Contents Happy 200th Birthday Ohio Life on the Ohio Frontier Campus Connections Refreshment Idea

Happy 200th Birthday Ohio

Ohio is celebrating its Bicentennial birthday this year. It became the 17th state on March 1, 1803. Bells, barns, and historical markers are being used to honor and highlight Ohio's history. Refer to the web-sites listed below to learn where these historical symbols are located in your county.

Historically, bells were used in schools, courthouses, churches, and on farms. The familiar peal helped families to stay on time. Bells would ring when school or church was about to begin and when it was time to come in from the fields to eat. Each county will have a bell, similar to the Liberty Bell in shape, cast during an "out-in-the-open" two-day public event. Each bell features the county name, forging date, the great Seal of Ohio and the Bicentennial logo. Each county will decide where to display the finished bell.

The Bicentennial barn project honors Ohio's agricultural heritage. Artist Scott Hagan has spent the past five years painting the Bicentennial logo on at least one barn in each county. According to the Ohio Bicentennial web-site http://www.ohio200.com "each red, white, and blue logo measures about 20-feet-by-20-feet. Hagan draws them freehand before painting, ensuring that each barn's logo is unique. Each barn requires approximately 18 hours and seven gallons of paint to complete."

Many new historical markers have been erected across Ohio to recognize people, places and events that have made a significant impact. See the Ohio Historical Society web-site www.ohiohistory.org for more information about the historical markers.

The Bicentennial provides an opportunity to teach 4-H Cloverbuds about history. This newsletter contains ideas and resources for Cloverbud programs based on the Bicentennial.

Submitted by: Joyce Shriner, Extension Agent,
Family and Consumer Sciences,
Ohio State University Extension, Hocking County.

Back to the Top

Life on the Ohio Frontier

Life on the frontier was much different than today. Discuss some of the differences with your Cloverbud group.

Recreation – Children did not have video games, computers, or electronic toys. Instead, they played with balls, marbles, tops, dolls, and their pets. Many liked to swim, fish, dance, and play hide-and-seek, tag, and other running games.

Clothing – Girls and boys both wore long dresses until they were four or five years old. At that time, boys started dressing like men. Instead of pants or jeans, they wore breeches, short pants that came below the knee. Girls continued to wear long dresses. Everyone wore a cap or hat all the time, day and night.

School – Children were not required to go to school when Ohio became a state. Sometimes parents would teach their children to read and write, if they knew how. Or, a few families would get together and build a small schoolhouse and hire a teacher or pay the minister to teach. Children usually learned to read, write, and do arithmetic.

Sleeping – Many families lived in one-room homes. Instead of having a separate bedroom as most children do today, the entire family would lay snuggled close together on a bearskin rug or on a straw or feather stuffed mattress in front of the fireplace to stay warm.

Going to the Bathroom – Early Ohioans had to go outside to a small building called the privy or necessary house to use the toilet. They didn't take baths every day like we do. To take a bath, they had to go outside, pump water and carry it to the house. They heated it by the fireplace and then washed themselves. Most families used twigs or licorice root as toothbrushes and salt and water instead of toothpaste.

Suggested Bicentennial Activities:

• Make an Ohio Flag out of construction paper. Talk about the significance of the design. The blue triangle is symbolic of Ohio's hills and valleys. Three red and two white stripes depict roads and waterways. The white "O" stands for Ohio. The center of the O is red. There are seventeen stars because Ohio was the 17th state admitted to the union.
• Complete the attached Ohio Symbols worksheet.
• Locate the bell, barn, and historical markers in your county. Visit one or several sights as a field trip.
• Visit the Historical Society in your county.
• Invite a historian to tell about early Ohio during a club meeting.
• Read a short book about Ohio or American history during a meeting. Here are some suggestions:

  B is for Buckeye: An Ohio Alphabet by Marcia Schonberg
  The Legend of Blue Jacket by Michael P. Spradlin
  Johnny Appleseed by Eva Moore
  Steamboat in a Cornfield by John Hartford
  Ohio Facts and Symbols by Emily McAuliffe
  Take Me Out to the Airfield! How the Wright Brothers Invented the Airplane by Robert Quackenbush
  If You Grew Up with George Washington by Ruth Belov Gross
  If You Traveled on The Underground Railroad by Ellen Levine

For more ideas see "Our Country" and "Storytelling" in the Ohio Cloverbud Curriculum Series II and "Our Flag" in Series I.

References:

Brenner, B. (2000). If You Lived in Williamsburg in Colonial Days. New York: Scholastic.

Gross, R. B. (1993). If You Grew Up with George Washington. New York: Scholastic.

Submitted by: Joyce Shriner, Extension Agent,
Family and Consumer Sciences,
Ohio State University Extension, Hocking County.

Back to the Top

Campus Connections

Hello Cloverbud Volunteers!!!

Well it is that time of the season to make another Campus Connection.

In our latest evaluation of Cloverbud Connections (CC), you indicated that activity ideas were a highly valued feature of CC. Here are few activities you might want to use in addition to our curriculum when you have a little extra time remaining in the Cloverbud activity period.

Teeth

Read the following poem:

Super Smile To Keep my teeth from growing Great big globs of greenish moss, I brush them after every meal, And every night I floss. Instead of guzzling soda, I drink water, milk and juices; I wouldn't want my smile To be as toothless as a goose's? And when I'm old, my teeth will stay Exactly where they are, Instead of – like my Grandpa's- In a teeny little jar. By Heidi Roemer

Ask the kids about healthy tooth care tips. Make large paper teeth on which the Cloverbud kids can write their tips. Also ask them how many teeth they have lost. Was it pulled? Swallowed? Lost in food? Did the tooth fairy make a visit to your house?

Heart in Hands

Discuss the human heart, a muscle that works hard pumping blood within our bodies. To illustrate that point, provide a bowl of water. Have each Cloverbud kid submerge their fist into the bowl, then ask them to tighten and loosen their hand while under water to see the pump action. Have them describe what it feels like to have water entering and exiting their hand. Ask them if they think their hand would get tired if they tighten and loosed their hand for one hour straight? Talk about how the heart is always pumping.

(Activities by Swartz, 2003, p. 70)

Thanks for all that you do as Cloverbud Leaders and Advisors!!

Scott D. Scheer, Ph.D;
State Extension Specialist,
4-H Youth Development, Preadolescent Education
The Ohio State University

Back to the Top

Refreshment Idea

Mealtime in 1803 was different than today. There were no fast-food restaurants or grocery stores. Pizza, pop, the microwave and other modern appliances had not been invented. Cooking was done over a fireplace. Trees and bushes were planted for fruit. Vegetables were raised in the family garden. Livestock provided meat, milk, and eggs for the family.

To go along with the Bicentennial theme, serve cornmeal muffins with jam, apple slices and a glass of milk. This snack is similar to what children would have had years ago.

Submitted by: Joyce Shriner, Extension Agent,
Family and Consumer Sciences,
Ohio State University Extension, Hocking County.

Back to the Top

Keith L. Smith, Associate Vice President for Ad. Admin. and Director, OSU Extension TDD No. 800-589-8292 (Ohio only) or 614-292-1868