The COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on how 4-H Youth Development programs were delivered this past year and a half.  Our 4-H Project fair was no different.  Usually, we would have offered in-person project days to get projects ready for our Project Fair.  However, that was not possible this past year.  Instead of in-person project days, we offered project grab-bag kits.  There was 46   youth who received 74 project kits.   The kits contained all the educational materials and project materials for the youth to complete the projects at home.   Kits were offered in many different project areas including forestry, geology, entomology, woodworking, photography, arts and crafts, cake decorating, gardening, etc.

The Adair County 2020 Project Fair was held the last week of July and there were a total of 29 youth who exhibited 178 project exhibits.   This was a 61 percent increase in participants compared to the previous year.  The increase can be traced back to the grab-and-go educational kits that were offered before the project fair.  Due to COVID restrictions, there could be no in-person viewing or entries.   Youth registered online and then dropped off entries.  After the entries were judged a Facebook live showing of the entries was presented.

Project champions then had their exhibits entered in the 2020 Virtual 4-H Cloverville since there could be no in-person Cloverville.  One parent stated they liked the grab-and-go project kits because they gave the whole family a chance to learn and work on projects together.