Volume 6, Issue 1

Get Up and Move!

Get Up and Move! is a new initiative for 4-H clubs/groups in Illinois. With childhood obesity a local, state, and national issue, 4-H is encouraging members and leaders to focus on health and physical activity this year during their meetings. Cloverbud groups may want to participate in some of the same activities.

Each month on the Illinois 4-H web site at www.4-h.uiuc.edu/opps/move, a leader activity guide, a physical activity calendar, educational activity, and a recipe will be posted. Information for September and October is already on the web site, but you may use the materials at any time.

In addition, the Ohio State Extension Cloverbud Level I and II curricula include Healthy Life Style as one of the eight curriculum areas. In Level I, the themes include Making Healthy Food Choices and Fitness is Fun. The Food Drive: Jumping-Jack-Athon meeting guide in the Citizenship area also works well with the Fitness Fun lesson. In Level II the themes are Food Fun and Looking Your Best. These age-appropriate activities easily fit with the physical activity theme and can be a good introduction to the 4-H Cloverbud program.

Welcome to the 2004- 05 4-H Cloverbud Year!

Fall 2004 brings the beginning of the new 4-H year and the organization of 4-H Cloverbud groups. For all new volunteers, we encourage you to take part in the 4-H Cloverbud Orientation and to get to know your Extension staff members. They can be a great resource for you as you plan a successful 4-H Cloverbud experience for your members.

November 2, 2004 Is Election Day

With 2004 being an election year, what better time to introduce the concept of democracy to 4-H Cloverbud members! In the Level II curriculum there is a lesson plan entitled Democracy, Voting, and You! Activities include ”voting”, “campaigning”, “elected officials in our community”, ” courthouse visit”, and “political guest speaker”. The lesson plan also includes the titles of several children’s books that may be read to 4-H Cloverbud members to help set the stage for learning or for sharing afterwards to reinforce the activities. A related lesson plan is Our Flag in Level I and Our Country in Level II.

Social Development During Middle Childhood

Middle childhood, ages 5 – 10, is an exciting time of development. Children begin this time with great optimism and enthusiasm for learning. It is also a time of enjoyable and productive relationships between children and adults. That is why the 4-H Cloverbud program can be such a positive experience – children get to participate in a variety of fun topics in a social setting with their peers and adults other than their parents.

Children during this time seek opportunities to master new skills, make decisions, and to form good social relationships with peers and adults outside the family. The Illinois 4-H Cloverbud program focuses on the complementary life skills of self-understanding, social interaction, decision-making, learning to learn, and mastering physical skills. 4-H Cloverbud groups may provide a positive and safe context for children to move from home and their parents to the wider world of friends, peers, and other caring adults. Successful 4-H Cloverbud programs can help to give children a healthy view of their competence, a positive attitude toward learning, and engagement in variety of activities and challenges.

Middle childhood provides opportunities for cognitive changes that heightens children’s abilities to reflect on their own successes and failures; a broadening of the children’s world to encompass peers, adults, and activities outside the family; and exposure to social comparison.

During this time, children spend less time under the supervision of their parents and become increasingly influenced by other adults such as teachers, 4-H Cloverbud leaders, and sports instructors. Participation in outside groups exposes children to different religious and ethnic groups as well as diverse personal styles.

As children join 4-H Cloverbuds or other out-of-school groups, they experience increased individual freedom and heightened demands that they control their behavior. Adults put pressure on children to be “good”, show respect for adults, and to cooperate with their peers.

4-H Cloverbud programs allow children to safely explore independence, peer relationships and leadership. These programs can provide for the formation of long-lasting relationships with adults outside of the family. 4-H Cloverbud programs will support healthy, positive development during middle childhood and will also help put into place the safety net needed to support the transition to early and middle adolescence.

Adapted from an article by Jacquelynne S. Eccles entitled The Development of Children Ages 6 to 14 in The Future of Children: When School is Out. Vo. 9 No. 2, Fall 1999.