One life skill you should teach your children is public speaking. The ability to express yourself, your opinions in a clear concise way, is one of the building blocks to success in life. We all know how important it is to give a good interview. Working on this skill should start at a young age.
So, I thought it would be fun to have a "demonstrations" night for our 4-H meeting. I will admit, I was pleasantly surprised with the response from the club. We had 11 youth give demonstrations, that is almost one-third of our club. I would add that the average age of the participants was 8. I invited, Megan, our county's 4-H Program Adviser to attend. She shared some ideas from her 4-H career in demonstrations, where she competed at state level.
We watched: how to make brownies, how to care for a pet rabbit, showmanship skills in rabbits and beef, how to play checkers, how to make an ice cream sunday, how to tie your shoes, how to recycle a can into a candle holder, how to dribble a soccer ball, how to hool a hoop and how to whistle. I was so impressed with them! I had a small prize for each too.
For our Cloverbuds meeting (K - 2nd grade), I brought a grocery bag filled with different items from my house. I had each reach in without looking and pick an item. We went around the table, each describing the item and what you would do with it. They really liked this. We went around 2 times. I have one little boy, who picked out a tooth brush (unopened) and when it was his turn he said "I ain't doin it..." I said "oh come on... you can do it." With a smile on his round little face, "nope, I don't want to." I said that is o.k. you don't have to...he said, "you could nail me to a board and I still wouldn't do it..." Oh, boy do I love a challenge. This little monkey and I are going to get along real good. I "get" him. I've been laughing about this all week.
Anna called me yesterday and I told her all this (she was our 4-H president for years) and she said "Mom, I'm impressed with those kids doing demonstrations, good job Popplewood!"
Blessings from Ringle, Wisconsin.
So, I thought it would be fun to have a "demonstrations" night for our 4-H meeting. I will admit, I was pleasantly surprised with the response from the club. We had 11 youth give demonstrations, that is almost one-third of our club. I would add that the average age of the participants was 8. I invited, Megan, our county's 4-H Program Adviser to attend. She shared some ideas from her 4-H career in demonstrations, where she competed at state level.
We watched: how to make brownies, how to care for a pet rabbit, showmanship skills in rabbits and beef, how to play checkers, how to make an ice cream sunday, how to tie your shoes, how to recycle a can into a candle holder, how to dribble a soccer ball, how to hool a hoop and how to whistle. I was so impressed with them! I had a small prize for each too.
For our Cloverbuds meeting (K - 2nd grade), I brought a grocery bag filled with different items from my house. I had each reach in without looking and pick an item. We went around the table, each describing the item and what you would do with it. They really liked this. We went around 2 times. I have one little boy, who picked out a tooth brush (unopened) and when it was his turn he said "I ain't doin it..." I said "oh come on... you can do it." With a smile on his round little face, "nope, I don't want to." I said that is o.k. you don't have to...he said, "you could nail me to a board and I still wouldn't do it..." Oh, boy do I love a challenge. This little monkey and I are going to get along real good. I "get" him. I've been laughing about this all week.
Anna called me yesterday and I told her all this (she was our 4-H president for years) and she said "Mom, I'm impressed with those kids doing demonstrations, good job Popplewood!"
Blessings from Ringle, Wisconsin.
Eleven brave youth. It is important I am not good at public speaking and if I had of done this when I was young it may have helped. Good job. Good luck to the young man with the toothbrush, now him I understand:):) Hug B
ReplyDeleteYou are an invaluable teacher to these young children! They are so fortuante to have you as their leader! Thank you for giving them the opportunites to grow into educated young adults! Blessings from Bama!
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