|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
|
|||||||||
|
The Advantages of Including Older Adult Volunteers Older adults today are more healthy and active than ever before. They also are living a lot longer and spending more time in retirement. One advantage to this extended, vibrant adulthood is the chance for seniors to spend time with members of younger generations. As a 4-H volunteer, have you considered incorporating older adults into your program activities? Intergenerational programming is becoming increasingly popular nationwide in schools and community agencies. There are a multitude of benefits to encouraging the young and old to interact! Benefits to Children:
An older friend can teach new skills and help develop self-confidence in their young partners. A senior can serve as a mentor and help children with the difficult job of growing up. Interacting with seniors provides children with positive images of aging and helps to reduce any existing fears of older people. By establishing a connection with an older friend, a child who has no grandparent close by can enjoy a "pseudo" grandma or grandpa. Inquisitive children can have their many questions answered. Benefits to Older Adults:
Working with children provides a connection to young people; especially for those who either do not have grandchildren or who are living far away from them. Involvement in a 4-H program provides opportunities to see new things, learn new projects and try new activities. Working with children helps retired seniors feel productive and provides a sense of purpose. Volunteering with 4-H can assist with maintaining physical mobility as well as intellectual stimulation. Seniors can once again view the world through children's eyes. If you have not already, consider recruiting older adults in your community to participate in a few planned events. Consult these organizations for activity ideas and resources. ** Generations Together http://www.pitt.edu/~gti/
Christine Price, OSU Extension State Specialist, Gerontology Exploring Farm Animals, 4HCCS publication BU-6350, is a volunteer's group activity guide for youth who are 6 to 8 years old. The guide contains fun-filled, safe, animal-related activities for children. It is $3.30 and is available at http://www.n4hccs.org. Here are a few of the activities in the Exploring Farm Animals guide. They can be used alone or incorporated into the "Just the Food Facts, Ma'am" lesson in the Ohio Cloverbud Curriculum Series II. Following Milk from Cow to Table Involve the youth in drawing and coloring the steps that are a part of animal products moving from the farm to the store. Milk for example would include these steps
Source: Exploring Farm Animals, 4HCCS publication BU-6350, p. 11.
Ask small groups of children to make milk group, meat group, and other animal-product mobiles. Materials needed include scissors, glue, string or yarn, paper punch, hangers, magazines or crayons and markers, and unlined 5" by 7" index cards. Create the mobile by having children draw, paint or paste pictures of animal-produced foods on one side of 5" by 7" cards and the animal that produced the product on the other side. Use a paper punch and string or yarn to assemble the mobile. Punch a hole at he top of each index card and tie with string. Tie opposite ends of strings to wire hangers so that they are balanced on the hanger. Source: Exploring Farm Animals, 4HCCS publication BU-6350, p. 8.
Identifying Kinds of Farm Animals Situation: You are with a friend who doesn't know much about farm animals. Your Task: Match the pictures of the animals with their names and name one thing that makes them different from the other animals. Source: Exploring Farm Animals, 4HCCS publication BU-6350, p.23.
Grade Level: K-2 Materials: Clear plastic 35mm film canister, ice cream or tongue depressor stick, rubber band, glue, black permanent marker, clear nail polish Every farmer needs a way to help measure the amount of rain that falls during the growing season. Measure from the bottom of a clear plastic 35mm film canister, drawing short lines every 1/4 inch with a black permanent marker. Apply a coat of clear nail polish over the lines, making them waterproof. Next you will glue the canister to an ice cream or tongue depressor stick. Attach a rubber band to help hold the canister in place while the glue dries. Push the stick into the ground in an open space and sit back and wait for the rain to fall! Linda Klingenberg
Materials: Crayons or pencils, scissors, blank sheets of paper for each child, glue, other materials than can be glued to paper to add dimension or texture (seeds, cloth, etc.) Young children are often curious why animals all look different- big or small , hairy or feathered, black or white. Why do animals all look different? Scientists, too, wonder why animals look the way they do. They use differences in parts to classify or group them. Scientists have already classified almost a million species of animals, and each year brings discoveries of new ones. This activity encourages youth to think about the special parts of animals by asking them to create and explain an imaginary "critter" with a specialized purpose. In doing this, the youth will learn that animals have parts specialized for their environment as they practice communicating and relating to others. Get the children thinking about the subject of animal body parts. Begin by dividing the group into pairs. Have each pair talk about differences they have seen in the way animals look. Allow each pair to talk about their observations. Then explain that the differences among animals help them survive. The long necks of giraffes, for example, let them reach the leaves of trees that other animals cannot. Scientists use these differences in animal parts to put animals into groups. Ask the children to "Create a Critter" with a special purpose of its own (a room-cleaning or game-playing critter, for example). Have them begin by drawing an outline of the critter on a blank piece of paper. Encourage the children to be creative; the animal can have parts from a variety of animals or even something that no real animal has. To help them get ideas, you may want to draw animal parts on a chalkboard or wall in the front of the room (cat nose, pig tail, bird beak, etc.). To further stimulate imaginations, you may want to supply other materials that the children can add to their "critter" such as small shells, pieces of cloth or seeds. Finally, ask each child to explain his or her critter and its special parts to the group, either to the whole group or to groups of three or four. Q. What "critter" did you make? Q. What is your "critters" name? Q. How hard was it to "create a critter of your own? Why? People have sayings that sometimes include animals. Have the youth make a list of them. (Quite as a mouse, hungry as a bear.) Source: Exploring Farm Animals, 4HCCS publication BU-6350, pp. 12-13.
Hello Volunteers!!! Have you ever felt like you just don't have it together to lead a Cloverbud Group that is about to start in a few hours? Your day was busy. Trying to take care of things at home or work was all you got done. I am sure you are not alone when this happens. Keep in mind that there are many activities in both the first and second Cloverbud Curriculum Series that do not require any materials or preparation before the activity. But more importantly, you the Cloverbud Leader, already have many abilities and talents that will make your Cloverbud groups successful, even when you don't feel fully prepared. We know from the research that having a positive adult role model is an essential element of any child or youth development program. You are the positive adult role model providing guidance, support, and recognition by listening, communicating, guiding, and leading. In a recent article titled, "Sharing Our Gifts" (2001, p. 77), in the journal Young Children, Gera Jacobs points out that "sharing yourself and your interests can be a real asset to your children and program. This can be done by simply being yourself and being present for the children. Being present means really listening to them, being available to them, and responding to them." Her advice for programming success does not require any planning or preparation. So the next time the day of your Cloverbud gathering has been wild and hectic, remember you are already equipped with much of what it takes to have a positive, successful Cloverbud encounter. Scott D. Scheer, Ph.D.
Continue the animal theme during refreshments by offering your Cloverbuds one of these quick and easy snacks.
|
|
|||||||
|
All educational programs conducted by Ohio State University Extension are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, gender, age, disability or Vietnam-era veteran status. Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ad. Admin. and Director,
OSU Extension TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868 |
|||||||||
