Day Camp,Canning Classes, Paper Flowers and much more!

Monday, June 3^rd Today was the first day of day camp at Crab Orchard Elementary School. The topic of the day camp was science, engineering, and robotics. I taught the children about nutrition, which isn’t really related to the topic of the camp, but it was right before lunch so it worked. I used the food nutrition cards and let the kids make their own plate using the MyPlate guidelines. Everyone seemed to have fun and enjoy themselves with this activity. I was a little nervous because I had never taught a group of kids by myself before, but I think I did pretty well. After lunch, they did a few more activities and then it was off to the playground to let out that last bit of energy before they went home.

Tuesday, June 4^th Today was my second (and last) day of camp. I played Food Pyramid BINGO with the kids, and gave them beach balls as prizes for winning. This day, the kids also made a wind turbine out of PVC pipe that they tested using box fans. They also raced toy solar cars to see which one would go the fastest. After camp was over, I went to Camper Orientation and learned all about 4-H camp and what the requirements are as an adult counselor, or AC. I am looking forward to camp, even though I have never been to camp before and am not quite sure what to expect.

Wednesday, June 5^th Today was our Lunch and Learn program. During this program, some men from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association came and grilled burgers. We made apple coleslaw to go with the burgers. 

  

Thursday, June 6^thThursday night was the Bucks Auction. During the auction, I helped hold up the items and carry them around so that everyone could see them. It was a lot of fun!

Monday, June 10^th Today I went to the Board of Education again to talk to the children about nutrition. The cafeteria was being used, so we had to move to the gym. We made parfaits with vanilla yogurt, strawberries, pineapple, and cereal (for granola). We talked about fruit. Late that afternoon, I went to Giovanni’s Pizza to talk to the Modern Woodsmen about canning. We set up a display and talked about the latest canning gadgets.  

Tuesday, June 11^th Today was our day to prep for our upcoming canning workshop. We tested a few recipes just to make sure that they were going to come out right. We made a spring conserve and an apple cinnamon conserve (In case you were wondering, a conserve is a jam-like substance with nuts, raisins, and two or more different types of fruit. I hadn’t had a chance to do a lot of canning, so it was pretty exciting for me. I chopped up rhubarb and helped cap the strawberries for the spring conserve. We spent the whole day in the kitchen, which was tiring, but fun at the same time.

Wednesday, June 12^th My Paper Petals Workshop was this morning. It started at 10:00am and we had people coming in as early as 9:30am. There were 32 people who signed up, which was great. I had a blast teaching the class. Everyone was helping each other out, and they all appeared to really enjoy themselves. I showed them how to make a Japanese kusudama flower and a rolled paper rose.

Thursday, June 13^th Today was the Boiling Water Canning Workshop. We had already set up the chairs and supplies the night before, so all we had to do was set out the measuring cups, prepare canning jars, etc…We had 20 or so people sign up for the workshop, but only about 14 people showed up. Before we began canning, I taught them the proper way to measure out ingredients to make sure their measurements were as accurate as possible.

After the teaching part was over, we split into two groups so that each group had their own stove to work on. It was my job to walk around and help each group as needed.