BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS 



BOYS' AND GIRLS' CLUBS 



household arts, such as home canning, cook- 

 ing, bread making, garment making and kitchen 

 management. The time of work covers a sea- 

 son, a year or a series of four years, according 

 to project and program outlined and the detail 

 with which it is carried out. 



Club members, in addition to doing the 

 home projects, also keep records of costs, re- 

 ceipts and observations, and they follow a 

 carefully-prepared system of directions which 

 come in small installments and always in sea- 

 son. Leaders conduct field meetings and dem- 

 onstrations, hold contests, play at holding fes- 

 tivals, and fairs, and hold banquets in honor 

 of all members who have entered, "stayed in 

 the game, and finished the job" or, in other 

 words, who have achieved. 



Definite Objects. Some of the more direct 

 and important objects of this type of exten- 

 sion work are to offer to young people careful 

 guidance and direction in agricultural and 

 home economic activities, in the hope that 

 there may be retained for the farming business 

 and for rural life many of the best young peo- 

 ple; to demonstrate through the boys and girls 

 what is efficient and worth while for the gen- 

 eral practice of farm and home management; 

 to offer to the boys and girls through the 

 group or club definite training for leadership 

 and the advantages of cooperative effort, and 

 to make available the kind of team work 

 essential to better community ideals; to fur- 

 nish a plan of study available for immediate 

 practice, to help the rural and village schools 

 to teach the subjects of agriculture and, home 

 economics in a more vital and practical way; 

 to offer to the isolated boy and girl of rural 

 communities the educational advantages so 

 essential to better, all-around social devel- 

 opment; to teach habits of thrift, economy, 

 industry and a positive liking for the farm and 

 home. 



This is made possible through the club group 

 and constant cooperation with others in the 

 same community. Out of all this it is believed 

 that a deeper interest and a greater efficiency 

 in all of the activities and enterprises of farm 

 and home life will be forthcoming. Indeed, 

 results are already apparent. 



The Club Programs. In order to give a 

 better notion of what the club leaders mean 

 by club work, it will be well to submit here 

 a complete program of the different activities 

 which are part of a year's work in a completed 

 project; for the sake of brevity we will out- 

 line the club work of a Home Garden and 



Canning Club, and show the steps of devel- 

 opment for the year: 



First, a campaign for the enrollment through 

 the schools and the selection of a local leader 

 who can look after a club group for the entire 

 year. 



Second, members are then organized into a 

 group called a club, with its own officers, such 

 as president, vice-president, secretary, program 



Illinois, Douglas. 

 ( state ) ( county ) 

 [Date] Jan. 4 1917. 



I hereby make application for mem- 

 bership in the national Boys' and Girls' 

 Home Garden Club, and if admitted I 

 shall endeavor to follow all instructions, 

 attend meetings, and exhibit products 

 from my crop at a local or district fair. 

 I will keep an accurate record of my 

 work, expenses, and receipts, and will 

 make a complete crop report at the close 

 of the season and forward same to the 

 State Club Leader, State College of Agri- 

 culture. 



(Signed) JAMES R. KNOWLES. 

 P. O. Address Argo R. D. 46 

 Illinois. 



SAMPLE ENROLLMENT CARD 



committee, custodian of equipment or tools, 

 bookkeepers, superintendent of gardens, ser- 

 geant-at-arms, publicity agent, superintendent 

 of markets, garden surveyor, etc. 



The state leader instructs officers and local 

 leaders as to the manner of conducting the 

 club meetings, gives definite suggestions as to 

 the business part of the club work, and then 

 outlines programs that will have to do with 

 the agriculture or home activities such as the 

 project represents. 



In this particular project plans should be 

 made so that both boys and girls may be 

 members and all made to feel at home while 

 sitting in council at club meetings, where they 

 will discuss together the important problems 

 of gardening, home canning, sprays, soils, fer- 

 tilizers, weeds, insect pests, methods and de- 

 vices. They will also make demonstrations 

 and discuss other problems related to the farm, 

 such as the use of their food supplies, where 

 and how to secure seed, markets, labels, etc. 

 In addition to this, literary and musical selec- 

 tions may be enjoyed at each program, the 

 program hour to be preceded by a short busi- 

 ness session and parliamentary drill for the 

 members, and followed by a social meeting at 

 which the young people through the club 

 agency offer the best possible combination for 

 the social development of an entire com- 

 munity. This social side often attracts young 

 people, who later become regular workers. 



