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From time to time many 4-H volunteers need to take a moment and think about some ideas on how to effectively promote their programs. Even though you may already be doing a good job of "getting the word out" about your Cloverbud Club program, it never hurts to consider a few other ideas. Here are some of the simpler, more-effective ways of promoting a program locally:
Although there are many more ways to promote programs, these five ideas are among the easiest and most cost-effective. However, if you have the time and inclination, it is always worth it to think about other ways to effectively promote your specific program. Extension Associate Communications & Youth Program Management A special edition of Cloverbud Connections will be printed for Spring 2000. The issue will contain articles about the guidelines of the Ohio Cloverbud Program, special insights for working with 5-8 year olds, suggestions for using the cloverbud curriculum, and a wonderful section to help volunteers organize and conduct an awesome club for members. Exploring Your Senses with Nature This activity gives youth an opportunity to learn by using their five senses. Some of us learn better by touching or listening or seeing . This lesson helps us to explore these learning strategies. Try using this lesson at a Cloverbud Day Camp or as an activity at a Cloverbud Meeting. This lesson is designed for an outdoor setting. Using your eyes to explore sight. Have children describe things in nature that they can see around them. Focus on the clouds in the sky. Describe the different shapes of the clouds. Give each child a cotton ball and ask them to shape it to look like a cloud that they see in the sky. Ask them how their cotton ball is like the cloud and how it is different. Ask what clouds are made of, and how they look on rainy days as compared to how they look on sunny days and just before thunderstorms. Using your ears to explore hearing. Ask for participants to be as quiet as possible and to listen. Listening for sounds of nature; ask the children what they hear? Ask if they can hear the wind? Have children describe what the wind is moving; does it make noise; what kind? Ask what they can hear but cannot see? What types of insects can be heard? What types of sounds do they make? Can they hear any water? Are there any people sounds? Are there any machine sounds? Put your ear to the ground - what do you hear? Put your ear against a tree - what do you hear? Lead a discussion asking children what their favorite sounds are and what their least favorite sounds are? Using your hands to explore touching. Start with tree touching. Lead students from tree to tree, touching each trunk and comparing the texture of the bark. Ask students if they can find two trees that are the same just by the feel of the bark. Have students feel the bark, the leaves, the size of the trunk, etc of a specific tree. Have them describe what they feel. Is it rough, smooth, sticky, etc? Using your nose to explore smelling. Have children smell in the air. Ask them what they can smell. Ask what these smells remind them of. Choose some fresh herbs or flowers with a strong scent. Pass them around, and ask the children to smell the herbs and flowers. Have the children describe the smells and tell what the smells remind them of. Using your mouth to explore tasting. Begin by showing the children some honeycomb. Ask the children if they know what it is and where it comes from. Let the children smell the honeycomb while explaining how bees produce honey. Give each child a taste of the honey by dipping a wooden Popsicle stick into the honey jar for each child. Ask the children to describe what it tastes like. Ask the students to describe the taste. Is it sweet, salty, or sour? Have them tell you what the taste reminds them of. Each activity gives the children an opportunity to use different learning styles by focusing on a nature theme. Not only will the children learn about their senses and how they work, but they will also be learning a little about their natural environment. Activities adapted from: Walk This Way! Classroom Hikes to Learning, Rebecca Olien, 1998, Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH. Jane Keyser, Extension Agent, 4-H Youth Development, Harrison County, Ohio Looking for an interesting theme for a Cloverbud camp or meeting? Madison, Clark and Greene counties took 77 campers on a "Wild Western Adventure" in August, and the theme was a hit! Like regular 4-H camps, the tri-county Cloverbud Camp was built on a theme. Once the theme was decided, everything that was planned focused on that theme. Prior to camp, during our volunteer counselor training sessions, counselors were asked to prepare decorations for their cabins in the "Wild Western Adventure" theme. Each counselor did so, and most also dressed the part and planned mixer activities to match the theme. The tribes the Cloverbuds were placed into were named after western items and people. From the moment campers stepped into camp, they were on a "Wild Western Adventure." The overnight camp program began with a "Western Round-Up Rodeo." Campers had several activities to choose from, including a chance to pan for gold, lasso a "steer" and cut a calf using balloons. Those who wanted to be a little more creative could paint a snake. Campfire was complete with an interactive western story and a guitarist who led campers in old western songs. They were also able to make leather bracelets similar to what American Indians wear. Morning wake-ups and tribe calls were all done in the western theme. What added to the actual planned activities that matched the theme was the attitude of everyone who helped to make camp a success. The staff and counselors all dressed and acted the part, even if it was as simple as wearing a flannel or southwestern designed shirt. This encouraged Cloverbuds to put on the western vests and cowboy boots that their parents had packed for them. When the youth saw that everyone, including counselors, were participating in the theme, they were eager to be apart of the "Wild Western Adventure" that was Cloverbud Camp. To learn more about this year's Clark, Greene and Madison Cloverbud Camp, check out www.ag. ohio-state.edu/~madi/clovcamp.htm or contact the individual county offices. 4-H Office Assistant, Madison County, Ohio What do you do when it's school vacation time, and dozens of children will spend eight to ten hours at your day care every day for a week, two weeks, or two months? 4-H Cloverbud Activities is the answer for many day-care providers in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County. Over 130 day care providers at both Familyhome and Center-based day-care programs have been trained as 4-H Cloverbud advisors. They use the Cloverbud activities as well as other 4-H programs such as Talking with T.J. and Keys for Kids to keep the children in their care busy. Day-care providers are looking for ways to set their program apart as excellent, to keep their certification and to gain accreditation for their program. They find that Cloverbuds can help with all of these goals. The ninety minute training program allows the providers to understand the key elements of Cloverbuds as well as gain some insight into 4-H as a youth development program. Many of the providers are very new to 4-H. Occasionally we find a provider who was a 4-H member when young but most say they did not know that 4-H was in the city and that we had such a program as Cloverbuds. Training includes several hands on activities with actual Cloverbud Activities as well as a chance to understand the skill areas that the Cloverbud Activities teach. Joseph H. Konen, Extension Agent, 4-H Youth Development, Cuyahoga County, Ohio We want to hear from you! In future issues of Cloverbud Connections we want to feature success stories, questions, suggestions, and ideas that work from Cloverbud volunteers. Please take a few minutes to write, call, or e-mail one of the co-editors. You can reach us at the address/phone number, or e-mail address on the last page of the newsletter. County Fair Activities for Cloverbuds The county fair has just opened and all of your club's members are involved in such activities as grooming and showing their animals, displaying their projects and many of the other activities required for a successful fair. This is the culmination of the 4-H year and everyone is participating in as many activities as they can manage. This is great for the regular members but what do we do for the Cloverbuds? They have been attending meetings through the year, watching all the preparations necessary for project completion by the members and now suddenly might feel left out of the excitement. There are several things you can do as advisors to help the Cloverbud to think of the fair as offering just as much for them as the older members. Each club booth usually sets aside some space for their Cloverbud projects but in most cases these items tend to be relegated to a position of relative unimportance. How about setting aside a booth just for Cloverbud projects (this year we had a booth 12 feet in length and could have filled a longer one). The array of items you'll receive to display is certainly broad, but as Cloverbud members interests are so varied this should not be surprising. We displayed everything from large dioramas to traditional craft projects, and everything in between. These were all backed by undersea murals completed at Day Camp by the members and a couple of very creative advisors. It is very gratifying to see our little ones take a relative to the booth and proudly point out their project displayed in a prominent place in the exhibit. By the final day of the fair everything is winding down and there is more time to devote to Cloverbud activities. This year our horse club advisors assisted in producing a stick horse show for our Cloverbuds and the response to this was overwhelming. Many of our members had both sets of grandparents and mom and dad assisting in the construction of their horse (stick horse kits available from Vanguard Crafts, Inc., PO Box 340170, Brooklyn, NY 11234, $14.75 - 24 project pack). Next each member moved to the interview where they described their horse, its name, and how they went about training it. They then had to register their horse in a class and receive their official number. The actual horse show was held in an arena setting set up by classes with advisors serving as judges. All participants received a ribbon specially printed for the show. The final fair event for 4-H members is an awards program where all yearly honors are presented to the winners. Again to show to the Cloverbuds how important they are to our program, their awards are given out first. Each club and its members are called forward, the member's name is read and each is presented with a large participation rosette. We've learned that special fair activities for Cloverbuds can make them feel that they are an important part of our program and valuable additions to 4-H. Mervin Hall, Program Assistant, 4-H Youth Development, Sandusky County, Ohio Hello!! Great to be back in "Campus Connections!" In putting together this column I struggle sometimes with how to convey what will be most helpful to you, the volunteer. When I have difficulties addressing issues or concerns with our Cloverbud Program I refer back to this particular question: "How does the activity, issue, or concern help or hinder the healthy development of Cloverbud children?" Specifically, are the Cloverbud goals of advancing life skills in one or more of the following areas happening: physical mastery, getting along with others (social skills), learning to learn, making decisions, and self-esteem? We do know that our curriculum gets at accomplishing these life skills directly and indirectly through the use of activities. For example, when the children are working on an activity together like, "Making Wind Work," it takes about three children helping each other and working together to complete the activity. They help advance their own social skills by getting along with others, talking, and sharing. The primary point I am trying to get across is, yes this is an obvious way to promote healthy development, but the leadership and guidance that comes from you the volunteer is just as critical and important as the activities. The support and assistance that you give these children helps them in all five life skill areas. When you provide encouragement, positive recognition, and helpful questioning you are a positive adult role model for children to build on their abilities and skills. As the saying goes, "our children are our future and we should invest in them." That is just what you are doing as a positive adult role model. Well until next time, take care and have fun. I look forward to communicating again with you soon. State Extension Specialist, 4-H Youth Development, Preadolescent Education 1/2 c. Cheddar cheese, grated
Makes six servings. Serving size = 1 Quesadilla Source Snackin' Smart, Ohio Department of Education, 1996, p. 52. |
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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 |
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