Poultry

Kadence James, Middletown Meddlers

My name is Kadence James. This is my second year in poultry. The first day I decided what I was going to do. I made a flower bowl and if you make it too big, the walls will be very thin. I also made a pitcher, but you can’t make it by using the pinch pot method. Because it makes it too wide, like a bowl.

Day 2. I glazed the pieces. First, I picked the colors. Also, you don’t glaze the bottom because it will stick to the kiln.

I almost gave up on my pitcher, but my mom told me not to give up. It got a blue and green ribbon. My bowl got a blue ribbon.

Rabbits

Kadence James, Middletown Meddlers

My name is Kadence James. This is my second year in 4-H and my second year showing rabbits. This is my first year breeding rabbits. From the sale last year, I used that money to buy two does. Then, I borrowed a buck to breed them. Rabbits are pregnant for 28-31 days. You put the nesting box in a few days before the babies are born. My rabbits were due Mother’s Day weekend so I had a few weeks to wait to put the nesting box in. We put the nesting box in with some straw. Then, they started pulling fur and making a nest. Then, the babies were born. You need to check on them to make sure they are healthy. After a week, you can hold them. At about 5-6 weeks, you can wean them and they should be crawling out the nesting box.

Cake decorating

Kadence James, Middletown Meddlers

My name is Kadence James. This is my second year in 4-H and my first year in cake decorating. First, I picked my cake design. This allowed us to know what supplies and tools I would need. Once everything was gathered, I was ready to start. Next, we make white icing for the base layer of the cake. The base layer was put on really thick. This allowed me to cover the base and make an even smooth layer. Next, I made my colored icing for decorating. I put each color in a separate piping bag. I found the tip I needed to make my ribbons. Next, I got the tip needed for the border. I piped on the border that was dots. Then, I put a big circle in the middle and my cake was finished.

Robotics

Colton Pritchett, Middletown Meddlers

My first robotics project was a spider. I took a nine-volt battery and six plastic drawing straws. I cut about ¼ of the end off each straw and bent them up at the top to look like legs on a spider. Next, I hot glued three straws on each side. Then, I hot glued a nine-volt DC motor on the bottom of the nine-volt battery. When I’m ready for the spider to move I hook up the battery connector to the end of the nine-volt battery.

My next project was a scribble bot. I took a paper drinking cup and hot glued a nine-volt DC motor on the bottom along with a motor holder. Then, I hooked one wire from the motor to the small switch. Next, I hot glued the small switch to the bottom of the cup as well. Then, I hot glued a nine-volt battery to the inside of the cup and ran the wires from the switch down to the battery. Next, I hooked the battery connector to the end of the nine-volt battery. Then, I taped three markers to the outside of the cup and turned the switch on. When the switch is turned on the cup will rotate around in a circle and draw scribble circles on paper.

My final robotics project was a robot car. I took two foam blocks and hot glued them together. The bottom block I made was longer than the top block. The top foam block I shaped to look like the top of a car with a windshield in the front. I put two wheels at the front of the foam block on each side. Then, I placed two nine-volt DC motors on each side of the car on the bottom, and placed a wheel for the car on the end of each motor. I hot glued the wire from 1 DC motor to the other DC motor and then connected a battery connector to the end of the wires as well. When the battery connector is hooked to the end of a nine-volt battery the car will go.

Electricity

Colton Pritchett, Middletown Meddlers

For my first electricity class, I built an electromagnetic compass. First, I took a nail and wrapped up two layers of wire around it. Next, I took a CD and traced it on a blank piece of paper, cut the circle out, drew a cross on it and labeled it North, South, West and East. We bent heavier wire and taped it to the bottom of the CD. Then, we glued our paper circle on top of the CD. Next, we used sand paper on both ends of the wire on the nail and glued our nail to our battery holder. We placed a AA battery in the holder, tied loops onto each end of a piece of thread, put the loops around the ends on the nail, put our battery in the holder and watched the end of the nail point towards the North.

Electric Motor – In our next electricity class, we made an electric motor. First, I got a foam block and then took copper wire and wound it around a wooden block. We kept the wire coiled up and took sandpaper to use on one side of the wire on both ends. Then, I took two paper clips and beat them to hold the wire (motor) and glued them to the foam block. Next, I put on a power supply, stripped the wire on both the red and black side and wrapped the ends around the paper clips. Then, we glued a magnet to our foam block. Finally, we put a battery in the power supply and gave the motor a spin to watch it run.

Flashlight – In my final electricity class, we made a flashlight. First, I got two pieces of wire and sanded both ends of the wire on both pieces. Next, I took a LED light and spread the prongs on it. Then, I wrapped the wire around each prong and placed the LED light on the end of a popsicle stick. The wire went on each side of the popsicle stick. Next, I put a piece of tape around the end to hold the wire. On the other end of the popsicle stick, I placed a watch battery on one side and taped it down. Then, I placed a paper clip on the bottom of the popsicle stick, pressed down on the prongs on the paper clip and watched the light on the LED to see if it lit up.

Visual Arts and Crafts

Colton Pritchett, Middletown Meddlers

Sand Dough Pottery Flowerpot – I purchased a sand dough pottery kit from Wal-Mart and brought it home to make a flowerpot. I got three different colors and sand dough and rolled them in my hand to get them mixed together well. I then placed the sand dough into the flower pot base and placed it on the pottery press. I flipped the handle on the press and pressed down then rotated the base while pressing down until I felt I had a good flowerpot shape. I had to allow the flowerpot to dry for 36 hours, flipping it over halfway through to ensure it dried evenly. Then, I purchased a package of fine sand and an artificial succulent to place in the flowerpot.

Ceramic Snowman – I took a class at the Old Pharmacy Ceramic Shoppe in Mexico. In this class, I was able to pour a mold on my own, along with picking one out that had already been poured and painting it all on the same day. I made a snowman by placing clay into a mold of a snowman. I then had to wait until the next week to go back and be able to paint my snowman. Within this time, the snowman was fired at a very high temperature to harden the clay. I was then able to go back the next week and paint my snowman. After I was done painting my snowman, I had to wait another week so it could be grazed to give a nice shiny finished look to it. 

Yarn Rainbow – I made this yarn rainbow by purchasing a weaving craft loom kit. First, I had to prepare the loom to place the yarn. I prepared the loom using techniques called: supporting warp threads, base weft rows and by using a dowel road to keep the threads in place. I had to cut 30 strands of different colored yarn to make the rainbow. Each strand of yarn had to be 12 inches long. Then, I cut one strand of puffy white yarn 60 inches long to make the clouds. I used 1, 2 or 3 strands of yarn at a time to create Rya knots with the yarn to make the bottom of the rainbow all the way across the loom. Then, I used the strand of puffy white yard to weave above the Rya knots to create the clouds for the rainbow. Then, I had to follow directions on how to finish the design and get it off the loom.

Breads

Carl Smith, Montgomery Progressors

This is my fifth year in Breads. This year, we made Pioneer Bread, Pancake Poppies, two kinds of Cinnamon Rolls (one with yeast and one without), Hawaiian Rolls and Hawaiian Bread. The Hawaiian Rolls I made went to the state fair. I like trying out new bread.