Douglas 4-H Buzz
December, 2023 Edition
End of the Year is Approaching, Re-Enroll Today!!!
October 1 kicked off the new 4-H year and we still have a number of families that haven't re-enrolled for the 2023-2024 4-H year. It really is quick and easy. After January 1, 2024, families that have not re-enrolled will no longer receive communication from the Douglas County Extension office including local offerings, deadlines (including animal ID'ing and tagging) and reminders. If you need help, reach out to the Extension office at mnext-douglas@umn.edu or 320-762-3890.
Importance of 4-H Event Registration
4-H events are one of the favorite parts of our job. Please help us help you put on quality programs.
When we plan and structure 4-H events for our members and families, registration and payment for that event in a timely matter (if there is a cost) is so important for the following reasons:
- Purchase supplies- staff need lead time to purchase and organize the supplies, so we have enough for everyone, that allows all participants to have a great experience
- Recruit enough youth and adult volunteers-many times youth and adults need to rearrange their work schedule or plans to help us at various events, and it is important to have the correct youth/adult/youth leader ratio to provide the best program we can.
- Dietary, ability and health considerations-staff need time to arrange for any youth who have special requests or dietary needs, and for youth who may need special accommodations. If we don’t know who is coming, we are not able to plan for those accommodations, needs and implement.
- We typically have a minimum number of participants (in order to hold an event) and many times we have a maximum number of participants due to space limitations or the content of the program.
We realize that everyone is busy and making plans can be challenging, but please do the best you can to sign up ahead of time and secure your spot. If something happens and your member becomes ill or can’t attend, please let us know, ahead of time, so if we have a waiting list, we can accommodate other members.
If you need a refresher how to register for an event in mn.4honline.com, please refer to this 4-H Online event registration guide.
Douglas County 4-H New Member Family Day
Are you new to 4-H or looking for more information on the program? This workshop is for new members and families to learn what 4-H has to offer.
Youth participate in hands on activities and fun while the adults can ask questions and learn about exciting opportunities in Douglas County 4-H and beyond. Snacks provided.
This free event is scheduled for Sunday, January 21 from 6:00 - 7:30 p.m. at Douglas County Public Works. To register, log into mn.4honline.com and click on events on the left-hand side and find Douglas County 4-H New Member-Family Day. Look for this graphic. Register by Wednesday, January 17 deadline.
Share the Fun
What is share the fun you ask? Share the fun is an opportunity for clubs to work together to create a performance of some kind, typically a skit, but can be a talent act, comedy routine or song and dance number.
If just a couple of members from your club want to participate that is OK, it does not have to be the whole club. If you need ideas or more information, please reach out to Jodi at hintz010@umn.edu , and she can help you come up with creative ideas and give you encouragement. It really is a fun event to participate in so give it a try!
The top two clubs are able to perform at the Minnesota State fair, funds are available to help with costs, all ages can participate in the skit at the state fair. In addition, there is a talent contest, so dust off those performing skills and sing, dance, or perform your way to cash prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Watch for a date soon!
It's Project Bowl Season!
Two project bowl teams are forming in Douglas County - General Livestock and Dog. Project Bowls are an exciting way for youth to explore a project area, develop teamwork, build self-confidence and develop decision making skills. Project Bowls are a team "knowledge bowl style" contest.
General Livestock Project Bowl informational meeting scheduled for Monday, December 11 at 5:30 p.m. in Conference Room C in the Douglas County Courthouse (second floor across from Extension Office).
Dog Project Bowl informational meeting scheduled for Monday, January 8 at 6 p.m. in Conference Room C in the Douglas County Courthouse (second floor across from Extension Office.)
For more information or questions, please contact the Extension office at 320-762-3890 or mnext-douglas@umn.edu
2024 Camp Counselor Applications Available Now
If you are in grades 7 and up and have been waiting to apply to be a 4-H camp counselor, now is your chance! Applications are being accepted through January 18 at 4:28 p.m. Complete the application online. There are two types of camp counselors:
- Junior camp counselors (grades 7-8)
- Senior camp counselors (grades 9 and up)
The 2024 4-H camp will be held June 25-27 at the University of Minnesota Morris.
Poultry Power
Are you interested in the poultry project and want to know where to start? Check out this slide presentation by our poultry barn superintendents for great tips to get started and answer questions. If after viewing this you still have questions, contact us at the office for further resources or we can pass your questions along.
Shooting Sports
If you are interested in participating in shooting sports activities, please be sure that you selected shooting sports as one of the project areas when you enrolled. If you plan to participate in archery, bb, air, .22, trap or muzzleloader, be sure and check the shooting sports project area so you receive information on activities and events.
In addition, there is a consent form that needs to be checked before you can participate in handling equipment. Shooting sports is for youth grade 3 and up.
4-H Projects
Driven by Youth Interest
Head to engage actively in learning.
Heart to demonstrate caring for others and their own learning.
Hands to share their experiences with others.
Health to experience success and learn to support their family, community, and world.
Project work can be overwhelming; where to begin, how to get started, what should I do are FAQ's surrounding project work. Some project areas are easier to figure out than others. Watch this space in future newsletters for project information and ideas.
4-H Exhibits
SAFETY
Keep yourself safe and help others stay safe too. In the safety project, you can learn about safety for water, fire, electricity and recreational vehicles, identify farm hazards and make them less dangerous, make a first aid kit or a winter survival kit and more.
Create an Exhibit
After exploring your focus area in safety, you can create an exhibit to share your learning at the county fair or showcase. Exhibit ideas include:
- A first aid or childcare kit with explanations for the items you included
- Create a public service announcement or social media toolkit to promote a safety topic of your choice.
- List tips for being safe when home alone
- Attend and report on a safety program such as farm/livestock/animal, fire, flood, food, firearms, ATV to name a few.
- Interview a safety professional and showcase their advice
- Research and create a plan to educate others about safe sun practices, wearing your seatbelt, not texting while driving. etc.
SCIENCE INQUIRY
What do you wonder about? What are you curious about? Turn those wonderings and curiosities into testable questions and conduct a science investigation! Design a science investigation to test a question. Analyze and interpret results to answers your question. Develop knowledge and understanding about what you were investigating.
Create an Exhibit:
Once you have decided on your question to investigate and design your experiment, you can create an exhibit to share your learning at the county fair or showcase. Exhibit ideas include:
- Create a video exploring the properties of slime
- Display different bird feeders you used to determine if there is a preferred bird feeder type in your backyard
- Display showing the different types of treats and the data you collected as you explored how your dog responds to different treats during training
- Tri fold display board showing the results of your investigation of different types of sunscreens to see their effects on UV beads
- Slide shows illustrating different water filtration systems you tested and the results analyzed to identify which one resulted in the cleanest water
SCIENCE OF ANIMALS
Explore issues related to livestock health and wellness, breeding, facilities and general care. Other topics include exploring careers, consumer issues, animal by products, zoonotic diseases and more. You can choose the animal of your choice from beef, dairy, goat, poultry, rabbit, sheep and or swine.
Create an Exhibit:
After you have narrowed your focus and decided on the animal and topic of your choice, you can create an exhibit to share your learning at the county fair or a showcase. Exhibit ideas include:
- Construct a feeding system after researching options to increase feed efficiency and reducing waste.
- Investigate a disease and how to prevent or treat the disease
- Research facility needs and evaluate your housing situation and make changes accordingly and document in a display or report
- Create an exhibit educating the public on an aspect of your animal of choice around health, breeding, zoonotic, production or other
SELF DETERMINED
Do you have an idea for something you'd like to do? If it doesn't fit into a 4-H project area, no problem. You can still do 4-H project learning in the self-determined project. In the self-determined project, you can participate in a self-guided learning experience and present on it. These are learning experiences that members select, plan and manage on their own. This is not a catch all category, but rather is focused on intentional self-directed learning.
Create an exhibit:
After determining your path to your project, you can create an exhibit to share your learning at a county fair or showcase. Exhibit ideas include:
- Share a portfolio describing the selection, planning and management of a service learning project
- Create a photo collage capturing the experience and stages of development of an event, planned and facilitated in the member either individually or as part of a team
- Build a LEGO creation (not a kit) intended to include deeper learning that is not in any other project. this showcases the learning path of the youth
- Develop a video or digital blog capturing the behind-the-scenes work done by an individual member while working as part of a team on a project or assignment
Jodi Hintzen at hintz010@umn.edu or Jackie Kokett at jkokett@umn.edu
Email: mnext-douglas@umn.edu
Website: extension.umn.edu/douglas
Location: 305 8th Ave W, Alexandria, MN, USA
Phone: 320-762-3890
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MNDouglasCounty4H/
Twitter: @UMNExt