Fond du Lac County 4-H hosted a one-day Cloverbud Day Camp- Foodie Theme reaching 23 youth in June. Youth expressed an interest in learning and exploring culinary skills and the foods and nutrition project. Volunteers and the summer intern led different cooking activities teaching basic cooking skills such as measuring, food safety, and using kitchen tools and appliances safely. Youth practiced measuring while making brownie mix in a jar. The Cloverbuds learned about washing fresh fruits and vegetables while preparing their veggies and dip and fruit parfaits.  Youth also assembled personal pizzas for lunch, which was a favorite recipe of the day. Youth also learned about about trying new foods.  At the end of the day youth learned about different types of apples and sampled 4 varieties and voted on their favorites.  Many youth didn’t know there were so many varieties of apples. 

The camp’s goals were that youth would learn something new, be engaging, and increase their interest in the topics. Evaluations were completed by participants.  According to the completed surveys, 83 % of the youth Strongly Agreed with the statements “The activities were fun and engaging, and the activities taught us something new.” Sixty-seven percent of the youth strongly agreed with the statement, “The activities increased our interest and curiosity about culinary skills.” Campers were asked what they learned during camp.  Here is what was shared: “She learned how to prepare snacks and was very proud of that. She made new friends. I learned I should be with a grown-up by the stove. Something new I learned was about different kinds of apples and their flavors and names of cooking tools (strainer).” These youth practiced life skills and felt more confident in the kitchen after their foodie camp.  Many of them had a stronger interest in cooking and may join the Foods and Nutrition project later in their 4-H career.