Cloverbud Day Camp held at Grace UMC
Karaline Graham, 6, and Kylee Bice, 7, show off the crafts they made with the help of their junior leader, Grace Miller, at the Cloverbud Day Camp held at Grace UMC on June 17.
COSHOCTON – “Under the Sea” was the theme of the day camp held for area Cloverbuds at Grace United Methodist Church on Saturday, June 17. Jenny Strickler, 4H educator, said about 25 children, aged 5 – 8, had signed up to attend. “We wanted to have a day to show the Cloverbuds what 4H is and so they could get together and have some fun.”
Strickler said there were 16 teens helping, along with several adults. “Everything goes along with our Under the Sea theme. All of the games and activities, even their lunch and take home snack, follow it. Their take home snack is blue M & M’s with gold fish in a bag.” The camp included indoor and outdoor games, face painting, several crafts and lunch.
The children were split into groups of five and spent about 30 minutes at each station. Outside, they could try a fishing game or digging through sand for treasures. Inside, they participated in an obstacle course where they had to crawl through “jelly fish,” hop like frogs and crawl like crabs. The Cloverbuds also had to complete several activities, such as feeding a whale and pin the leg on an octopus while blindfolded. They decorated picture frames, did a whale craft and also created bottled sand art.
Danielle Woodward – Wells is the Cloverbud Rep for Coshocton County. She started in 4-H as a young child and continued as long as she could. This is her first year as the representative for the county and she is excited to tell children about 4-H. “4-H teaches responsibility and gives children the chance to meet new people. It’s also fun. We have a Cloverbud camp once a year and Grace UMC donates the space for us to meet here.”
Woodward-Wells said most Cloverbuds have family members who are in 4-H or their parents were. “4-H is just a neat thing to do. It helps children get excited about 4-H and the learn how to meet new people.” She also said the Cloverbuds have a fair booth each year and this is very exciting to the little ones.
Jamie Donaker, Cloverbud Advisor for Hamilton Valley Hustlers, was helping with the sand art and whale craft. “4-H is a lifestyle. It helps with early youth development and social skills. And the little ones are just so cute!” Donaker said she enjoys being around the little ones and helping them learn skills they need.
Peyton Shroyer has been a camp counselor and a volunteer for VBS. She has been in 4-H for eight years and this is her third year of helping with the Cloverbud camp. “I love working with kids and seeing how they grow from year to year at camp.”
Adison Guthrie was also helping with the camp. This is her first year in 4-H. Her mom was helping with the day camp and she came with her. Guthrie was looking forward to the face painting part of her day.
Grace Miller has been in 4-H for several years and likes helping with the day camp. “4-H offers so many opportunities and I enjoy being involved with it. It’s also a big part of our community.” Part of the group of children she was helping with was Karaline Graham, 6, and Kylee Bice, 7. Graham said the best part of Cloverbuds was all the crafts they do and that she shows a hog. Bice likes learning about all the animals and would like to show a goat at the fair.
Lucky Learners Cloverbud Advisor is Raylene Thompson. She has a son, Kyler who is 6, that enjoys being part of 4-H. “We do a lot of crafts and the kids enjoy that. Day camp is a great way to get everyone together to have some fun and to give the parents a few hours of quiet!” Thompson believes that 4-H teaches children to take pride in themselves and what they can do.
Cloverbuds Avery Stewart, Colton Gress and Paisley Miller had different ideas about why Cloverbuds is so much fun. Stewart said he likes doing all the crafts and that he made a lantern out of plastic jars and fake lanterns. Gress likes to play games, especially hide and seek. Miller was proud of a pillow she had made by tying knots in material around a pillow form.
Category: Clubs & Organizations
