Volume 8, Issue 2
2007 Illinois 4-H Volunteer Forums Spring into Action
It’s time again for 4-H Cloverbud leaders to gather at the 2007 Illinois 4-H Volunteer Forums. Come learn and share with other leaders, gain new tips and ideas to take back to your group, renew yourself as an energetic, motivated role model for youth, and strengthen your relationship with youth as a caring adult.
The forums will be held in five locations on five dates in March and April.
March 10 – Rend Lake College – Ina
March 17 – Extension Center – Springfield
March 24 – Parkland College – Champaign
April 14 – DeKalb Ag Center – Sycamore
April 28 – Black Hawk East – Kewanee
Cost for the date is $15 and includes morning snack, lunch, and program materials. Registration forms and maps are available for download on the Illinois State 4-H web site at
www.4-h.uiuc.edu/events/forum.html. Registration deadlines vary by location.
Workshop topics also vary by location but will include behavior management, experiential learning, making meetings fun, involving parents, community service, 4-H web resources, risk management, positive youth development, and Cloverbuds.
One scholarship per county will be available from the Illinois 4-H Foundation. Contact
your local Extension office for registration and other details. Invite your co-leaders to join you for a fun day of learning.
Quick Activities To Get Kids Talking
A key to putting together an effective 4-H Cloverbud meeting is determining the needs and interests of your members. Listed below are a few suggestions that may help to identify interests in a fun way.
ABC Game: Form a circle of the entire group. Explain that you are going to play the ABC Game to dream up ideas they would like to do in their Cloverbud group this year. You might share the eight curriculum areas from the Ohio State Extension Cloverbud Series One or Two curriculums or just start with one or two areas. Select one member to start. They are to say one thing that starts with the letter A that they would like to do or learn about this year. They point to the next person who says something they would like to do or learn that starts with the letter B. Continue through the alphabet until everyone gets at least one chance to share. To get more ideas, include parents in the circle. You might print the individual letters of the alphabet on index cards and distribute those to the members to help them move through the alphabet.
Example: A – animals, B – basketball, C- cactus, D - disease, etc.
Collages: Ask members, parents, and leaders to bring some pictures from magazines that represent something that they would like to do or learn about at the 4-H Cloverbud meeting. As they arrive, glue or tape all the pictures to a large piece of paper. Then sit and have a group discussion about the possibilities shown.
Winter Time Activities and Reading Choices
A number of the Ohio Cloverbud Series lessons relate to winter time activities. These include “What Can You Do with a Snowball?” in Weather Fun, “” Pinecone Bird Feeders” and “Feeding the Birds: They Like Peanut Butter Too!’ in Our Feathered Friends. You may want to check out a few related books from your local library and read these to your members as a part of your meeting activities.
Curious George in the Snow by H. A. Rey.
A curious monkey causes quite a commotion on the ski slopes.
The Hat by Jan Brett - When Lisa hangs her woolen clothes in the sun to air them out for winter, the hedgehog, to the amusement of the other animals, ends up wearing a stocking on his head.
Snow by Uri Shulevitz
As snowflakes slowly come down, one by one, people in the city ignore them, and only a boy and his dog think that the snowfall will amount to anything.
The Snow Lambs by Debi Gliori - Because she is on a rescue mission, Bess, the sheep dog, fails to respond when Sam's dad calls her to return home as a winter storm approaches.
Looking Toward Spring
If your Cloverbud group is looking forward to spring and participating in the Incredible Egg – Chicken Embryology lesson in Ohio Cloverbud Series Two, you might create interest by sharing several books related to penguins. These include
Antarctic Antics by Judy Sierra
Little Penguin’s Tale by Audrey Wood
Penguins by Gail Gibbons
Penguin Chick by Betty Tatham
Penguin Pete by Marcus Pfister
Plenty of Penguins by Sonia W. Black |
