Clover Kid Camp, Painting and More Painting

By Mary Loftis, Extension Assistant

Clover Kid Camp

The Clover Kid Camp was held on the Burt County Fairgrounds on Tuesday, June 23 with 15 young 4-H members (ages 5-7) attending.

The activities for the day involved workshops which could end up as county fair exhibits for these budding 4-H members. They decorated a t-shirt with ice cube dye, painted a storage box, make a bird feeder out of a milk jug and made homemade play dough. Of course there were lots of opportunities for fun including games, relays and just helping fill water balloons at the hydrant…can you say “WET?”

Thanks to the help of Junior Leaders, Cody Bachtell, Ellie Glup, Cassidy Goering and Faith Roscoe the young 4-H members had a blast. JoAnn Bachtell graciously offered to help with activities in the 4-H Building while I focused on the ones in and near the 4-H Kitchen.

In three hours of camp we had four projects done for each Clover Kid, games played, snack eaten and memories made. Hopefully these Clover Kids come back next year if age eligible or if they are 8-11 they could go to the 4-H Adventure Camp we share with Cuming County or better yet, go to the Eastern Nebraska 4-H Center for an overnight camping experience.

My best feedback for the day was a young camper asking if they came back tomorrow. I said, “No, sorry, it’s just a one day camp” and she said “But you’re fun and I want to come back!” That was the best “evaluation” I could ever get!

Painting Workshop X 2

Two painting workshops were offered in Burt County on Thursday, June 25 at the Oakland Vet’s Building. The afternoon session was an acrylic painting workshop and the evening session used Genesis Artists Oil Paints.

We’ve done acrylic painting workshops for 11 years and I still love the different techniques we learn with each different painting. I’ve got a nice variety of paintings to show for my efforts (between taking pictures of everyone else) over the years.

This year the group almost decided to paint an underwater scene until we saw a beautiful picture of a lighthouse our painter had done with another group. We voted on which picture to paint and the lighthouse won.

Making the striped, but blended bright background colors of the painting was amazing, then using a pattern, we traced the lighthouse shape on the canvas. We still had to use a steady hand to make the outline of it and to fill and shade the shape, but everyone took home an excellent picture of the seashore with the lighthouse.

The Genesis Artists Oil painting workshop that evening not only brought a new painting medium to our 4-H members, it brought a new set of skills and painting terms. We learned how this different medium works (it is an oil, but becomes set when heated to 275 degrees) and you use less than a fingernail’s amount of each color to paint our small project. The blending and smoothing of this paint was amazing. We used filbert brushes, a mop brush, outlining brush and used glazing to provide additional depth and shine.

This was a very interesting medium and focused on creating a true depth of field in the picture showing the variation in the curved light/dark surfaces of an apple. I am sure the judges at the fair will be amazed when they interview the 4-H members about their painting and they tell them they painted, blended, and baked it three times, glazed it, and finally varnished it to finish the project. (We didn’t have time for that, but our painter promised to send us some.)

The 4-H slogan is “Learning by doing” and that’s exacting what the 4-H members and even a few parents did through the camp activities and the painting workshops held last week. Now on to more exciting events…

Quick Reminders:

Fremont 4-H Fair, July 8-11 at Christensen Field in Fremont.

Pie Day I: Thursday, July 16, Tekamah Methodist Church 8:00 a.m.-2:00?

Clothing Project & Modeling Pre-entry Deadline: Monday, July 20

Bicycle Rodeo: July 23, Oakland Lutheran Church 6:30 p.m.

Pie Day II: July 25, Vet’s Building, Oakland 8:00 a.m.-2:00?

Tractor Driving Contest: July 28, Lee Valley Farms, Tekamah

Clothing, Fashion Show, Presentation & Life Challenge Contest: July 31, Tekamah Aud.

Clover Kid Camp participants and their projects are proudly displayed before heading home.
Back row: Junior Leaders: Faith Roscoe, Ellie Glup, Cassidy Goering and Cody Bachtell
Middle Row: Carolyn Magnusson, Gavin Johnson, Parke Loftis, Lyndsey Johnson, Brinley Eriksen, Karley Eriksen Madeline Pearson, Sydney Olsen and Tate Penke.
Front Row: Hope Roscoe, Mady Davis, Karson Olsen, Linden Anderson, Caroline Davis, and Brooklyn Richards. Photo Credit/Mary Loftis.

The water relay was a hit with the 4-H Clover Kid Campers as they took turns pouring a cup of water over their heads for their team member to catch behind them. Photo Credit/Mary Loftis.