Sewing 4-H into State Fair Fabric

  Many people think fairs and animals are synonymous with 4-H.  It is true for more than 110 years 4-H has been the prevalent youth organization that has been able to market their skills at fairs around the world.  With such a strong historic partnership the North Carolina State Fair offered 4-H and FFA organizations the opportunity to sew the past, present, and future together in a single project.
  The North Carolina Fair asked 4-H and FFA programs to create an 8x8 quilt patch that represented their county program.  There were not many requirements except that it had to be a specific size with at least half inch borders all around and it had to be made of a heavy muslin cloth.  They asked that the squares represent your county program and be as colorful as you like.  The event is open to the first 100 counties that submitted a square.  During the state fair quilters will piece the quilt together and will be seen sewing in the Village of Yesteryear.  This is the area where crafters and artists often wear period costumes and sell time honored homemade crafts.
  We were given a week to get this project together and turned in.  So with the help of our official Extension Quilter Janice Fields (yes, she also happens to be a Family Consumer Science Agent in our office as well) the fabric was purchased and a design was painstakingly created.  Actually we went through three designs before settling on a collage of photos that represent our programs, youth, volunteers, community service, and our funders.  With Janice's help we were able to get the square put together and shipped with a couple of days to spare to the state fair.
  So if you head to the state fair stop by the Village of Yesteryear and check out the quilters.  You might just see the mark Robeson County 4-H will leave for another 110 years.

Once Upon A Time....

  Once Upon A Time is more than the start to a great fairy tale with a happily ever after ending, it was our theme for the last day for 4-H Cloverbud day camp.  Our 5-8 years olds had the opportunity to dress up today as their favorite character.  We had a princess and teenage mutant ninja turtle as well as a bunch of characters as we worked our magic on this last day.
  After coloring and talking about what we had learned with Mrs Janice and Mrs Christy yesterday it was time to get down to the business of stories.  We started by playing a big game of telephone.  For those of you not familiar with this old fashioned sort of game it involves a verbal message being passed around in a circle by whispering in a person's ear.  Often by the time it gets to the other end it is a mangled and funny mess.  After game time we took a brief break for a snack then split into two groups to play with story cubes.  Story cubes have pictures on them the idea is to roll the nine cubes and make a story out of the pictures that are face up.  First the groups worked together to come up with one story then each camper got to roll the cubes to make their own story.  Needless to say their imaginations run wild.
  Once our creative juices were flowing we made our own fairy tale.  Each time a camper said and they had to pick another camper to continue the story.  The original Las Vegas Fairy Tale went something like this..."Once upon a time in the far away Candy Village there was a Princess and a mean, big, slobbery giant.  The giant ate all the flags in the town and he looked for the princess and then got sick.  The giant found the princess and the prince came up behind him then scared the giant out of the village.  A year latter the giant came back and the king, who had a red crown, put it on his head.  Then he told the giant to go away and never, ever come back.  Right after the giant left an uncontrollable mean red dragon showed up.  Then they shot a cannon ball and ran back in the village and the police came and asked questions to find out who shot the cannon ball.  Right after the police left everyone tried to locate the cannon ball shooter and find the princess.  They found the princess in the castle and she went outside.  She got in her car, drove to town, caught a plane, went to Las Vegas and the dragon came back.  So the princess saw a magician at a Las Vegas magic show.  She asked the magic man,  "How do you get rid of mean, red dragons?"  He said, "That's easy.  Abracadabra, Kalamazoo, let's put that mean red dragon in a zoo?"  From here to eternity there is a place called X-caliber where the dragon performs with the magic man.  the dragon is nice now because he gets to live in Las Vegas and be with people that care about him and come to visit often.  The princess went home and everyone lived happily ever after."

  After creating such a tale we had worked up an appetite and we needed some lunch.  Thanks to our volunteers Mrs Margaret and Ms Danielle we had pizza and corn.  Yum Yum!.  Then we took a little  break and got ready to hold court.  We had a few people with tickets for their behavior over the last couple of days.  The jury worked together with the judges to determine if infractions had been made and what the fine should be.  Once court was over payroll for the last day was completed and accounts were handed out.  Then it was time for shopping at the Candy village General Store.  We used our Peyton Bucks to buy everything from school supplies to toys.  It was a great shopping day and lots of fun in how to manage money.
  After taking a shopping trip it was time to work with Mrs. Tamika.  We reviewed all the cools stuff we talked about relating to my plate.  My plate is the new food guide that gives us healthy suggestions for grain, meat, vegetable, and dairy consumption.  When we got done working it was time for another treat.  We made a healthy trail mix and tried a new fruit paw paws. When we got done it was time to spend the rest of our money in the store and head home.  We said goodbye to our friends from this year and headed home to get ready for our next big adventure, heading back to school on Monday.
  We would like to give a special thank you to Jessica Drake, Margaret Crites, and Danielle Parnell who took an enormous amount of their time out of their schedules to help us execute an incredibly wonderful week of hands on fun and learning for these 5-8 year olds.  We would also like to thank our teen volunteers Megan and Al'Drique for spending their week mentoring and being role models for our youth. We have said it before that 4-H Volunteers are incredible, and each day they prove it.  Thank you for all your help!

Measuring Up

It's Thursday also known as Chef Academy Day for our 4-H Cloverbud Day Campers.  We are so excited to get into the kitchen and get cooking but first we needed to take care of our daily business.  As always we started the day with coloring and then moved forward to talk about what we learned on Wednesday.  After completing all that hard work we talked about our upcoming schedule for the day.  Then with much anticipation we headed to the bathroom to wash our hands and hit the kitchen.

We split into two groups for the day.  One worked with Mrs. Janice to start with the other with Mrs. Christy.
For those of you not familiar with our Cooperative Extension Staff, Janice Fields and Christy Strickland are Family Consumer Science Extension Agents.  Both work with children on healthy eating, healthy habits, as well as families and adults.  One group hit the kitchen to start mashing strawberries, make flour, and learn about pectin (an important ingredient to make jams and jellies thick and jell).  Working with Mrs. Christy our youth learned about measuring, cracking eggs, and helped make some whole grain chocolate chip cookies.  After a brief snack our groups switched so everyone got a chance to do everything.  After so much work it was time to take a break for lunch.  Mr. Larry brought his cooker by and grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for us while Mrs. Margaret made us French fries.  We also had some carrots and celery on the side.  After making sure we were really full it was time to get back at it.

We worked with Mrs. Janice to make our own biscuits from scratch and we learned how to use spoons to divide up cookie dough so we could bake our cookies.
 We worked so hard it seems like our day flew by.  Before we knew it Mrs. T was there to work with us on our EFNEP lesson.  We talked about our daily servings and played games trying to figure out what makes a healthy meal.  Then she made us healthy strawberry smoothies using real strawberries, yogurt, ice, and apple juice.  they were so good some of us even had two.
  When it was time to go home we had some awesome strawberry jam, buscuits, and cookies to take home and share.  Tomorrow is our last day of 4-H Cloverbud day camp and we are looking forward to having a happily ever after ending.

Mr Roboto Science Adventures

  Today marks the halfway point of our 4-H Cloverbud Day camp and it was a much anticipated day for our campers.  We started our day like we do with all of them.  We do a little coloring and then its time to review what we learned the day before.  Our campers have had fun with their Candy Village city and earning Peyton Bucks that they will spend at the end of the week.  After reviewing the day before we talked about our schedule for today and then hit the ground running by tackling our first experiment of the day.
 

Did you know it is possible to make a rainbow in a jar?  Well our cloverbuds did it.  It was actually a lesson in liquid density.  We started with our homemade lava lamp that was made with cooking oil and water that has red food dye in it.  Since the water and oil don't ever really mix it didn't matter how hard we shook it up it all started separating.  Understanding that concept was pretty easy so we did it again in a little more complex method.  Using a variety of liquids ranging from Kayro Syrup to Rubbing Alcohol we were able to layer the liquids to create a rainbow.  We even learned about Roy G. Biv so we would always know the colors of the rainbow.

After all that hard work it was time for a quick break for a snack.
 Then we broke into two groups.  Once group worked with Ms Wendy and our robotics while the other group worked with Miss Shea Ann putting together Lego creations.  One thing we all learned from the adventure is that we should at least try everything in front of us because we might find out things are better than we think or at least not as hard as we think it will be.

We got a chance to play our favorite game, the freeze game then it was time for lunch.  Mrs. Margaret and Ms. Danielle made us chicken nuggets and Mac and cheese.  We also had celery sticks as a side.  After lunch we continued our scientific fun.  We had the opportunity to learn about plant science by making our very own plant person.  By recycling a knee high we were able to create our own people that will grow green hair.  We gave them facial features and they will be awesome when we take them home and get them their own water to grow tall green hair.

 

Before we knew it it was time for Mrs. T and our EFNEP lesson.  Today we learned where our vegetables come from and all about trying new things.  She played a my plate game with us then we made an awesome snack.  Using grapes, pineapple, and strawberries we made our own fruit kabobs.  Using a marshmallow as a stopper we made awesome and healthy creations, then devoured them faster then we made them.

  After our stomachs were full it was time to head home and plan for tomorrow.  We can't wait to starting cooking up a new adventure.

Ages and Stages

Ages and Stages is the 4-H shorthand for a class that all volunteers and 4-H professionals take in relation to working with you.  It is also a class needed to obtain the bronze ACE Master Volunteer certification.  For our fourth 4 County 4-H Volunteer Revolution volunteers from Cumberland, Hoke, Moore, and Robeson Counties met in Hoke County to hold our last training workshop before meeting to put our notebooks together.

  Hoke County 4-H Agent Cathy Brown taught the workshop which covered the different learning styles and capabilities of youth between the ages of 5-8, 9-13, and 14-18.  The training gave insights on how to create programs for youth that would best engage them in learning as well as help them gain life skills.

  It was a great night of volunteer togetherness and learning.  The last workshop in this series will be held in Hoke County on October 22.  Please contact your 4-H Agent if you would like to attend.

Cutting Up

Our second day of 4-H Cloverbud day camp got our creative juices flowing.  Our theme for Tuesday was arts and crafts day and its fair to say we got pretty crafty.  As will be our daily schedule we started the day by grabbing crayons, markers and coloring pencils and coloring away on coloring sheets.  When it was time we moved to the carpet and talked about what we learned yesterday.  Our plans then move to the schedule of the day and what we have to look forward to.

Our first crafty activity involved rubbing alcohol, ink, tiles, and cotton swaps.  A project you can find on our 4-H Pinterest board, essentially you paint a ceramic tile with rubbing alcohol then drop ink on it and swirl a design together.  Let the tile dry then spray it with clear acrylic.  Makes great coasters and no two are exactly alike.  

We took a quick snack break then worked on our next project which believe it or to involved food.  Not people food, but bird food.  Using Popsicle sticks we made our own bird feeders.  They were awesome.  When they dried Mrs. Jessica tied string to them so we can hang them from a tree.
Our next project was really cool!  We used glue to make a design then sprinkled salt on the glue.  Using cotton swaps and water colors we lightly touched the wet paint to the glue and the salt sort of sucked up the paint.  It was really awesome.  We could do designs and the different colors would blend together where they met.  When it dried it sort of looked like a puffy paint.

  After working so hard we needed a little sustenance.  Thank goodness Mrs. Margaret and Ms. Danielle came to fix us lunch.  We had the most awesomest grilled cheese sandwiches, chips, and carrots.  Lunch was great.

  After lunch it was time for us to hold court for the first time.  Our law enforcement officers from Candy Village had written almost 8 tickets to campers for infractions that ranged from talking when we shouldn't to leaning back in the chairs.  Our judges determined fines based on the jury's recommendations.  In some cases campers were found not guilty, some had to offer apologizes, others were put on probation and some were even fined Peyton Bucks.  It was tough but our jury and judges did a great job.

  When court was over it was time for Mrs. T and our EFNEP lesson.  Today we talked about germs.  We learned the meanest and baddest germ is called bacteria an
d we don't want to mess with that germ.  Mrs. T showed us the proper way to wash our hands then we tested it by seeing our germs under a black light.  Then we washed our hands using soap and water and she checked them again before we we got to make our snack.  Today we made taco salad.  Even though some of us did not like it, if we tried it we got a hundred Peyton Bucks added to our Candy Village Bank accounts so it definitely made it worth it.  

  Before we knew it it was time to head home.  We are looking forward to a futuristic day tomorrow.  Stay tuned for all the fun we will have.

Revolution of Responsibility

Revolution of Responsibility is more than the 4-H slogan it is the theme for the first day of our 4-H Cloverbud day camp.  4-H volunteer, Jessica Drake has joined us for a week of fun and excitement as we have theme days and get our youth back into a school type schedule.  For those of you not familiar with the terminology in the world of 4-H Cloverbuds are our 5-8 year old youth.  On our first day of Cloverbud camp we did something really special with this group we created our own town that will carry through to the end of the week.

  The first thing we did was learn about a really big word, democracy.  Our youth learned that they would all equally have a say in every thing we did by voting.  Our first task for the day was to come up with a name for our town.  Suggestions ranged from Holly Springs to Robotonicsville and even 4-H is Awesomeville.  When it was all said and done the majority went with Candy Village.

  Our next order of business was to create laws.  Our fist two involved being respectful and having fun.  After that we decided to make them up as we needed them.  After snack we had a special visitor, First Sergeant Larry Russ came in and talked with the campers about law enforcement, laws, and helped them understand the responsibility that comes with building a town.

  We stopped to make our own flag and our own money. The citizens of Candy Village voted on both.  When we were done Our officials flag was designed with google eyes and candy while our official money was known as Peyton Bucks.  

  Mrs. Margaret and Ms Danielle came in to fix us and awesome lunch.  We had spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread.  Everyone got their fill of it.  Then we got a few minutes to let our food digest as we watched Tangled. 

  After lunch we had to decide about our jobs.  We decided we needed a mayor, judges, jury, candy factory workers, law enforcement officers, teachers, firefighters, clean up crew, zoo keepers and a few other odd and ends jobs.  Each person had the chance to vote on salaries and who would receive what job.  In some cases we had ambitious citizens who held more than one position.  We also created the Candy Village bank with an account for each citizen.  At the end of the week they will be able to use their funds to buy items from the Candy Village General Store.

  Our group also decided they would hold court based on tickets that the law enforcement officers wrote.  The tickets would be based on the laws created and we would add talking when other safe talking and sitting incorrectly in your chair to the list of infractions on the tickets.  The jury would determine guilt or innocence and the judges would determine if someone got probation, a fine, or other actions based on the facts of the case.

After working so hard all day it was time for Mrs. Tamika.  Mrs. T, as she likes to be called, is our Expanded Foods and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) Assistant.  She teaches youth about healthy eating, physical activity, and balancing their diets.  Using Chef Carl, a puppet that reinforces these messages, Mrs. T took these youth on an adventure with a passport that teaches them all about fruits, vegetables, and grains.  One of the neat things about her program is that the youth also make a healthy snack while they are with her.  Today their snack involved taking a whole wheat tortilla, spreading peanut butter on it, then filling up a banana in it.  The campers got to eat their creations and thoroughly enjoyed them.

At that point it was time to go home.  We had a full day creating Candy Village and tomorrow we would start to decorate it with Arts and Crafts day.  Stay tuned for more fun as Cloverbud day camp unfolds this week.