4-H Summer Blast keeps children active

By Jo Anne Efird, Lifestyles Editor

Tuesday, August 5, 2008 August 06, 2008 08:36 am

— With only a few weeks to go, 2008 4-H Summer Blast is in full swing with some 139 youngsters having taken part or scheduled to take part in a wide variety of field trips, classes and workshops with the main focus on education and a large dose of fun thrown in.
From trips back in time to an overnight campout at the N.C. Zoo, young people have particpated in a number of events this summer led by Stanly County Extension Agents and 4-H leaders.
Registration was at the begining of May and was first limited to 4-H members then opened to the public.
The fun began in June with Heritage Days, which included trips to the Stanly County Museum and Visitor Center, Bost Grist Mill, Reed Gold Mine, the Transportation Museum and Dan Nicholas Park.
A couple of programs on personal finance, one for 5-8 year-olds and one for 9-12 year-olds followed. Depending on age, participants learned how to save for purchases, write checks and balance a checkbook. They personalized their own ceramic piggy banks and played money games as well as doing a craft.
After learning about table manners, setting the table, making introductions, answering the phone and writing thank you notes, youngsters had lunch at a local restaurant where they could diplay the good manners they had learned in a Mind Your Manners class.
Some classes ran for more than one day and attendance was necessary on all days.
There were science classes, ranging from doing experiments to learning about biotechnology and DNA to basic knowledge about electricity, such as making a flashlight, to making continuity tester kits and learning soldering safety and the electrical components in a circuit.
Older students learned the basics of shooting sports and firearm safety.
A trip back in time to learn how agriculture trends and techniques have changed in 150 years, and a variety of other historical activities gave students a glimpse of the way things used to be.
There were craft workshops, a trip to CPCC Summer Theatre to see “Aladdin,” a trip to Morrow Mountain and building and launching their own rockets
Beginners learned the basics of sewing at a 3-day workshop, ending up with a fashionable tote bag.
Healthy lifestyles were featured at a 4-day series on foods and nutrition and physical education.
Still ahead are trips to two goat farms — one dairy and pack goats and another for meat goats as are workshops on Livestock Marketing before and during an actual auction; Basic Horse Care and Natural Horsemanship; Kayaking and Canoeing at the lake, Paper Crafts, Rubber Stamping & Scrapbooks.
The trip to the zoo will complete the series in mid-August.
“There has been a lot of public interest,” said N.C. Cooperative Extension Director Lori Ivey.

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