UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Ag Progress Days is a great way to introduce kids and teens to the wide world of agriculture, and the 4-H Youth Building has a slate of activities planned for youth of all ages on all three days of the expo, Aug. 13-15.
The building is located behind the Family Room on Main Street, between West Eighth and West Ninth streets at the Ag Progress Days site. Displays and exhibitors at the 4-H Youth Building will include the following:
- Pennsylvania 4-H: Visitors can learn about the state 4-H Program as well as 4-H animal science opportunities alongside a fun game of “pin the tail” on the animal.
- Pennsylvania Dairy Princess and Promotion Services: Meet local and state dairy royalty, test and improve your dairy knowledge with various games, and play a round of corn hole.
- Pennsylvania State Rabbit Breeders Association: Learn more about raising rabbits as a hobby as well as their uses throughout the state.
- Plants Get Sick, Too: At this display, sponsored by Penn State’s Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology, visitors can learn about fungal friends and foes and see what makes plants get sick. Use microscopes to examine edible fungi from a Pennsylvania farm, forest fungi and some plants that have been attacked by fungal foes.
- Avian Influenza Egg-scape: Kids will have the opportunity to play an egg-collection simulation while protecting the flock of poultry puppets from potential pathogens. Visitors of any age can learn how a simple change in routine can improve the chances of “egg-scaping” highly pathogenic avian influenza and other harmful pathogens.
- Governor's Youth Council on Hunting, Fishing and Conservation: Learn about what it takes to serve as a guide or agent in the District Conservation and Natural Resources Program in Pennsylvania.
Other Ag Progress Days attractions for kids and families will take place throughout the grounds:
- Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center wildlife tent: Located near the 4-H Youth Building, this exhibit will feature live animals, avian nest display of Pennsylvania's breeding birds, craft activities and hands-on opportunities to learn about mammals of central Pennsylvania.
- Butterfly house: Visitors can come to the Yard and Garden Area at the end of West 11th Street to see native Pennsylvania butterflies and learn about their importance as pollinators. There also will be a youth activities tent.
- Corn maze: Children and adults can wander the giant maze, which is stroller- and wheelchair-accessible and located near the Harrington Building at the end of East Fifth Street.
- Pasto Agricultural Museum: Learn about farm and rural life before the widespread use of electricity and gas-powered equipment in the hands-on museum located on East Tenth Street across from the red barn.
- Kids’ tractor pull: Age groups include children aged four and under, five and six, and seven and eight. Pulls are located near the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau building, and sign-up is required 30 minutes prior to the start of each event. Dates and times include:
- Aug. 13, 11:30 a.m. to noon and 3 to 3:30 p.m.
- Aug. 14, 11:30 a.m. to noon and 3 to 3:30 p.m.
- Aug. 15, 11:30 a.m. to noon
Sponsored by Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, Ag Progress Days is held at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs, nine miles southwest of State College on Route 45. Admission and parking are free.
Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 13, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Aug. 14 and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Aug. 15.
For more information, visit the Ag Progress Days website.