During the COVID-19 outbreak which caused schools to close their doors during the 2019-20 school year, keeping youth engaged proved to be difficult for many families.  The UK Extension Service in Hardin County made a conscious effort to ease that burden by creating and making available to-go type projects in-a-bag that were accessible in our Extension Office foyer since the office was closed to foot-traffic.   Three Hardin County Extension agents and two Extension program assistants representing three Extension programs (4-H Youth Development, Family & Consumer Science and Horticulture) came together to offer this non-traditional way of programming which in turn allowed to reach not only our traditional audience, but an entirely new sector of Hardin County residents as well.

The non-traditional programming that was offered included a Snail Mail Club and Brown Bag Projects to-go.  The Snail Mail Club was for any child aged 2-18, and they received a packet in the mail each Monday. Just over 60 families with 101 children received 10 weeks of Extension programming via paper mail.  The Brown Bag Projects were much more hands on. Twice a week, Hardin County Extension offered a "program to go" in our foyer. We would make as many bags as we were able, post on our social media outlets and a text message to our Remind groups, and bags would be picked up first come, first served. Topics ranged from bird feeders, to science experiments, to DIY musical instruments, and so much more. All included some sort of Extension education. All promoted learning, healthy homes, family relationships and spending time together. 

One parent said, "Any little bit helps. We're not teachers by trade. So, giving us something to help home school the kids has been super helpful.”

Through our efforts, we gave out over 1,420 Brown Bag Projects. “Basically, it's a pickup and go kind of kit. Anybody can benefit from it. We really have geared it towards the youth, but I know some of the adults have played with the clay that we've had in our kits," said one of our County Extension Agents.

"Everyone has been very appreciative of it. They give us a lot of good feedback as far as how helpful it is to keep their kids entertained, and just give them something different to look forward to," said Hardin County Extension Agent.

When the end of May came around, we decided to switch to once a week programs that are reserved ahead of time instead of first come, first served. This allows the agents to know how many bags are requested and how many to make. We assumed that with summer rolling in, fewer bags would be picked up and this was a good way to be a good steward of our resources. So far, more than 150 bags have been reserved for the summer programs to go. 

Since starting these programs, our social media channels have received significantly more engagement, posts were shared hundreds of times, reaching more than 15,000 Facebook newsfeeds. We received multiple pictures and emails with finished product photos thanking us for the activities. More than 200 families had never utilized Extension before until programming to go. They appreciated an opportunity to pick up a project that was not part of the school curriculum, but still had an educational basis.

Even when offices re-open, to-go Extension programming will be a great tool to engage families who cannot participate in traditional face to face programming on a regular basis.