Robeson County 4-H

This article was published in the Robesonian December 31, 2014. Ever sit on Santa’s lap and ask for the latest toy? Or maybe you were more philosophical and asked for world peace? One of the great things about this time of year is things that don’t seem possible during the rest of the year are magically possible now. I have a friend who was a helper in Santa’s mailroom and answered letters from the children on behalf of Santa. The letters would pour in asking for toys, technology, and general stuff. Then there would be a letter asking for a coat, a job for a parent, or some other simple necessity we often take for granted. It would make you want to run out and be Santa just to make someone’s life a little better, a little easier. That’s not just an “adult” reaction, and our 4-H members proved that again this year. At the annual 4-H Youth Achievement Night, more than 160 folks attended and, if they could, brought individual food items for the Backpack Buddies Program. These food...

This article was provided to the Robeson Living Magazine for their Winter Publication. For many of us, holidays mean food, family, and days away from work. While we may be thinking of kicking back to read a book or taking a nap, our children would rather do anything else and will often let you know. Movies, video games, and the Internet are often the quick solution to keeping their attention. This year, think about doing something with them a little more lasting. The following ideas are some holiday favorites that will make long-lasting family memories for you and your children. Cooking Decorating  –My grandmother baked sugar cookies every year, and my grandfather and I got to ice them. Now I have to admit, she had to make extra frosting every time, because we often “accidentally” frosted our fingers and were forced to lick it from our finger tips, meaning there wasn’t ever quite enough to decorate the cookies with. Although early on, she made the cookies from scratch; later ...

This article was written for the Robesonian for their October 12, 2014 edition. So here is the question of the decade.  When did the pound sign become known as a hashtag?  Until recently, the pound sign’s major function in terms of technology was the button on your phone that you pressed to activate or deactivate call forwarding on your phone.  That is before phones went everywhere with us, and now we no longer need call forwarding.  As social media has taken off, so has the term hashtag (which is still called a pound sign unless it is used in front of a series of words to create a grouping).  When Twitter launched on the world, users felt the need to find certain types of tweets easier, so the pound sign was used in front of the words as an organizational tool so searchers could group tweets of a specific topic together.  Since “pound sign” did not sound technologically advanced, the symbol evolved to be known as the hashtag.  Evolving is what w...

Today marks our final day of 4-H Cloverbud Day camp and we are excited about what we have in store.  Our theme is Community Service day and although we think it's all about a lot of work we are finding out it's about other people.  We started by finding out what our day campers thought about their Cloverbud day camp experience.  Things like fun, making a bunch of friends, and cooking were all said.  To follow through with their thoughts our Cloverbuds took sidewalk chalk in hand and decorated the front walkways with their words, thoughts, and pictures of Cloverbud day camp.  We were so impressed that we turned their words into a word cloud.   After a brief snack we jumped back in by making thank you cards for all those who helped with our camp.  It was fun as we signed each one and gave each person a personal message all of our own.  When we got done making thank you cards our teen leaders led games, which we really love.   Again Mrs. ...

Have you ever heard the expression, "if you can't stand the heat stay out of the kitchen?"  Well apparently that's not an issue for our Cloverbud Day campers this week.   All of them were very excited about getting into the kitchen and creating something great today. After our morning routine we broke our campers up into two groups for today's activities.  Half went into the kitchen with Mrs Janice to cook up a tasty treat.  The other half work with Mrs Christy to learn all about money.   In the kitchen our group got to make granola and chocolate chip oat cookies.  They did all of it from measuring, to stirring, and even cooking when it came down to it.  It was lots to learn but lots of fun.  They couldn't wait to finish up and try the efforts of their hard work.  Word has it that it was nummmmmmmy!   While one group was cooking up good stuff in the kitchen it was time for the other group to hang out in the auditorium with Mrs. C...

We have made it to hump day of our 4-H Cloverbud Day Camp and today we get the chance to cut up because it's Arts and Crafts Day .  We started with our own teen helper, Megan Hurst, who transported us to Japan to learn about the ancient art of paper folding also known as origami.  Our young day campers learned how to make a cat, a dog, and even a penguin that they got to take home.   After e brief snack they got a chance to hammer out their wiggles, literally.  Long Time 4-H volunteer and carpenter, Bobby Rogers, came in with a special woodworking project.  Our youth got the chance to make their own boxes that were lined with a cedar wood bottom and had cedar trim.  The got to hammer the nails in the ends, and bottom to put it all together.  This is a project that they will remember for a lifetime.   After all that pounding it was time for another spectacular Ms. Margaret and Ms. Danielle prepared lunch that our campers promptly chowed down. ...

Day two of 4-H Cloverbud Day Camp had our 5-8 year old day campers delving into the world of atoms and molecules.  Ok, maybe that's a little deeper then we actually went...but in a few years they will know what we did today had to do with atom and molecules.  Today it was just fun!   We started our day by learning the word hypothesis and making raisins dance.  It may sound a little funny but with sprite and raisins we were able to see the carbon dioxide gas lock onto the raisins making them bounce up and down in the cup.  It was so very cool!   Our next project was a little more personal.  We used marshmallows and toothpicks to find the blood racing through our bodies.  Now for some of us this was a little difficult until Ms. Casey got us up and moving making our blood race through our bodies.  When we sat back down after some really cool moving around, it was a whole lot easier to see the blood racing through our bodies when we placed ...

This is our last week of our 4-H Summer Fun Program and it is reserved for our youngest members, our Cloverbuds the 5 to 8 year olds.  Each day this week we have a special theme that we will work around.   Today we were getting down and dirty with gardening .  First we had to get some things straight.  We all sat down and made our introductions and set out to make our rules.  After our parameters of fun were set it was time to play a game.   We all worked together to play the cactus game.  Each time this plant gets water it swells storing the moisture so that when it doesn't rain it can survive but it shrinks slightly each day without rain.  Our youth pretended to be a cactus and each time it rained their circle got bigger and each time it didn't rain it got a little smaller.  They went back and forth until the plant got so big that it burst.  It was a lot of fun, with a little education thrown in.   After that it was time to ...

We have spent the week learning how to create all sorts of art so it seems only fitting that we spend the last day of 4-H Creativity Day Camp learning how to appreciate it.  For our first lesson we headed straight to Raleigh to visit the North Carolina Museum of Art.  There we broke into three groups and toured the museum.  We viewed early American Art, great paintings and sculptures from Europe, and even a bit of modern art.  Our youth had the opportunity to view a variety of arts and pick out what excited them.  Some were more into impressionists and landscapes, while others were enthralled with the European artists ways of telling the stories they recognized from the Bible.  Of course the shiny and sparkly, bold colors of some of the modern pieces caught the attentions of our young artists. After getting an eye full we headed over to NC State for lunch.  There we had our choice of foods and of course great ice cream that is made right there on ca...

The monthly meeting of the All Around All Stars 4-H Arts and Crafts club was weaving all sorts of new patterns and not just in their craft project.  You see this month the club celebrated former club leader, Jessica Drake, becoming the new 4-H Agent in Cumberland County while realizing she would no longer be able to lead their club.  At the same time Club leader Tanya Underwoood introduced the members to a new club leader Sandra......  She is very crafty and very excited about becoming a 4-H volunteer and working with our youth.  While all of this adjustment in leadership was going on the club also welcomed a new club member, Madison, to their ranks.   Of course the club worked on a skill they have been introduced to before, weaving, and worked on it in a different manner.  Perhaps you remember the red plastic looms and elastic loops from your childhood?  For our youth this was a fun new project and they were able to complete pot holders during the...

Thursday of 4-H Creativity Camp was another new experience as we travelled to Star, NC to visit Starworks .  The old sock plant is being revamped into a center of arts and home to our 4-H members this morning.  Once we arrived we got a history of this unique building and then travelled to the back where we encountered unique lighting fixtures made from cans, raised bed gardens made from concrete parking barriers, and a neat entrance into the glass blowing section of the plant.   As we took our seats on the bleachers set up for glass blowing viewing we experienced the heat it takes first hand to melt glass.  It was an interesting process to view as they added, shaped, and molded layer after layer of glass.  At the end they blew into the big old mound of molten glass making a pumpkin.  We got to see as they poked a hole in it and transferred it to another pole to add a stem and make a curly Q before transferring the big pumpkin to an oven for cooling. ...