Sisters Madelyn and Ava Turner of Saline wore cowboy hats, made stick ponies and rain sticks, drank water out of canteens, and had their picture taken in a chuck wagon at this year’s four-day Cloverbud 4-H Camp.

And that wasn't all.

They also rode in a horse-drawn wagon, learned about old-fashioned medicine practices, planted flowers, panned for gold, and learned about clouds as the way pioneers predicted the weather at the Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds in Lodi Township.

“I liked everything,” said 6-year-old first-year camper, Ava, when asked about her favorite activity.

Older sister Madelyn, 8, said she liked making crafts and planting herbs.

And although Bonnie Winkleman was never in 4-H as a kid, as an adult, she’s offered her Master Gardening expertise to the youngest members of the organization for the last few years.

“It’s something I can do with kids, it’s close to home and it’s a nice opportunity to do a different volunteer activity,” Winkleman said.

Winkleman, of Saline, taught the 5- to 8-year-olds how to plant flowers as part of a community service project, which included sprucing up the planters for next month’s annual 4-H Youth Show.

In its third year, Cloverbud 4-H camp, was inspired by a similar camp in Bay County begun by Jodi (Feldkamp) Schulz, the county’s 4-H educator and daughter of Elaine Feldkamp, Washtenaw County 4-H program assistant.

“We went up there to observe the camp,” Feldkamp said.

And the youngsters weren’t the only youth learning new skills during camp. This year, junior counselors, ages 11 to 12 years old, joined the older counselors in a “train the trainers’ program,” which brought together 21 volunteers at the camp, said Cindy Fischer, 4-H program coordinator.

Counselor Travis Matts of Milan said, “I like doing the crafts with the kids and I enjoying being out here volunteering.”

Matts said, “4-H isn’t just being in a club, it has meaning and reason, and takes you further than a sport. 4-H teaches you life lessons.”

In fact, the youngsters learned about nutrition, taxidermy and financial management while at camp this year. They planted herbs that have been around since pioneer times, an activity that was a favorite for Abby Morris, 8, of Dexter.

Counselor Sheri Robbins, 17, of Chelsea said she comes from a family of 4-H'ers. “I learned a lot of new things, such as nature stuff, and there are a lot of fun activities,” she said.

Lisa Allmendinger is a regional reporter for AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at lisaallmendinger@annarbor.com. For more Saline stories, visit our Saline page. For more Chelsea stories, visit our Chelsea page. For more Dexter stories, visit our Dexter page.