Since September 2022, the Oglethorpe County 4-H Craft Club has experienced tremendous growth, both in attendance and in enthusiasm. Comprised mostly of 5th and 6th graders and led by 4-H AmeriCorps member Amber Waldroup, Craft Club has grown from a handful of kids to upwards of 20 kids meeting as many as three times a month. The group’s crafts are advertised in 4-H’s monthly newsletter, Oglethorpe 4-H Focus, and on the club’s Facebook page.
Craft Club aims to expose 4-H’ers to a variety of different mediums, techniques, and crafting styles, as well as push them to explore their own creativity. Some of the crafts they have done include fall wreaths, decoupage candles, Indian corn, thankful trees, gumball machine ornaments, polymer clay ornaments, snowman tealight ornaments, 3-D paper Christmas trees, paper reindeer, snowman slime with jars, pinecone penguins, 3-D hearts, and Valentine’s balloon bouquet cards. Additionally, the kids get to paint with watercolors at every club meeting.
The biggest success of 4-H’s Craft Club to date has been creating all the decorations for the award-winning Homecoming Parade float! The kids made all the friendly ghosts and cloverleaves that adorned the truck and trailer. From cutting out the ghosts to painting cloverleaves to making red and blue streamers, these 5th and 6th graders worked hard to prepare then decorate the float themselves. Their first-place blue ribbon was hard earned and a huge accomplishment for the Craft Clubbers!
Craft Club would not be possible without the parent volunteers who help out so generously. Kayla Latimer, Amber Smith and Debbie Grimes. Without the help of these volunteers, Craft Club could not run as smoothly as it does.
If you have a crafting skill you’d like to share with our club, or if you’d like to make a donation to our club, please call the Extension Office at 706-743-8341. We’d love to hear from you as we work to make the best better here in Oglethorpe County!
