The Lamb Pen
General Category => All Sheep and Lamb Discussion => : dstonestreet August 17, 2015, 06:38:35 AM
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I help with the meetings for the one of local 4-H livestock clubs and we need ideas for meeting activities. We always try to do something with livestock to teach and help the kids with their projects, but we are running out of ideas. I have contacted the local 4-H extension office, but they have really been no help. Any suggestions would be great and helpful. We just need to get the kids more involved.
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A new thing we tried this year was a taste test lesson. It was well received (and the first time my daughter had tried lamb :-[)
Members made observations of ground beef, lamb, turkey and pork when raw, when being cooked and when eaten. Samples were not ID'd and the members then compared their observations and guesses of what each was.
Sometimes we get stuck on just teaching about the animals and how to show them. Think about ideas that hit other "project areas" that relate to the species they are working with. As a youth in a sheep project, through the years I made wool art, learned to crochet and weave, did leather craft to make halters, scrapbooking for pen displays, sewing to make blankets, woodworking to make small show totes and led demonstrations/clinics of basics skills learned. We were a full on breeding project where the lambs we showed were a result of our breeding, lambing and management - so all aspects of sheep management/showing were hit upon at some point.
I found lesson plans while researching this year through the Kansas State Extension http://www.kansas4-h.org/p.aspx?tabid=414 Look down the resources for each species to a leader guide there are a number of fun and interesting lessons to teach about the industry, animals, management and showing at different levels.
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http://emsofflivestockcompany.com/articles.html (http://emsofflivestockcompany.com/articles.html)
I have a few different activities here. Once the kids get their lambs though, it's lots and lots of showmanship practice!
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With Google, activities lists shouldn't be any problem anymore with minimal effort on the part of the volunteers. We have done a 4-H lamb club for a few years and that was how we came up with all the ideas we had.
https://www.google.com/#q=4-H+lamb+activities
https://www.google.com/#q=4-H+sheep+meeting+activities