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Wheatland County

4-H Day Camp

Published: 2020
By Mandie Reed
COVID-19 restrictions led to the cancellation of in-person 4-H activities, and the multi-county 4-H camp was no exception, despite it being a highlight for many members. Wheatland County MSU Extension got creative and found a safe way to offer in-person 4-H day camp. With the leadership and help of older 4-H members, we provided a 4-H experience for 25 youth. We intentionally designed camp to be experimental and like a workshop they might experience at traditional 4-H camp. Messy science experiment day turned out to be one of the most exciting days. Youth determined the most effective way to blow up balloons with baking soda and vinegar and the best method for maximizing the height that Diet Coke would foam when Mentos were added. Youth also discovered how limiting re-agents control reactions while making lava lamps with food coloring and oil. The campers took part in community service projects as Kindness Superheroes. Wearing their capes decorated with unique symbols to represent their skills and superpowers, youth picked up litter around Chief Joseph Park and the Smoking Boomer Rail Trail. They painted and then hid kindness rocks all over the park and along the trail for people to find. They really were Kindness Superheroes; their excitement and pure joy for their work was an inspiration. Other workshops included watercolor painting, launching stomp rockets, building marshmallow catapults, and constructing wooden toolboxes. Although it was not a traditional camp experience, 4-H Day Camp was an opportunity to engage youth who have not traditionally been involved in 4-H, and 4-H members who had missed the chance to attend traditional camp. We knew it was a success when campers asked on the last day when the next 4-H activity was.
Youth at 4-H Day Camp painting kindness rocks.