According to pathways.org “Extracurricular activities help children develop motor skills and improve physical fitness, while also building their cognitive and social skills, all of which can enhance children’s sense of well-being” and we as 4-H Youth Development Professionals know that a key part of a successful county 4-H program begins with a strong Cloverbud program.

This year Campbell County 4-H has offered monthly, evening Cloverbud meetings. Throughout the year youth have been able to participate in hands-on lessons in many different content areas including Agriculture, Health, Science, Engineering and Technology, Communications and Expressive Arts, Family Consumer Sciences, and Leadership.

With the help of volunteers and 4-H staff, each monthly meeting allowed 32 participants. Over the course of the year, there were a total of 53 participants. Of those 53 youths 28 of them participated in at least half of the monthly meetings, and 21 of them completed at least six hours of education.

To end the program year all Cloverbud participants will be invited to join us for a summer project day camp, where youth will be able to create a project to display at the Alexandria Fair. 26 youth indicated they would like to participate in this event. In addition to the Project Day Camp, we will celebrate the “graduation” of 3rd-grade Cloverbud youth and invite them to join 4-H programs and clubs in the new program year. Seven Cloverbud youth will be graduating this May and of those seven, six have said they plan to participate in future 4-H programming.