Cutting Up

  Summer Fun is in full swing and today our 4-H Day Campers took a swing at some new crafts and making new friends.  Our first day of 4-H Arts & Crafts Day Camp started with games and getting our creative juices flowing with coloring pages.  Once we got our rules nailed down it was time to split into smaller groups to learn about some arts and crafts.
Our groups rotated through five different stations over the course of the day.  Mrs. Christy and Mrs Janice did a project called chicken scratch with our campers.  It is sort of like cross stitch on steroids.  Our campers loved it and wanted to keep going back to work on their initial and boarder that they are embroidering on gingham fabric.
  Miss Megan worked with our youth on designing their own plate.  Once they got done with their edible Picasso, they moved on to something a little more eastern.  All of them tried their hands at origami making everything from samurai hats to cranes, and even dogs and cats.
  After folding things flat it was time for some 3-D artwork.  Our youth hit the table of beads with Miss Paige's help, and had the opportunity to work on two projects.  One involved following a pattern to create an object like a turtle or a sports ball.  After making the patter the beads were melted with an iron to create a sculpture.  The other project involved following a pattern to create a beaded key chain in the shape of everything from an ice cream cone to a dragon fly and even a lizard.  For some of our youth it was a great way to use beads for something other than jewelry.
    Reading a pattern came in handy with Miss Sarah as she taught our youth how do to latch hook.  As one of the campers asked, "Is this a craft from back in the day?" I must admit it is one I learned back in the day and still enjoy today.  We were very impressed with our youth and how quickly they took to this craft that needs, as they termed it, patience, because it will take a little while for them to get to a finished product.
  After great patience, it was time to let go of frustration with our woodworking and leather craft projects.  We are working on making a recycled bottle bird feeder.  Today our youth glued their boards together and secured corner brackets using a cordless screwdriver.  After that it was time to paint and leave it to dry.  Once that was done we worked on making a leather bracelet.  Youth had the opportunity to design and stamp their names, or what ever they might like on their bracelet.  They turned out really well and many of our youth left today wearing them.
  Included in all of this were two snacks and lunch.  Our 4-H Volunteer Mr Larry came and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for us.  Ms. Wendy fixed corn and french fries to go with it.  Lunch was really good and we got plenty to eat all day.
  At the end of the day we had the chance to go back and work on any of our projects that we wanted to.  It worked out really well and some of us tried a little bit of it all while other worked on one specific project.  It was really fun getting to chose what we wanted to do.  Can't wait to see what happens tomorrow.