by Stefanie Prevatt | May 29, 2015
Photo credit: Zulema Wibmer, 4-H Program Assistant, Leon County 4-H Office
Garden-based education is taking America by storm. While this is concept dates as far back as the seventeenth century, it certainly feels like the popular movement of the day. 4-H has been using garden based education since 1902 with tomato and corn clubs to teach life skills such as resiliency, planning and organizing, and communication. These same skills are necessary to become a successful entrepreneur:
Resiliency: the ability to try again after failure. A garden is the perfect place for youth to test ideas or try new things. As adults, we know that sometimes the key to success is (safe) failure! If you are using a garden your classroom, allow creative experimentation. Success will build on itself and trials that missed the mark will make for more lively discussion and group cohesion.
Planning/organizing: the process of figuring out what to do (planning) and how to do it (organizing). Whether you are starting new or continuing an existing project, allowing the expression of youth ideas and goals – followed by their help implementing these plans – is crucial to your project’s success. Remember, we can grow all the vegetables in the world, but if the youth don’t learn or feel a sense of accomplishment related to the project, all we did was grow vegetables.
Communication: the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, signals, writing, or behavior. In today’s tech savy world, we are losing the ability to communicate in person and in writing. You have a unique opportunity to work with your group together, or as individuals, to discuss (or write descriptively) about your garden.
Photo credit: Zulema Wibmer, 4-H Program Assistant, Leon County 4-H Office
UF IFAS Extension offers many resources to help both youth and adults become entrepreneurs in the food industry. Food entrepreneurship has really exploded with the Cottage Food Law. Many County Extension Offices offer workshops and seminars on food entrepreneurship, and there are also some great online resources to help you get started:
If you have a green thumb, consider going “totally green” as a 4-H gardening volunteer or Master Gardener. 4-H needs caring adults like you to share their knowledge and passion for gardening with the next generation. Through the 4-H gardening project, youth not only learn gardening knowledge and skills, they also learn responsibility, teamwork, and other life skills that will help them grow up to be compassionate and competent citizens. To get involved, contact your local UF IFAS Extension Office, or visit http://florida4h.org./volunteers.
Your opinion matters! Please provide feedback on this short survey to help us improve our blog: https://ufl.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3gtLKjqia3F75QN
by Stefanie Prevatt | Feb 13, 2015
I have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest. I am, admittedly, a perfectionist. And Pinterest sets me up for failure. Perhaps it’s because I am the least crafty person you will ever meet, but nothing ever turns out the way it looks in the photos. Yet, I keep searching and trying new things.
Today’s Pinterest find was a neat little project I found here. I was immediately drawn in by the cute little hearts and the idea that no sweets are involved! Upon exploring this project further, I came to believe this had success written all over it: find crayons, chop up crayons, melt. Easy peasy. Turns out, things were a little more complicated than that, but I would still suggest this as a doable project for 4-H’ers of any age (with proper adult supervision, of course).
Crayon Hearts
1. Collect used crayons. Ask members to bring them to your meeting. You want a good mixture or bright and dark colors.
2. Peel paper off crayons. This was by far the most tedious task. If you will be doing this activity with younger 4-H’ers, I would bring the crayons already peeled.
3. Cut crayons into small pieces. Upon completing this, I realized I should have cut mine a little smaller to help with their melting.
cut crayons
4. Put crayons in silicone baking tray. 230 degrees for 15-20 mins.
baking crayons
5. Let heart crayons cool and remove (more like peal) from tray.
Now what?
There is so much more to this activity than breaking crayons and melting them into hearts.
- Teamwork is required to prepare all the materials. Don’t forget, crayons won’t peal themselves!
- Planning and organizing are required if youth want to have hearts turn out a certain color. Check out these crayons.
- Decision making is necessary to figure out what will be done with the crayon hearts.
- Should the hearts be donated to a local children’s hospital or Ronald McDonald House?
- Older youth can figure out the per item cost of each heart and compare it to the cost of store-bought gifts.
Whether you need something related to your specific project area or you are seeking an idea for a fun, themed activity, Pinterest will certainly not disappoint. Don’t forget, even if your activity turns into a Pinterest fail, celebrate the teachable moments and successes along the way!
A Pinterest success!
References:
Crayon hearts: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/115334440431430268/
Nifty crayon hearts: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/409898003556943584/
by Stefanie Prevatt | Sep 13, 2013
Welcome to the new 4-H year! As you begin making plans to re-connect with your club members and families, make plans to create a year-long plan for your 4-H Club.
Why should your 4-H club plan up to a year in advance?
A plan will help to:
- Meet the needs of all members
- Share responsibilities (among youth, parents, and volunteers)
- Provide better communication to members and families
- Practice cooperation, compromise, and planning skills
- Avoid calendar conflicts
4-H members plant trees for a community service project during Arbor Day.
What should be in your 4-H club plan?
- Monthly Business Meetings
- County, District, and State Activities
- Tours and Trips
- Community Service
- Workshops
- Recreation
- Guest Speakers
- Fund Raising
There are many different ways to create a “year plan” for your 4-H club. The following are a few examples of activities that can be done during a meeting to ensure that all members’ thoughts and ideas are expressed. Keep in mind, when beginning to discuss plans for your club’s focus, education should be the top priority (what youth want to learn during the year).
Sharing Ideas:
Tape a large piece of paper to the wall. On the paper, write two statements: (1) “This year in _____ 4-H Club, I want to learn…” (2) This year in _____ 4-H Club, I really want to….” As youth arrive, direct their attention to the paper and ask them to complete the statements. At a designated time during the meeting, discuss the responses.
Collages:
Have youth create a collage of his/her “year plan” for the club. Materials needed for this activity are: magazines, newspapers, crayons, markers, scissors, glue, construction paper, etc. You can also do this activity in groups.
Design Your Own Clover
Have each member complete the “Design Your Own Clover.” Members can share one leaf of the clover a designated point during the meeting.
Creating a Program Planning Committee
Now that you have all these ideas from your club members, how do you implement your plan? Form a program planning committee. It is important that this committee be representative of your entire club. Older members are likely to be effective planners, but might leave out needs of younger members. In general, committee members are: vice president, secretary, recreation leader, and an adult. It is also good practice to add two or three members who are not officers. This committee can meet on a separate day from the club meeting or convene before/after a club meeting to complete their responsibilities. Once finalized, the committee should report back to the entire club to receive final approval for their plan.
Club planning is not a cut and dry process. Every club can modify these practices to best suite your members – keeping in mind the reason for creating such a plan is to keep the actions of your club directed toward your goals. Your 4-H Extension Agent is also a great resource during this process. Contact your local agent to receive help in creating a plan or for a list of important dates/deadlines for your local office.
Resources:
http://www.uaex.edu/other_areas/publications/PDF/4HCF1.pdf
http://gallia.osu.edu/adams/topics/4-h-youth-development/making-the-best-4-h-clubs-better-twenty-minutes-at-a-time/Handout%20-%20Design%20Your%20Own%20Clover.pdf
http://florida4h.org/clubs/files/4H%20GCL%2020.PDF
by Stefanie Prevatt | Apr 12, 2013
April kicks off the global month of service. If you are responsible for guiding and organizing service learning projects for your 4-H Club (or any other organization), follow this five step process to ensure a successful, enriching experience for all involved:
1. Assess.
Who (or what) needs help in your local community? Ask for youth input for a specific area, location, or population.
2. Plan.
Define learning objectives for the project. These can be general or specific, but the service project should be guided by an educational goal.
3. Participate.
To engage youth in a true service learning experience, ask reflection questions during the actual service project.
4. Analyze and Generalize.
Immediately following the experience, ask questions to learn how youth felt while they were engaged in the service project, such as: “What was the most difficult task you did today?”
To generalize is to understand the “so what.” Ask questions like: “What did you learn about yourself while completing this project?”
5. Apply.
Ideally, service learning is a continuous process. Whether giving an illustrated talk on increased awareness of animal abuse or volunteering at a local hospital on their own time, service learning hopes to foster “self-worth, citizenship, critical thinking skills, [and ] responsibility” in youth (Mashburn, Harder, & Pracht, 2011).
For more information on how to can make community service more enriching and meaningful for youth and adults:
Mashburn, D., Harder, A., & Pracht, D. (2011). Learning by doing: Utilizing service-learning projects (AEC392). Gainesville: University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Retrieved August 23, 2012 from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/wc073#FIGURE%201
The Leon County 4-H Horticulture Club grew and donated over 150lbs of fresh vegetables to local food banks in 2012.
