boomershine at boomershine.10@osu.edu or Sally McClaskey at mcclaskey.12@osu.edu. And a special thanks to the Ohio 4-H Foundation for their ongoing support of the Cloverbot Challenge.

 

Get Up and Dance!

Dancing has always had a positive impact on youth development. Whether it’s doing the Macarena, partnering in a complicated square dance, or moving across the room with a waltz, dancing has been a huge part of our history.  It is a valuable tool to use when teaching skills such as fine motor development, pattern recognition, discipline, teamwork, and more. We can use dancing to teach our Cloverbuds developmental skills while also having a good time.

Great dances for Cloverbuds will:

  • Have a simple structure that is easy to follow and consists of 3-5 steps
  • Have a repetitive pattern of steps
  • Utilize a short song of no more than 3 minutes
  • Have a medium tempo (too fast and they can’t keep up with the steps, too slow and they will lose interest)

Circle dances are a great tool to use with Cloverbuds.  Circle dances can be done in any group size and everyone does the moves together. This allows the youth to watch each other as they are dancing, so they can easily follow along.  In order to be sure your dance works, test it with a small group before trying it with a large group of Cloverbuds.

After you’ve taught the dance steps to the youth, call-out the instructions as they are dancing to help them.

Here are some songs and dances you can use but always feel free to create or find your own.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jCn7Xgru1A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZxoE2Rj49I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0hzZUbIXio