January 2022
4-H Newsletter
Find your "Spark" in the New Year with 4-H fun and learning!


Check out what's coming up!


Save the Snowpeople Challenge

Alert! Snowpeople have become an endangered species as climate change makes winter warmer. Accept the mission to protect snowpeople from a major meltdown by visiting 5 Monroe County Parks and completing 5 mission activities! Download the Mission Plans, get outdoors, and have fun! Print the checklist yourself or visit the 4-H Team at Mendon Ponds Park Winterfest on Sunday, January 9th to pick up a hard copy and get started on your quest. Please note there are generous rewards for participants to be entered in a drawing to win! Thank you to Ontario Beach Park Program Committee and Friends of Cornell Cooperative Extension for their support and to Monroe County Parks for their partnership.
Winterfest 2022

Visit the 4-H Team at Mendon Ponds Park to participate in climate change trivia, hot chocolate themed mindfulness, learn all about 4-H, and visit the CCE Natural Resources and Agriculture Educators!
MLK Jr. Day of Service
Monday, January 17
2- 4 PM

Monroe County 4-H is celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Youth and caregivers will have opportunities to commemorate the life of Civil Rights Leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this January. Two options are being offered. Please participate in one or both!

Come to an event on Monday, January 17th by creating snack bags and kindness cards for people experiencing homelessness. These are people who often do not have daily necessities, especially with the cold of winter setting in. Youth will also engage in activities to learn about the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Please bring individually packaged non-perishable snacks such as granola bars, candy, raisins, etc. The finished bags and cards will be given to Partners Ending Homelessness to give out to those in need.

Youth may also participate in a fill a bucket challenge. Buckets can be picked up beginning January 5th until January 17th on the side porch of the CCE office at 2449 St. Paul Blvd, Rochester. Youth can fill the bucket with items people experiencing homelessness need. The list of needed items is attached to each bucket. Items include small blankets, hand towels, feminine hygiene products, toothpaste, soap, and more. Buckets can be returned to the event on Monday, January 17th or can be returned to the CCE Office by that date.

Please REGISTER for this event, and email Megan Kelly with any questions.
 
Mammals All Around Us
Register for this awesome virtual event about mammals and meet 4-H participants from across New York State!
2022 4-H Wildlife Art and Story Contests
As part of the Mammals All Around Us Program, the Youth in Nature & Outdoor Education Program Work Team is introducing a virtual mammal art contest and a short story contest. The contests will be open to youth with several age categories and participants can be from anywhere within New York State. The contest begins December 1, 2021 and runs until February 8, 2022.
Mailed submissions must be postmarked by February 5, 2022. Emails must arrive by midnight on February 8th
  • All Art entries must be submitted to John Bowe, Warren County 4-H, at [email protected] as a jpeg or PDF file, OR mailed to : CCE of Warren County, Attn: John Bowe ,377 Schroon River Road ,Warrensburg, NY 12885.
  • All Story entries must be submitted to Matt Helffrich, Ulster County 4-H, at [email protected] as a Word document or PDF file or in the body of your email, OR you can mail a copy to: CCE of Ulster County, Attn: Matt Helffrich, 232 Plaza Rd, Kingston NY 12401
Please contact the 4-H Office if you would like more detailed information!
 
The Be Well Club!

The Be Well Club will be meeting next on Monday, January 24th. Be part of this new group!

Have fun with food and fitness, mindfulness and motivation, & community and cultures.
The club will generally meet once a month. Each meeting will include a simple healthy snack with recipe, a fitness activity, a mindfulness activity, and an educational component with a goal to work on for the next month involving healthy habits.

In November the participants made cookies...I wonder what they will make in January!

Register here to participate!
Have you seen some of our latest 4-H News and Activities?


December 9, 2021: 4-H Friends Yesterday 4-H friends met at Mendon Church to make cards and tie fleece blankets for the Honeoye Falls adopt a grandparent project. We also decorated Christmas cookies.






December 11,2021:
The Mariah Meadows 4-H Club hosted a table at Country Max of Webster to raise funds by selling candy bars to support the 4-H Horse program and were a great success! Great work everyone!









December 16, 2021:
The 4-H team had a wonderful evening celebrating the winter solstice! Thank you to the amazing families who joined us. Youth had a chance to play the Bowl Game and call like chickadees, explored feelings and mindfulness, created bird feeders with beautiful decorations to attract birds, and decorated lanterns to light the long night. Each youth took home a kit to preserve snowflakes provided by the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County Natural Resources Program!



December 18, 2021:
A little bit of snow added to the festive feel at the Cameron Community Ministries Holiday Celebration! What a fun day for exploring science with the community!
Here are some 4-H Activities to Try at Home!

About this Activity
One of the ways to help make the world a better place is by recycling containers from around your home and using them to plant a flower garden. You can use these recyclables to decorate your balcony, porch, windowsill, garden bed, and landscape with colorful flowers.

Did you know that flowers can even beautify the side of the highway and help natural pollinators such as butterflies and bees!

This activity is part of our 4-H At-Home Garden Series. .

Grades: 3-8
Topic: STEM, Biology
Estimated Time: 30 minutes

Brought to you by Prairie View A&M University, Cooperative Extension Program, and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service

Here is what you will need:

  • Recyclable container
  • Seeds and/or transplants
  • Plant label
  • Scissors
  • Permanent marker
  • Soil
  • Water
  • Optional: Crafts (paint, ribbons, stickers, etc.)

Now you are ready to get started!

Activity Steps
  1. Find a recyclable container in your house. You can use an empty milk carton, a can, water bottle, egg carton, or a tire wheel… the choices are endless!
  2. Did you know? A flower is the reproductive part of the plant, and they are designed to make not only fruits, but seeds. These seeds produce the next generation of plants!
(If your recycled container once had food in it, make sure it has been washed with soap and water. If you need to trim your container to size or add drainage holes in the bottom, use scissors to make any necessary cuts.)
  1. Pour soil into the container. Water the soil so that it is moist.
  2. Did you know? The color, shape and even the smell of the flower attracts pollinators that travel from flower-to-flower picking up and leaving pollen behind. The flower needs to be pollinated to make fruits and seeds.
  3. If you are planting seeds, poke a hole into the soil using your finger. Place a few seeds inside the hole, and gently cover the seeds with soil. If you have a transplant, dig a larger hole in the middle of your wet soil, and carefully take out the transplant out of its original pot. Place the transplant inside the hole, and gently cover the roots with soil.
  4. Did you know? The difference between a fruit and vegetable is quite simple! All fruits come from flowers. Vegetables come from any part of the plant other than the flower.
  5. Water your soil again to help with seed germination and root development. Place a plant label in the container so you don’t forget what you’re growing.
  6. Did you know? Did you know that some flowers are edible? Some flowers you can eat include hibiscus, pansies, lavender and roses!
  7. After the container is dry, decorate your recycle container with any craft materials you have such as paint and stickers! Enjoy watching your plant grow. Don’t forget to water and give it sunlight!
  8. Did you know? It takes so much energy for a plant to create flowers. What you want to do is to regularly “deadhead” flowers. Deadheading is a very important garden chore that involves removing flowers that have bloomed or are dead. It’s very good for the plants, so they can focus their energy on keeping themselves healthy by growing bigger!
SAVE the DATES!!!
  • January 5 to 17 Fill A Bucket Challenge for People Experiencing Homelessness
  • January 9 Winterfest
  • January 17 MLK Jr. Day of Service
  • January 23 Rabbit Nutrition Workshop
  • April 9 Horse Bowl at Cornell
  • May 14 Horse Communications at Cornell
  • August 28 Judging and Hippology at the State Fair
  • May 22-24 Capital Days