The 4-H Cloverbud Program in Ohio is for children ages 5 to 8 and explores a healthy lifestyle with a focus on the environment, citizenship, plants and animals, science, technology, personal development, and community arts.
The point is to help children develop in a healthy way mentally, physically, socially, and emotionally. The program strives to be age-appropriate and provide a fun and positive atmosphere with leader-directed, non-competitive activities to inspire creativity and play.
The Ohio Cloverbud program hopes to help children to develop self-understanding, social interaction, decision-making skills, learning skills, and mastering physical skills, with the belief that children who have these skills are less likely to have problems with drugs, delinquency, and depression later in life.
Each year the 4-H Leaders, volunteers, and youth leaders come up with activities that build better future leaders and citizens based on specific educational instruction on how to work with this age group.
Earlier in the year the Cloverbuds were encouraged to join the “Cloverbud Engineering Adventures!”, where the participants got to travel through time and create a model of a time machine, timeline, or something from a selected period in time for a project showcase to be posted on the Cloverbud website.
Another activity conducted by older youth in training and junior leaders was a Stem day that took place on April 7th, and it was called “Swing into Spring” and it focused on the lifecycle of a Monarch Butterfly. Each Cloverbud would begin as an egg and grow through the butterflies lifespan.
Each year the Cloverbuds spend a day in a camp-like setting where educational and hands-on activities occur. In Muskingum County, the Cloverbud camps are on a three-year rotation between the KD Guest Ranch in Adamsville, Windy Ridge Jerseys in Norwich, and this year’s location McDonald’s Greenhouse & Corn Maze.
73 campers gathered under clouds and drizzle to be instructed by the 25 adult and teen volunteers. The event featured a Hayride by Pat Wheeler, pedal tractors, a petting zoo, garden seed bingo taught by Heather Coen, Master Gardener, tree identification taught by Ag Educator Clifton Martin, and a birds and bugs session taught by the Muskingum County Soil Water Conservation District. After the lessons, the kids were given free time to play on the farm.
“Cloverbuds are so wide-eyed and eager to learn. We want the children to meet other like-minded friends and grow up to love 4-H and have wonderful experiences and friendships. It was a joy to see many cousins, neighbors, and multi-generations of friends come together to enjoy a wholesome day on the farm.” stated farm owner and host Susan McDonald.
For more information on how to enroll your 5 – 8-year-old in the Cloverbud program or to volunteer to help with 4-H youth development go to https://ohio4h.org/families/cloverbuds.
