Fun, fun, fun!

            I have learned many things throughout this internship and one of those is that I’m not as technologically savvy as I once thought. I posted about weeks 3 & 4 after Teen Conference but I have just discovered that entry is nowhere to be found. So bear with me, I have a lot to cover today!

            For my summer project I held a day camp, From The Garden to Your Plate. I incorporated the Martin County Greenhouse into several of my activities. The kids planted their very own tomato, watermelon, and cucumber seeds in small pots. We also created mini-greenhouses out of 2 liter soda bottles. The bottles were cut into halves, slits down the sides, and holes in the bottom. Then, the kids added dirt and a squash seed before putting the halves together again. Simple, right? Except, the preparation for this activity was VERY difficult so I was skeptical if the greenhouses would actually produce plants. But, a few weeks ago one of the parents informed me their squash plant was thriving! (Sigh of relief!) The second day of consisted of a blind taste test and vegetable art! Kids will be kids when it comes to eating their vegetables so I decided a blind taste test would be the perfect opportunity to trick kids into trying new things! I picked fruit and vegetables that would be unfamiliar to them, such as turnips, mangos, kiwi, honeydew, radishes, and plenty more. The faces on the children when they tried the radishes and turnips were PRICELESS and I even had a few kids who actually liked the things they tried! The vegetable art activity was just as fun. We used cauliflower, broccoli, olives, carrots, celery, and a few other different types of vegetables to construct all kinds of creations. As an added bonus I provided ranch for the kids to dip their handiwork in afterwards! The third day consisted of vegetable bingo, lots of cool prizes, and a plant part identification worksheet. The kids had to look at various pictures of plants and decide if we eat the stem, root, leave, or flower of that plant. It was a nice learning experience for the kids and myself! The day camp was a success all in all. I think the kids learned a lot and had fun while doing so.

            Then came Teen Conference! I attended as a teen and helped plan it while on State Teen Conference so of course I was extremely excited to go back and experience it as an adult. I had just as much fun this time around as I did in high school. I helped Joe and the Floyd County 4-H agent, Heather Nelson, with Spotlight. The kids were eager to take pictures of everything and we had some VERY creative stories in the newsletter. We had four fabulous delegates from Martin County; two veterans and two first-timers. Everyone had a blast!

            My fourth week consisted of partnering with the Martin County Public Library System to do Summer Reading. Their theme this year is “Dig Into Reading” so I did activities at both the Inez and Warfield locations. We planted watermelon seeds, grew sunflowers in test tubes, and learned all about Kentucky Proud! Friday was Farm and Home Field Day in Lawrence County. It was held at the office this year so there was A LOT of preparation to get everything perfect for the big day. I did plenty of behind the scenes work but I worked the Derma Scan booth as well and finished just in time to help serve the delicious food!

            During week number 5 I taught an insect class at Padre’s Place in Lawrence County with their intern. It was a learning experience for the both of us but we had fun and I believe did teach the kids a thing or two. We did identification worksheets, caught a lot of bugs, collected bugs in kill jars, and the kids created bug displays to enter in the county fair. A lot of camp preparation took place during this week as well.

            The week of 4-H camp marked the halfway mark of my internship and my tenth year attending camp. I went every year as a camper and loved it so much that I kept coming back as a teen counselor during high school. This year was my first time attending as an adult though and the experience was different but enjoyable. I taught Fun Foods with the wonderful Floyd County intern, Andi Johnson. On the first day we made fruit pizzas and the second day consisted of ice cream in a bag! Fun Foods was definitely fun and tasty.

            It’s hard to believe that I’m on the last leg of my internship. I taught a nutrition class for the JROTC camp. I used the Kentucky Proud Activity books, Plate It Up worksheets, and vegetable bingo. Then, I did the Glow Germ activity before making Trail Mix with the kids! The Trail Mix was a big hit even though the portion sizes were not! But, it was fun and next week I will be working with the high school students! This rest of the week will consist of cultural arts judging and canning classes!