By Scott Robertson
With school out for summer, the 4-H Clubs of Northeast Tennessee welcomed school-age kids and their parents to the Appalachian Fairgrounds in Gray Thursday for a full day of fun and activities.
Children from Greene, Sullivan, Washington and Unicoi counties had a host of options to choose from including craft activities, cooking classes and animal handling demonstrations.
Each child had the opportunity to take three classes through the morning and early afternoon hours. Among the popular choices were:
• It’s Electric – in which children created a lamp from a soft drink can.
• Op Art – or optical art, in which children learn to create works of art that make use of optical illusions.
• Mad Scientist – in which children learned to make polymers and do simple baking soda experiments.
• Horsing Around – in which horse lovers learned the basics of horse care and showmanship.
• Pecking Around – in which friends of poultry learned everything they ever wanted to know about chickens and roosters.
• Food Art and Creative Cupcakes – in which youngsters learn about not only making tasty food, but also about tasteful food presentation.
• To Infinity and Beyond – in which students learn to make and blast off their own rockets.
• Martial Arts – getting their kicks, and blocks and punches and chops.
And of course, no summer kick off would be complete without ice cream, and the 4-H event even had its own dairy cow.