I'm a Cloverbud Kid!

Getting an early start on 4-H

by Suzi Taylor
From the 1997-98 4-H Clover Project Selection Guide

08/07/97

When you go to a 4-H Cloverbuds meeting, it's best to be prepared. These kids are happy, enthusiastic, active, excitable...and they always follow the "cardinal rules" of Cloverbuds:

· The messier the better

· If you can eat it at the end, that's all the better, and

· Gooey is good!

Cloverbuds is the pre-4-H experience for kids aged 6 to 8. Cloverbuds sample projects like traditional 4-H'ers do, and they sometimes are inter viewed about their projects at the fair, but competition is non-existent. Most important is just experiencing what 4-H is like.

In Stillwater County, where Cloverbuds have existed for seven years, Extension agent Karen Tyra says the kids do all sorts of activities, from building birdfeeders to learning to sew a button. "It's very hands-on!" says Karen.

Ardis Oelkers, 4-H agent in Roosevelt County , has watched an average of 20 Cloverbuds participate each year since 1988.

"It's very rewarding to see the kids," she says. "They are very excited and very eager to learn. They can't wait to become 4-H members !"

Kirk Astroth, 4-H curriculum specialist, says that Cloverbuds really puts the 4-H "learning by doing" motto in action.

"These kids are full of energy and enthusiasm and are really willing to learn," he says. "They enjoy everything, whether it's painting, growing seeds or making puppets. This is the perfect way to show younger kids what 4-H is really like."

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