CRAFTING WITH 4-H: Local students prep for fair by showing off handiwork

Grant D. Crawford, Tahlequah Daily Press, Okla.
·2 min read

Jun. 24—Cherokee County 4-H students showed off their handiwork during an Arts and Crafts Day Camp on Wednesday.

The students spent about three hours working on four different craft projects, all of which they'll be able to enter into the Cherokee County Fair in September.

"Our kids have projects areas that they work in, and also they can enter projects in those areas in the fair in the fall," said Heather Winn, family and consumer science educator at the Cherokee County OSU Cooperative Extension Service. "As part of the project, not only do they work, but they also report and do a record book. In the record book, they have certain standards of achievement they have to reach to receive a project medal. To get a gold medal, they have to have at least four or five projects in the fair."

One of the crafts centered on nature, as the kids turned pinecones into owls. They also made dreamcatchers for a wall art division in the fair, using recycled cans to create artsy utensil and office supplies holders, and employing an ancient technique to paint square tiles.

4-H Camper Stoney Hass said either the painting or the pinecone project were his favorites, but he generally likes anything he gets to do while involved with 4-H.

"I just like all the different stuff we get to do, like the arts and crafts and overall things we get to do, like the experiments. At my school, we had a 4-H camp not that long ago, and we made bottle rockets and we launched them off," Stoney said.

Mandala as an art form has been around since the first century B.C. Using little tools and the end of glue sticks, the students painted tiny dots to create vibrant patterns on their tile. Some students created classic mandala designs by painting geometric motifs, while others went "super crazy" with it,' said Brandi Moore, Extension program assistant.

"It's been fun," she said. "The kids have been really good. We kind of feel useless, because they don't really need our help. They're just doing it and rolled with it."

The OSU Cooperative Extension Service had two sessions for the 4-H Arts and Crafts Camp. Students could show up to the morning session or afternoon session. However, at least one student liked it so much in the morning that he stayed for round two.

"This is my second time here; I just wanted to come back," Trae Kupsick said.