4-H is an organization that prides itself on in-person and hands-on positive youth development activities led by caring adults. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, agents across the state have been faced with hosting school programs, club meetings, and summer camps without the in-person aspect. Many have turned to virtual options. In the beginning stages of planning for a new kind of camp for the summer of 2020, Lauren Black Venegas, Saluda County 4-H Agent, Alana West, Newberry County 4-H Agent, and Julia Cox, Edgefield and Aiken County 4-H Agent, decided to join together in providing virtual summer camps to these counties.
The process started by sending a survey out to current 4-H’ers and sharing on social media sites and websites to measure interests regarding camp themes, virtual camp vs. in-person (if allowed), packets, cost per camp, and attendance if held in person. After collecting information and with direction from our Program Team Directors, District Directors, and Extension Administration about re-entry into the offices, it was decided that it would be best to host virtual camps.
The decision was made to use Google Classroom as a means to offer these virtual opportunities since the majority of our school districts already utilize Google Classroom. We have free access to the Google Suite of products, and it allows us to offer an interactive, at-your-own-pace virtual opportunity that we could customize for each camp. It also allows us to password protect the Classroom so we can see who enters. This platform easily links to lessons that we house in our Google Drives, collects info (when needed) using Google Docs, creates various ‘classrooms’ using Google Slides, and creates avatars that represent each agent, along with so much more. Each camp gives participants access to the 4-H pledge as a video, access to each agent through a link to their online profile, and access to the SC 4-H website and various 4-H project pages.
The team of agents decided to use each camp theme to address the topic areas of 4-H: animals and agriculture, natural resources, healthy lifestyles, STEM, and leadership. Youth explore the camp theme via virtual tours, hands-on activities, read-along books, recipes, and more. Camps have two ticket registration options: $15.00 classroom access and a packet that includes various harder to find camp supplies that were distributed the week before the camp started or a free ticket that only includes access to the Classroom with no packet. Registration was advertised for youth ages 5-19 and was open to all youth, 4-H membership was not required.
On June 8, we started with The Fair: A Virtual 4-H Camp for Newberry, Saluda, Aiken, and Edgefield Counties. We had seventeen youth participate. This camp highlighted the sights, sounds, and smells of the fair. Youth participants made funnel cakes and fresh-squeezed lemonade (with at-home adult supervision) and learned about cotton candy. For a fair ride activity, they made a Ferris wheel and learned about the invention through a video and read-along book. Learning continued with the virtual camp as “campers” learned about the exhibit barns, which included making moon sand to represent the sand sculptures and planting pumpkins seeds to represent the commodity exhibit barn. On the fourth day, youth learned more about the fair rides with an activity on super slides. They created a canned food slide race that introduced them to physics and motion. On the last day, they learned about all of the programs 4-H has to offer in the livestock area through videos and links to our project websites. We also included three service projects they could do from home and a trivia question about fairs.
We are offering four additional camps like this throughout the summer. Our next camp is Camp America exploring all things American before Independence Day. It will be followed by a US Road Trip via Hwy 4-H, which will provide youth participants virtual camping experience in National Parks across the US. After traveling the country, we will virtually stamp their passports while taste-testing our way around the world through an International Culinary Tour. To close summer, we are going out of this world, using the Journey to Mars camp as a template for our final virtual summer camp.
Submitted by: Lauren Black-Venegas, Saluda County 4-H Agent and Alana West, Newberry County 4-H Agent
