Cloverbud Day Inspires Future 4-H Members

On Saturday, January 28th, there was a Cloverbud Craft Day held at the Richland County Extension Office in Sidney, Montana. Cloverbuds are young 4-H members that are between the ages of five and eight years old. There are approximately 45 Cloverbuds in just Richland County alone.

At Cloverbud Craft Day, the Cloverbuds learned to say the 4-H Pledge by practicing saying it with actions. They made bags with symbols of a head, heart, hand, health, and a clover to represent the 4-H Pledge. There were four stations, each representing some part of the pledge. To learn about their head for clearer thinking they learned fun facts about 4-H. To express their hearts to greater loyalty, they made heart cookies. To represent their hands to larger service, they made cards to give to the nursing home. To show their health for better living, they listened to Grace Dragseth, a student at Fairview High School and an assistant at the Extension Office, read a book about germs. They put glow germs on their hands to see all the germs they have on them.The Cloverbuds were shocked at how many germs they had on them. A powerpoint was presented by Dragseth, it was about 4-H opportunities that interested them in future projects before making pizzas. Cambree Denowh said, "I liked learning the pledge and meeting new friends. It was fun!"

Grace Dragseth planned the event this year and came up with the stations to help them learn parts of the 4-H Pledge. Dragseth said, "I really enjoyed teaching the kids about 4-H and helping them make crafts."

Josie Evenson, a Richland County Extension Agent, established the idea to have a specific day for just the Cloverbuds to learn what 4-H is all about. Evenson said, "I just thought it would be a good learning experience for the kids to have a day to just focus on them. This is the first year there has been a Cloverbud Day and it was a success!"