COLUMBUS, Ohio – As Ohio gears up for its first full fair season after the pandemic shutdowns, 4-H educators say that enrollments are up.

“In talking anecdotally to my colleagues throughout the state, the 4-H educators handling it say enrollments are definitely up this year,” said Sally McClaskey, program manager at The Ohio State University 4-H office for education and marketing. “It’s what we would expect after two years of COVID and virtual meetings.”

Kids taking animal-based projects are still No. 1, McClaskey said. In 2021, there were 72,144 animal projects.  Next would be STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) projects, with 20,213. In some counties, kids are still enrolling in 4-H, so 2022 numbers are not available yet.

Also, in 2021, there were 84,330 4-H members and 14,975 volunteers (12,054 adults and 2,933 youths). Youth participation included 15,188 kids in clubs, 16,436 in schools, and 11,314 in camps.

Adventure Central is an urban program in the Dayton area. It’s a partnership between OSU Extension 4-H and Five Rivers Metro Parks and has been active for about 22 years, said Nate Arnett, OSU extension educator/director, Adventure Central.

“It is center-based,” Arnett said. “Kids come to the facility after school and during the summer for out-of-school time programs. We do after-school day camps, residential day camp programs, and family engagements. We don’t work just with young people, but they come in the context of a family.”

The program typically works with about 230 youths a year. That includes roughly 95 kids a day for after school and maybe 150 for day camps, Arnett said. Adventure Central is based on the same program philosophies as 4-H, with kids learning about the opportunities for mastering particular skills, working with caring adults, and giving young people voice and choice in the activities they do and how they do them.

“Our focus is a lot on sciences and nature, especially since we’re connected with our park district,” Arnett said. “We’re in a 120-acre park, so getting kids outside and connected with the natural world, learning more about it, improving those skills that every kid needs to be successful, and workforce development is a piece of it, too.

“We want our young people to become citizens that need jobs,” Arnett said. “We have a number of opportunities within our programs and the partnerships we work with to give them their first work experience in a positive, supportive kind of developmentally appropriate position.”

The program does not focus on projects and county fairs as much as the typical 4-H club does, Arnett said. But their members are active participants in the state fair. They have a work-preparation day with a contest that includes a mock interview. Participants also bring in a display that showcases what they have learned and how it will help them in the future.

However, in Pickaway County, where the most popular 4-H animal projects are hogs, rabbits, and chickens, kids do focus on the county fair, said Joy Sharp, OSU 4-H educator. The Pickaway County Fair is one of the earliest in Ohio. This year’s dates are June 18-25. This county is also one of the few that did not miss a county fair during the pandemic.

The 2020 fair had restrictions, but they still had livestock shows with immediate family only in attendance. They were livestreamed so grandparents and friends could see the action. There was hand sanitizer everywhere, but the show went on.

“We had our regular fair last year,” Sharp said. “We didn’t have chairs and people hanging out inside the barn that much. Many of the kids and judges chose to wear masks. Hand sanitizer was everywhere.”