The Daviess County 4-H program has been offering Summer Day Camps to 4-H’ers and local youth for a number of years.  From 2015-2019, Daviess County 4-H Staff have provided over fifty opportunities for youth to participate in these Summer Day Camps.  Some of these day camps fill up with registered participants within days of publishing the Summer Day Camp booklet each spring.  Every year, parents and participants ask about these day camps in advance of the booklet publication and look forward to the exciting opportunities ahead.  These day camps provide opportunities for participants to learn new skills in these areas and potentially create projects they may choose to enter into the County Fair.   Some of the topics offered include arts, cupcake decorating, gardening, sciences, electricity, food preservation and baking, sewing, and needlework.  Among these woodworking has become a favorite.

In 2017, 4-H Agents offered a woodworking day camp to allow youth to build, sand, and stain a small hanging shelf.  This day camp filled quickly and had a waiting list twice as long as the 10 allotted participants.  Due to this popularity, two woodworking day camps were offered in 2018.  These two classes again filled with participants, some of which had participated in the previous year’s woodworking day camp.   This year, two workshops were offered again.  The day camps were broken into beginner and intermediate woodworking day camps.   Seven youth participating in the 2019 summer day camp had previously learned their woodworking skills from another woodworking day camp in years past.  Of these, the youth continue to develop their craftsmanship skills.   Though these day camps use purchased woodworking kits, some of the participants have began making small items on their own at home.  As the quality of these youth’s products continue to improve, the youth show more confidence and pride in their craftsmanship and continue to look forward to these day camps in the future.