Month: December 2020

4-H Can Take You Places!

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One of the goals of the Cloverbud program is to allow our youngest members the opportunity to see what the future holds. What projects are available in the future, how can you get involved in your county’s camp, fair and other 4-H activities?

We were looking for a creative new idea to involve Cloverbuds in their club and community; a fun way to help Cloverbuds be active and relate to the four H’s. In addition, we wanted to offer a fair activity. We have tried a variety of activities from show and tell to scavenger hunts at the fair. We encourage Cloverbuds to look at club booths to see what projects are available in the future.

We developed a 4-H passport for the Cloverbuds with the theme “4-H Can Take You Places”. The passport allowed Cloverbuds to record their involvement in various home, club and community events. The idea was that the members would complete the activity with the assistance of their advisors and parents. The adults would verify that the C loverbud completed the activity.

The passports were printed on cardstock and distributed to clubs based on their enrollment. Cloverbuds could keep their passports as a reminder of the adventures they had in 2020. Advisors simply submitted the names of the members having completed the minimum passport activities. Those members whose names were submitted would receive a prize. The Cloverbuds could win an additional prize by completing activities at the county fair.

Then along came the pandemic. As with most things, we had to revise the passport with available activities. Gone were our day camp, the community festivals, trips to the library and even visits with grandparents. We had to accommodate activities to the restrictions that would allow members to complete them while quarantined at home.

Thankfully, we did have a junior fair program this year, so the Cloverbuds were able to visit the fair to attend some of the 4-H related events. We did not have still project displays, so sadly they did not get the opportunity to explore what projects might interest them.  About 20 Cloverbuds did submit their passports to receive their prize. The items were purchased through our county endowment funds from the 4-H supply catalog. The passport can be adapted into a club activity, being more specific to your club and community.

The original and revised passports are shown below. The format is so that they can be printed as a folded piece to look more like a passport!

If you would like to have a copy of the passport sent to you via email, please send your request to Rhonda Williams at williams.418@osu.edu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Home for the Virtual Holidays

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What an interesting year! As we conclude 2020, I would like to share some fun virtual activities that can be conducted at your next Cloverbud meeting.  Remember that not all families celebrate holidays.  Feel free to substitute winter or other words as needed.

Secret Code Virtual Holiday Scavenger Hunt

Choose a letter and give children 30 seconds to find an item that begins with that letter. When each child returns, have him/her hold up the item they found.  Ask them to write down the letter on a piece of paper.  After the last item has been shared, have the group read the word together.  Choose words like holiday, tree, etc.

Virtual Stand Up, Sit Down Rudolph

Play a song in the background, such as “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer”.  Choose a word on which the group will stand up when they hear it.  Have them sit down immediately after hearing the word.  Continue until the song is finished.

Virtual Holiday Bingo

Prepare BINGO card template prior to the meeting and email to members, or make cards virtually together.  To make cards, have members take an 8 ½ X 11 sheet of paper and fold it in half – “hamburger style”.  Fold it in half again.  Open the paper.  Now fold the paper in half – “hotdog style”.  Fold it in half again.  Open the paper.  You should have 16 rectangles.  Have children cut off the first row.  Now you have 12.  Using a pencil and a ruler (if available), have them trace along the lines.  Choose twelve holiday related words ahead of time or as a group.  Have children randomly draw a picture of each word, in each box – no “Free Space”.  Take time to color the pictures.  Tear the scrap paper (first row) into twelve pieces to cover the boxes.  Explain how to play “BINGO”.  The first person to cover a complete row or column wins.  Call out each word until someone gets “BINGO”.  For fun, instead of yelling “BINGO”, yell “HOLIDAY”.

Virtual Holiday Story Time

Ask each child to share their favorite holiday books.  For those that would like to read, have them read their story to the group.

Holiday Traditions

Have children talk about some of things that their families do to celebrate different holidays.  Discuss different cultures and customs that are celebrated in other countries.  For ideas, check out “Celebrations Around the World” in the Big Book of 4-H Cloverbud Activities, or visit “Safely Celebrate the Holiday Season” developed by the Stark County Health Department.

#Together As Cloverbuds Calendar

Have children write down five activities that they can do at home during the month of December (ex. movie night with my family; have a paper or real snowball fight with my siblings; make cards to mail to friends).  Ask children to share their lists.  Grab a calendar.  As a group, discuss what activities they would like to do on what date.  Have them write down as many as they would like to do – dates included.  Now they have designed their own December calendar.  Remind them that each day they do the activities, one of their Cloverbud friends is thinking about them and doing the activity, too.  Take pictures to share the next time the group gets together.

Have a safe and healthy holiday season!

 

Ohio 4-H Cloverbud Time Capsule

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Have you ever thought about creating a family time capsule? 2020 has been an unprecedented year and there are some important memories you might want to capture for the future. A time capsule provides a visual record of a particular period in time and all the items are sealed in a container to be opened in the future. There are so many fun things that can added to a time capsule such as photos, newspaper clippings, letters, favorite drawing, recipe, favorite 4-H memory, a magazine, or even a list of favorite toys and games!

Christy Millhouse, 4-H Extension Educator in Preble County Ohio has developed a guide to help us create a family time capsule. You can print a copy here, collect items for your time capsule and seal it up! Good luck and have fun!!

2020 Cloverbud Time Capsule