What am I going to talk about! - updated with a handout.

[Wheels]

our 4-H leader asked me to give a talk about Rabbits next meeting! I don't mind, I know I could ramble about rabbits for hours I just never tried to teach a group of kids and their parents anything! I worry a bit that I'd be boring! :lol:

I'm not sure if I should just do a little something on the different breeds and uses or maybe just the basics of care? So much to think about - I feel like I need to be making note cards or something. I haven't done a talk/speech since college!

 

[BusterHill]

I think a general care over view would be cool for kids have a strange fact list too... maybe bring a couple bunnies in and let them handle them, learn to clip nails, brush. It would be cool if they could feel babies inside a mama, but probably too stressful for a mama... color sheets are always a hit... can you do a power point with handouts?

 

[cmfarm]

It depends. What do most of the 4-H'ers in that club raise rabbits for? Is it more of a meat crowd or more show rabbits?

 

[Wheels]

they mostly have poultry and rabbits for showing

 

[Random Rabbit]

Could be interesting to ask the Kids what They know about the rabbits. Then try to correct any Misinformation they might have.

Since they could be all over the board with what they know... one would need to be a nimble thinker / speaker... ( personally that would leave me out :/ )

 

[Miss M]

I almost had the chance to do this a couple of years ago, but the group did not reform the following year. It was a first-year group. They thought it was intriguing that we raised meat rabbits, and the leader wanted me to talk about rabbits, including their use for meat.

Good luck!

 

[the reluctant farmer]

I second what BusterHill suggested. I'm not a big fan of powerpoint, but that may be either because I like tactile objects to see & touch in order to learn, or because I personally have sat through so many that were boring & the speaker was hoping the magic of Pwerpoint would make it less so. I second bringing in rabbits and maybe pictures of kits at various ages if you don't have any or want to bring in live ones. Good time to talk about preventing diseases & make everyone use hand sanitizer before & after touching the bun. I also vote that you include a section on The Power of Poop: how rabbit pellets can tell you about a bun's health, Your Friend the Cecotrope, and also how great the pellets are for fertilizer, etc. The boys especially will love that you talked about poop. Call it a cheap laugh if you will; I call it showmanship. This sounds like lots of fun. Hope you have a great time!

 

[Wheels]

Thanks for the ideas!

- I can do handouts but no power point. - we meet at a barn and its not computer friendly

I have a plan to bring an assortment of rabbits - thankfully I have more than a few! I plan on taking one of our Mini Lops, My NZW herd buck, I have a Californian doe that's between litters I can take, a little Dutch, a little lionhead, and maybe our harlequin doe if she's ok with it...she should have a litter of 2 week old babies at that time.

I'm starting to get a little excited

 

[the reluctant farmer]

Keep us posted on how it goes! opcorn:

 

[Wheels]

I think I have my hand outs ready. I don't plan on using this in my talk - it's mainly something for them to take home and look over at their leisure. The part of the handout I made - I placed a lot of large line art in it for the smaller 4-H kids so they can have some bunnies to color. Most of the kids are in Middle School and Jr. High so I tried to gear most of this to that age group 11-14ish.

I'm a little hesitant to post it because I didn't write this but mainly gathered info from various websites and combined it. Like hoodat here at RT and his rabbit care sheet - I did give credit and I think my statement covers all the bases. Let me know if I should scrap it or do more in the credit line. Also, It may have become rather wordy! and I could use some advice on if you'd cut it down. The handout will be printed on 11x17 paper (front and back) and folded in half like a booklet - so it may be a little confusing to look at in the pdf because it's in printer spreads. (times like these I'm glad I work in a print shop ) The first page is the front and back cover, the Second page is the inside front and back cover, Third page - would be pages 3 and 6 - page 3 is on the right. and the fourth page is pages 4 and 5.

- I couldn't figure out what to call it so- so if you have better ideas let me know!

I'm also adding these three handouts as well (they are well marked so I didn't put them in the credits) - the Activity Sheet we may do at the meeting.
http://www.utextension.utk.edu/4h/projects/activities/Rabbit-W061.pdf
http://lancaster.unl.edu/4h/rabbit/showmans.pdf
http://www.arbadist1.com/Meat_Pens.pdf

again it is just stuff for them to take home and look at -

In my talk I plan on bringing a few of my rabbits like I mentioned and I'll talk about their breeds a little bit and I will give a little talk/demo on some basic grooming and care- like nail clipping. Most of these kids are very new to 4-H and rabbits so I figured I'd start at the basics!
After I'm done talking I think we'll play some rabbit game - I was thinking of putting the names of rabbit breeds on their backs and they would have to ask the other 4-H kids yes/no questions to try and figure out what type of rabbit they are.