Afterschool Ag

To support the quality of after-school programs, the Ohio 4-H Afterschool Priority Team has received funding from the Ohio 4-H Foundation to create Afterschool Agriculture Resource Kits. The resource kits are located at 18 county Extension offices and available for loan to local after-school programs.

Project Goals

The 4-H Afterschool Ag project is designed to:

• Provide resources to improve 4-H professionals' and after-school staff members' knowledge of elements of program quality and skills in implementing the experiential learning process in after-school programs.
• Assist 4-H professionals to build skills in developing partnerships and working with partners to improve quality of after-school programs.
• Increase the number of OSU Extension 4-H partnerships with local after-school programs.
• Provide evaluation tools to collect and document outcomes at the local and state level.

Participating Counties

Resource Kits are located in the following counties: Adventure Central, Allen, Ashland, Clark, Coshocton, Cuyahoga, Franklin, Greene, Hancock, Hocking, Jackson, Licking, Miami, Pike, Scioto, Seneca, Vinton, Washington

Contact Info for Participating Counties

Forms

4-H Educators who are participating in the 4-H Afterschool Agriculture Resource Kit project should use these forms for the 4-H Afterschool Ag kit evaluation.

Activity Checklist
Group Enrollment Form
After-School Staff Kit Evaluation
4-H Professional Kit Evaluation

The 4-H Afterschool Agriculture Resource Kits include a copy of the Acres of Adventures curriculum, non-consumable supplies used in multiple activities, and resources to extend the lessons. The resource kits are meant to be loaned from the county Extension office to local after-school programs.

Curriculum

The Acres of Adventures curriculum was designed for delivery in after-school programs and is targeted for 3rd - 5th grade audiences. Activities are educational, science-based, fun activities that introduce youth to the world of agriculture and life science.

Curriculum features include:

• Two volumes containing 8 thematic units with 10 activities in each unit (4 units with 40 activities in each volume)
• Activities can be completed within a 30-minute activity period
• Contains additional ideas for extending the learning
• Activities are keyed to the national science standards

To obtain the curriculum, contact:

• Contact your local county Extension Office
• The curriculum is available for purchase at the 4-H Mall

Experiential Learning Model

Hands-on activities are a great way to engage youth in learning. Use this model to guide youth through an experiential learning process the 4-H way. Learning is more than simply doing an acitivity. After doing or experiencing an activity, the youth are guided to reflect, generalize, and apply what they learned in meaningful ways. At the core of this process is the adult facilitator. This facilitation role includes helping youth to focus on the task at hand, providing support and feedback for the learning taking place, and debriefing or reviewing what was done to determine what went well, what could have been done differently, and where to go from here. Asking questions increases the depth of understanding that youth get from the activities.

Links

These websites provide resources on agriculture-related topics that will help to extend the kit resources:

• Afterschool Ag (Ohio State University 4-H Youth Development)
  On this page, you will find ideas for how to introduce youth to the world of agriculture. It is a companion site for the Acres of Adventures curriculum.
• Other sites