Allen County 4-H'er, Daphnica Wood, finishes her owl ornament by detailing feather patterns onto her owl.New this 2018: Allen, Warren, and Logan counties hosted an Arts & Crafts Day Camp to encourage arts education and participation within the arts field.  As a result, all 21 spaces provided during this day camp were completely filled by youth desiring to participate in creativity & imagination, critical thinking, and emotional expression through experiential application on art projects. The goal of the tri-county Arts & crafts Camp was to increase arts education, provide quality learning opportunities for hands-on learning,  accomplishing five completed arts projects, and increasing participation within  fair submissions and 4-H Arts.   

During this day camp, 4-Her's were able to create five pieces furthering their knowledge in pottery, basket making, blue prints, and silhouette crafting.  Each of the art projects taught align directly with the arts education standards of Kentucky and National 4-H, as well as doubling for eligibility as county and state fair project submissions. Youth participants ages ranged from 7-15 years of age, as well as varying ability levels.  Through completion of the Arts & Crafts Day Camp, youth participants received six hours of quality education in four different arts categories.  

The first project offered was a Blueprint Art piece.  Youth used their creativity to select unique objects and arrange on their blueprint paper prior to a scientific experiment and sun exposure ddeveloping the first of their art projects.  The second project included the use of paper crafting and silhouettes.  Through color schemes, paper rolling techniques and selection of silhouettes, youth create unique dimensional silhouette designs that can be hung in frames and displayed or given away as gifts.  The third and fourth projects were pottery pieces designed with instruction from professional potters.  Youth created both a ceramic container as well as a creative owl ornament, using creativity and strategic thinking in design and purpose.  The fifth and final project was the creation of a basket from Laurens Design.  The most difficult of the projects, the small basket required youth to be attentive to detail, concentrate on their weaving, and Senior 4-H'er, Kierra Owens, checks the spacing of her basket weave prior to adding a layer of colored flat reed to her weaving.follow specific instructions.  After completion of the Arts & Crafts Day Camp, youth had five finished art projects demonstrating skills learned, applied design, and creative thinking as a result of the hands-on arts education they received.

Attendees of the Arts & Crafts Camp were recorded with the following comments: "Wow I had a blast!", "I'm so excited, I now have five arts projects I can submit in the county fair and recieve project money for!", and "I didn't know basket making was so hard, but I am very proud of my final product.  I plan to put pencils and stuff in my locker in it."  100% of participants indicated that they completed one or more arts projects in areas not previously participated in prior to the Arts & Crafts Day Camp.  80% of participants indicated that they planned to but their new basket or pottery container to use.  Both Warren and Logan counties saw a significant increase in these Arts project submissions in their remaining 4-H Fair project submissions.  On-going evaluation of the event will take place, as the effectiveness of use and submission in the Allen County 4-H Floral Hall projects during the following year.