4-H Provided Another Exciting Summer For Local Youth

BONIFAY — The summer was full of educational activities and programs this year for Holmes County 4-H.  It began with the annual camping trip to Camp Timpoochee June 28-July 2, where children were engaged in many educational opportunities includingsnorkeling, fishing, kayaking, and marine science.  They also enjoyed many fun activities from crafts to a marshmallowpaint war. 

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June, July and August were also filled with many day camp opportunities.  Eco Camp at Falling Waters State Park was the first 4-H day camp of the summer.  Youth from Holmes and Washington Counties joined together to learn about the park’s ecosystem.  Lawrence Cutts, a local beekeeper, explained the lifecycle of the honeybee and honey production. Scott Sweeney, Falling Waters State Park Specialist, taught youth about the role of controlled burning in forest management and how to identify poisonous snakes.

In July, youth developed their woodworking skills in our Woodworking Day Damp. Youth learned about measuring, angles, gluing, hammering, sanding, and painting, as well as working with peers as a team to construct two birdhouses for our feathered friends in Holmes County.

August got underway with an Iron Chef cooking class that exposed the youth to some basic fundamentals of cooking such as:  reading a recipe, measuring ingredients, manners, setting the table, and many other skills.  Mickey Hudson, Bonifay Volunteer Firefighter, explained the importance of fire extinguishers in the kitchen and proper ways to eliminate kitchen fires. The children prepared delicious banana nut bread from scratch and salsa chicken on a bed of brown rice with fresh cucumbers; dessert was homemade blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.

For those youth interested in science we had a Wacky Science day camp where youth learned the science behind glow-in-the-dark putty and green slime.  They also experimented with model helicopters powered by air using a balloon and made geysers erupt using soda pop and Mentos; the day was filled with many educational and wacky science projects.
Cake Decorating was the final 4-H day camp.  Youth learned basic decorating techniques, including roses, flowers and other embellishments.  The youth expressed their creativity in designs ranging from flowers to Luigi but all were beautiful and tasty.

For more information on joining 4-H, contact Natalie Bomann, 4-H agent, at 850-547-1108 (TDD, via the University of Florida, 352-846-1046), or nbomann@ufl.edu.  4-H Extension programs are open to everyone.