4-H program offers summertime activities
School is almost out, and you might be finding things to do for your kiddos. May I suggest joining 4-H? Garland County 4-H Clubs are meeting in person again and events are rolling! The four H’s that we emphasize, Head, Heart, Hands, and Health, are designed to prepare young people to step up to the challenges in their communities and provide youths with the skills to lead for a lifetime.
The core elements of 4-H include youth leadership, youthadult partnerships, life skills learning, and community service. The 4-H programs are grounded in the belief that youths learn best by doing, and 4-H members complete hands-on projects in areas like science, health, agriculture and citizenship in a positive environment where they receive guidance from adult mentors and are encouraged to take on proactive leadership roles.
Arkansas 4-H offers camps with a wide range of learning opportunities; from wilderness adventure to crafts, the 4-H camping program has it all! Parents and volunteers are welcome to attend most of the camps (unless noted as youth-only). Parents and volunteers wanting to attend camp will need to complete the volunteer leader screening process. This usually takes several weeks to be processed, so please start the process early. Registration for 4-H members will be through the Arkansas 4-H Enrollment & Events System, unless otherwise noted.
Arkansas State 4-H has multiple camps and activities for 4-H’ers of all different interests. For those interested in agriculture and animal science, they are welcome to attend the Vet Science Virtual and Day Camp in June. There are also opportunities for youths who compete in rodeos and horse shows to compete at the State Qualifying Horse Show in Benton in June and the State 4-H Horse Show in Searcy in July.
A couple of camps will be held at the C.A. Vines Arkansas 4-H Center. These include State 4-H Camp sessions one and two as well as Cloverbud Craft Camp for ages 5-9 and Craft Camp for ages 9-19. All these camps are held in July. If your 4-H’er likes shooting sports, Garland County 4-H has a club called the Garland Gunners. The Garland Gunners are a competitive shooting sports team and compete in different contests throughout the year. One of the opportunities that they get to shoot at is the Arkansas 4-H Jr. Shooting Sports Championship in July.
In Garland County, we are holding a Project Work and Record Book Workshop on June 8. This will be a great workshop for new 4-H’ers, those who need help picking a project and those that have an outstanding project and want to showcase that in their record book. July 6-8 will be our Sewing and Agriculture Day Camp and July 19-21 will be our Canning and STEM Day Camp. Registration for State 4-H and Garland County 4-H camps is coming up, so don’t miss the deadlines! To register for camps, contact Carol Ann McAfee at cmcafee@uada or call the Garland County Extension Office, 501-623-6841.
Master Gardener information
Master Gardener meetings are held on the third Thursday of each month online. The meetings are open to the public, and guests are welcome. For more information, call the Extension office at 623-6841 or email Alex Dykes at adykes@uada.edu.
Are you interested in joining an existing Extension Homemakers Club? EHC is the largest volunteer organization in the state. For information on EHC, call 623-6841 or email Alison Crane, family and consumer sciences agent, at acrane@uada.edu. Follow Alison on Facebook @garlandEGF and @Garland FCS, and EHC on Facebook @GarlandCountyEHC.
4-H information
There are several 4-H Clubs for Garland County youths who are 5 to 19 years old. For information about Garland County 4-H Club membership or program benefits, contact Carol Ann McAfee at the Extension office, call 501-623-6841, or email cmcafee@ uada.edu. More information is available at http://www.uaex.edu/garland.