Current Projects

ONLINE, with some outdoor in-person time if permitted

This project is for our youngest members called Cloverbuds. It will be led by 2 of our veteran teen leaders. They will introduce Cloverbuds to some of the 4-H concepts, like the pledge, and talk about how our club works using hands-on activities, games and group discussions.

There will be 6 one-hour sessions on Saturdays. Tentative dates are below. The sessions will have the following themes: Introduction, Head, Heart, Hands, Health, and the County Fair.

AGES:  5-8, minimum 3 kids, no max

DATES: 10-11 am, Saturdays Feb 6, 20, Mar 6, Apr 3, 17, May 15

PROJECT FEE:  likely $10-15 for materials and supplies, either delivered or picked up at a given location

ONLINE

Ever wondered what a plant or animal looks like if you were to zoom in really close? Or have you ever thought about creatures that are too small to see with your eyes alone? In this project, we’ll be exploring this tiny world with the help of the Foldscope, an affordable, hand-held paper microscope. Members will each get their own Foldscope, and we’ll assemble them together and use them to learn about the microscopic world.

AGES: 3rd grade and up, younger kids with adult help, minimum 3 kids, max 10

DATES:  3:15 PM – 4:30 PM January 31st February 13th, 21st, 28th March 7th

PROJECT FEE:  $10

IN-PERSON WITH ONLINE KICK-OFF MEETING

Create art in public places that will surprise and delight! We will make fun, clever, removable art that we’ll install in spots for people to find in their every day life. Googly eyes on fire hydrants, fairies hidden in flower pots, inspirational notes in trees – we’ll come up with ideas to inspire and put smiles on faces.

AGES: All, minimum 4 kids, max 8

DATES:  TBD

PROJECT FEE:  $5

ONLINE

In the spirit of a traditional quilting, knitting or sewing circle, we will gather virtually to learn a skill, connect and share stories. For hundreds of years, women have gathered together to share the labor of making blankets and clothes for their families. They expressed their creativity, told stories, gossiped and connected – long before social media or even phones! In our “circle” we will be weaving a basket from locally gathered pine needls and also simply connecting with one another for fun. Each session will have three parts: a check in (how is everyone feeling, higlights of the week), a technical part (everyone shares tips and help) and an inspirational one (stories and poems). We will provide the pine needles and other supplies and drop them at your house.

AGES: 10+, minimum 3 kids, no max

DATES: 4 sessions, 1.5 hours each, dates TBD

PROJECT FEE:  approx $15 for strong needles and wax thread

ONLINE & IN-PERSON

Learn about GPS and geocaching in an online class followed by two scheduled hikes at Redwood Regional Park in Oakland and Wildcat Canyon Regional Park in Richmond during which we will find real geocaches and place one of our own. (If there’s time, we will add a third hike.)

AGES: 5th grade and up, younger kids with adult, minimum 4 kids, max 8 kids

DATES: Feb 7 (online) 10-11 am, March 28, April 25, May 30 (depending on SIP) 10 am – 1 pm for all hikes

PROJECT FEE:  none

ONLINE

In this project, we will connect with local seniors and individuals who are particularly isolated during this time due to their health, age or physical needs. Our connections will be remote, creative, and will largely come from the group (pen pals? collaborative art projects? zoom puzzling? reading?) We will be introduced to select people through our partnership with Oakland at Risk, and our team will take it from there, developing relationships and ensuring that people who have had little social interaction lately can have just a little more. 4-H members of any age are welcome to participate. We will have a balance of project “meeting” time where we will brainstorm ideas and activities, along with time set aside to complete those activities.

AGES: All

DATES:  Saturdays, 4:30

• Feb 27
• March 6, 13, 20

PROJECT FEE:  none

ONLINE AND IN-PERSON

Students will learn how to plan, measure, prep your loom, weave a piece of cloth or an inkle band. In addition, they may learn how to recognize and understand the different textile techniques (eg weaving, tatting, knitting, bobbin lace, card weaving), what the different parts of the loom do and how a loom works, yarn chemistry (how to tell what a fiber is without a label).

AGES:  10 and up, 6 kids max

DATES:

• Oct 10 (Zoom), time TBD
• Meeting 2: In-person to set up looms
• Meetings 3-5 (Zoom): group weaving and Q&A
• Individual meetings as needed to finish the project
• Continuation of project in the Spring of 2021 for new members and those wishing to continue

PROJECT FEE:  None.  Families will need to purchase their own yarn.

ONLINE

Materials needed: digital camera or smartphone, computer if using digital camera to crop/edit

Session 1:  Teach kids about camera functions: Intro to camera exercise: Use light- Shoot same subject at same location at different times of day to see how light can affect appearance and feel

Session 2: What to think about when taking a photo: Learning about composition and “rules” exercise: find wide angle, zoom, portrait mode and take photos in all of these modes

Session 3: Careers in photography- different types of photography- underwater, wedding, portrait, photojournalism, travel exercise: pretend you need to choose a career in photography, what would it be and why?

Session 4: Processing photo, Common mistakes and how to fix them exercise: crop and straighten image, filters etc

Members will be encouraged and supported to enter a photo or photos in the Alameda County Film & Photo Fest in April or May, in the Alameda County Fair Photo Exhibition in June/July, and in the State 4-H Photo Contest in July/August.

AGES: 9+, minimum 3 kids, maximum 10

PROPOSED DATES:  Sundays, 2-3 pm

• Feb 28
• March 7, 21
• April 11
• Film and Photo Fest in April

PROJECT FEE:  none

ONLINE

We will learn how to paint miniatures for tabletop games like D&D, or just for fun. We will learn different techniques like layering to create effects. You will start the project with a grey, bland figure and finish it with a lively masterpiece! There are countless figurines to choose from, but we will probably start with a kit that has a dude with a sword.

AGES: 11+, but a little flexible

PROPOSED DATES:  Feb 20, 27, Mar 6, 1:00-3:00 pm

PROJECT FEE:  $30

OUTDOOR, if permitted

We will have 3 outings, most likely Lafayette Reservoir, Lake Anza and one other. If you are new to fishing, we can do a dry land primer regarding gear, knots, casting and general fishing instruction. If you can purchase your own line and reel, that would be ideal, but we do have a couple extra for borrowing. We can send you some links to solid, but low-cost gear if need be.

AGES:  All, but parent help may be required for younger kids

DATES:  mid to late April start, dates TBD, weekends

PROJECT FEE:  permit fee at the reservoir, etc, around $5-10

IN-PERSON (IF POSSIBLE) in late April/May

This project offers an introduction to free-hand cursive writing and elements of intricate collage technique. Project participants will create art pieces using hand lettering and three-dimensional collage to make a beautiful hand decorated and framed quotation in a shadow box. Students who have taken this project before are welcome to do so again. If desired, finished pieces can be entered in the 2021 Alameda County Fair. (Historically these pieces have been award winners!)

AGES:  10+, minimum 3 kids, maximum 6 kids

DATES: 2 three-hour meetings (with breaks) in late April/early May to be determined

PROJECT FEE:  $20

ONLINE

2020 is the most important election of our lifetimes. For this 4-H project, we will be reaching out via the US mail to reach voters to compel them to vote in this extremely important election. Postcarding and letter writing to voters is easy and fun! And we can all do this from our homes. There are two campaigns that we can support: The Big Send and Postcards to Swing States. Both are non-partisan, but they do target Democrats, under-represented voters, as well as voters of color. We will meet for a kick off call and 1-2 more times to check in on progress. Join us to help out in this important project!

AGES:  All (Younger kids will need parent participation, but a great family activity!)

DATES:  First meeting will be an Acitivism 101 Zoom meeting(TBD, but soon), then we will check in 1-2 times to see how everyone is doing. Mail dates are 10/21, 10/26 are the Postcard mail dates and the Big Send is late October. All dates are potentially moving up due to delays in the mail. There is a kick off meeting with the Hamilton cast who are supporting this effort on 9/21 at 4:30 pm. You can register here: https://www.mobilize.us/votefwd/event/319667/

PROJECT FEE:  $0.35 per postcard stamp or $0.55/ letter. For the Postcards to Swing States, I have all of the postcards and addresses and can distribute from my home in Berkeley. For the Big Send, you will need #10 envelopes and a printer to print out the core letters and then mail.

ONLINE, with OFFLINE ACTIVITIES

Each participant will build a fariy door somewhere in their neighborhood. Typical spots for fairy doors can be trunks of trees, bases of a house or flower pot, anywhere that touches the ground. We will then share the geolocation with each other (and the club) and have a scavenger hunt of sorts to find each other’s doors.

AGES:  All, but parent help may be needed for younger kids, 4 kids minimum, no max

DATE:  TBD

PROJECT FEE:  TBD, project leader may create kits for each participant, and if so, there will be a small fee

ONLINE

Over four 1.5 hour meetings, we will learn about succulent propagation, seed incubation, general plant upkeep, and much more! Add in some cool recycling arts and crafts projects and this is sure to leaf you with a smile.

AGES:  2nd grade and up, minimum 3 kids, max 10

DATES:  All sessions 3:30-5:00

• Oct 17, 24
• Nov 1, 7

PROJECT FEE:  $5-10

IN-PERSON, OUTDOOR

Let’s bike along the Bay Trail and learn about how people and our cities interact with our natural setting. We’ll explore three different East Bay segments of the trail, taking breaks to make observations. We’ll review bike safety at the start of each ride. Length of the rides will depend on the group’s collective ability. All rides will be from 9 a.m. to noon, and return to the starting point.

AGES:  8 and up, minimum 3 kids, max 8

DATES:  All rides 9:00-12:00

• Saturday, October 3 – Dotson Family Marsh Staging Area, Point Pinole Regional Shoreline
• Sunday, October 18 – Berkeley to Albany
• Sunday, November 8 – San Leandro Slough

PROJECT FEE:  None

IN PERSON, OUTDOOR

Have you ever been to the Marina and noticed the trash everywhere and wanted to do something about it? Here’s your chance! We will use grabbers and go around the Marina to pick up trash. I will provide the grabbers, trash bags, hand sanitizer, and gloves. Everyone is welcome to bring a lunch and snacks to enjoy outdoors. There will also be time to do some fun activities like throwing a frisbee around and possible water play if the weather permits. The project will be taking place on 2 Saturdays at the Berkeley Marina. All ages are welcome!!

AGES:  All (Younger kids will need parent participation, but a great family activity!), minimum 3 kids, max 10 (including adults)

DATES:

• Oct 17
• Nov 14

PROJECT FEE:  $10 for grabbers, trash bags, gloves, hand sanitizer

ONLINE

For this project we will learn basic silk screening skills like what is mesh count, emulsion, screen area, squeegee, scoop coater and more. We will make DIY screens at home plus simple block printing on paper or fabric. Take an online tour of screen printing studio and demo from a working studio artist. Final project design and print one color designs on tote bags or t-shirt to raise money for Emeryville 4-H club. The cost is for materials needed for the class which include screen, ink, transparencies, embroidery hoop, screen fabric, scrap paper, tote bag, mod podge. I will deliver materials for the students to use at home.

AGES:  5th grade and up, 4 kids max

DATES:

• Oct 25, 2:00-4:00 pm
• Nov 15, 2:00-4:00 pm
• Dec 6 or 12

PROJECT FEE:  about $30 for materials

ONLINE

Activities in this project explore sending a mission to Mars. There are four main activities: Mars exploration by modeling launching, landing and exploring the planet’s surface; using engineering design principles to build and drive a rover; a card game that teaches about Mars’ natural environment and agriculture; and a coding activity where participants create animated stories about what they’ve learned in the project.

AGES:  8-14

DATES:

• Oct 31, 2:00-4:00
• Nov 14
• Dec 12
• Jan 9

PROJECT FEE:  $5-20 for materials, depending on whether online or in-person

Here is a link to Donkey Toes Short Stories, the book that the Donkey Toes Publishing project created.  From the authors:  “This project was very fun and we’re very excited for everyone to read our stories. We hope you enjoy reading them almost as much as we enjoyed writing them!”

If you wish to purchase a bound copy, you can click on one of the links below.  There are 4 versions that you can buy.  You can find discount codes online for them.

ONLINE

This will be an online project where we will write short stories. To facilitate creativity we will play games, do writing excersises and create art to illustrate the short stories. At the end of the project we will publish a collection of all the short stories in one book through Blurb publishing.

AGES:  9 and up (4 kids minimum, 8 max)

DATES:  Saturdays, time TBD

• Oct 24
• Nov 7, 21
• Dec 5
• Jan 9, 23
• Feb 6, 20

PROJECT FEE:  None, but families will need to purchase their own book at the end of the project if they choose.

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ONLINE

Come cook with us! The whole family can get involved in this fun activity. Sessions will have a “cultural or special food” theme and some will be led by teen leaders. Ingredient lists will be sent out in advance. The leader will explain the significance of the savory or sweet food and demonstrate how to make it, and we will all follow along and make it too. This will be a great way to have fun and expand your culinary repertoire.

AGES:  All (4 kids minimum / no max)

DATES:  Sundays

• Oct 25:  Thai Pumpkin Curry
• Nov 15:  Aloo Paratha
• Dec 13:  Three types of empanadas
• Jan 17: Chicken tortilla soup
• Feb 7:  traditional Dutch mennonite cookie called Peppernuts
• Apr 18: Îles flottantes (French dessert, “floating islands”)

PROJECT FEE:  None.  Families will purchase their own ingredients.