Volume 4, Issue 3

Positive Youth Development

We are featuring a series of nine articles related to the topic of positive youth development. This issue deals with the third of the eight critical elements.

4-H Cloverbud Program Critical Elements – An Opportunity for Mastery/Competence

The 4-H Cloverbud group should provide its members and leaders a welcoming/ inclusive environment where there is a sense of belonging; where group members are encouraged and supported; where members are offered encouragement with positive and specific feedback. Healthy 4-H Cloverbud groups celebrate the success of all members – taking pride in the collective efforts of all.

The following are a few tips to consider in helping your 4-H Cloverbud members have an opportunity to work toward mastery/competence.

4-H Cloverbud groups should allow children to be creative across all eight different subject matter areas that are included in the two levels of the Ohio 4-H Cloverbud Curriculum. By giving children choices among the lessons covered in the curriculum and among the activities outlined in the individual lessons, adults provide opportunities for boys and girls to experience a variety of subjects.

If the youngsters are really interested in the topic, they may want to repeat an activity over and over again until they master it. Or they may want to move from one related activity to another to gain greater knowledge on a particular topic.

Cloverbud volunteers should encourage children to try new activities to gain wider experiences. In time, they will probably discover their own talents and skills and choose to limit their involvement in a few projects as a 4-H club member.

4-H Cloverbud volunteers should utilize the experiential learning cycle when conducting activities with 4-H Cloverbud members. Children should have the opportunity to experience, share, process, generalize and apply during the activity period.

The Ohio curriculum is set up into eight sections with at least three lessons in each section. Within the lesson there are five parts. The first part – Getting Started contains 3- 4 activities that are 4-7 minutes in length. These help introduce the topic of the lesson. The second part – Digging Deeper has 3-7 activities of 4-10 minutes in length. These allow the 4-H Cloverbud members to explore the subject through hands-on activities. Part three – Looking Within has 2-3 activities of 3-5 minutes in length. These help the youth to understand the topic and apply the lesson to daily life. These activities often include circle time where the youngsters have time to talk and share ideas. Part four – Bringing Closure – provides follow up activities such as a game or snack or recognition for the members. Part five is Going Beyond and this contains follow up activities that can be done at home with the parents or other family members. Each activity lists questions to help generate discussion and move the volunteers and members through the experiential learning cycle. For additional training on the experiential learning cycle, contact your local Extension office.

Because the 4-H Cloverbud program is “activity based,” it provides opportunities for members to learn and practice new skills, talents and abilities. Doing doesn’t automatically mean learning however. Youth need time to talk about what they are doing and how it applies to their own lives. By selecting activities from each of the five parts of the Cloverbud lesson, volunteers will help their members move through each step of the experiential learning cycle.

4-H Cloverbud volunteers should be sure that they only utilize developmentally age-appropriate curriculum and activities with 4-H Cloverbud members. While there are many other resource materials available to the general public, be sure that as you supplement activities, they are geared to this age group. Likewise, as you review the county 4-H newsletter, be sure you only select activities that are age-appropriate for your 4-H Cloverbud members. If you are looking for additional curriculum for your group, review the list of 4-H Cloverbud projects on pages 29-31 in the Illinois Clover.

4-H Cloverbud Volunteer Orientation Video

Ohio recently produced a 25-minute video to help 4-H Cloverbud volunteers better understand the program and how to promote healthy development of 4-H Cloverbud members through life skill programming. There are six sections to the video including an introduction, program parameters, 4-H Cloverbud curriculum, group organization, and expectations for volunteers.

Each Extension Office in the Northeast Region has a copy of this video as well as a handout to explain differences and similarities in the Illinois and Ohio programs. To borrow the video for self-study, to recruit or orient parents as 4-H Cloverbud volunteers, or to view the video as part of a 4-H Cloverbud volunteer training session, talk to your local Extension youth staff member.

Written by: Sheri Seibold, Extension Educator – Youth Development from University of Illinois Extension.