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Johnson County

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Johnson County
11811 S. Sunset Drive
Suite 1500
Olathe, KS 66061

Office Hours:

Monday - Friday,
8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

(913) 715-7000
(913) 715-7005 fax
jo@listserv.ksu.edu

Map to our office

K-State Research and Extension is committed to making its services, activities and programs accessible to all participants. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities may be requested by contacting Johnson County Extension at (913)715-7000. Notify staff of accommodation needs as early as possible.

Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service

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Food Fare REIMAGINED

Can creativity be taught? Not really, in a sense that you can’t just sit in a lecture, but there are ways to practice and improve creativity. The 4-H program promotes creativity by organizing events where 4-H’ers can try something new, be surrounded by caring adults that support mistakes, and having the opportunity to be inspired by the creativity of others.

One such event is 2021 Food Fare Reimagined. In this event, we challenged 4-H clubs to create a food basket for a community hero, applying their food knowledge and food safety skills. So how did this event encourage creativity?

  1. The 4-H Clubs were given the theme of Board Games to create their food basket. Participating in activity with many possibilities and no single solution creates the perfect environment for individuals to use their creativity.
  2. 4-H’ers were encouraged to use what they know and love, their interest in baking to create items for the basket. They relied on their strength and experience to think outside the box to think about how their item might fit in with the theme. In addition, they may have had to adjust the recipes they traditionally use to better incorporate the theme in their food item.
  3. The 4-H Clubs shared their masterpieces with us so we can inspire others. How did others approach the same problem? What can we incorporate into our solution next time? Being surrounded with a diversity of ideas can stimulate new thinking.

I hope the slide show of the 2021 Food Fare inspired you! If you have any encouraging or supporting comments for our 4-H’ers, please send them to joco4-h@jocogov.org so we can share them with the 4-H’ers.