Doing a Demonstration for 4-H: Creating a Poster Stand and Making Mini-Vanilla Donuts

A couple of years ago, I went to a conference for 4-H volunteers. One of the sessions I took was how to make a poster stand for use with presentations and demonstrations.

She talked about doing an activity at the club level to bring awareness about the readability of posters. (See The Poster Walk.)

She said that all types of 4-H presentations should include one or more posters. However, the impact of the poster will depend on the ability of the audience to see and read it. By following the guidelines in the Poster Walk, youth can test posters and understand the effects that easily seen and read posters have on the quality of a presentation.

When I made the poster stand that Sophia used at a recent 4-H meeting for doing her demonstration, I followed the instructions provided here: Getting the Parts in Order.

I laid out all the pieces that were pre-cut  and labeled:

The next step was assembling the framework that the posters rest on as well as the supporting post that holds the poster stand upright.

There are elbow pieces that function as bases as well as poster holders.

The finished poster stand is simple yet effective.

The workshop leader had another resource for volunteers who want to help youth with their presentation skills: Orient a Public Presentation Volunteer.

So, what does the poster stand look like in use? Sophia used it when she did a demonstration about how to make mini-vanilla donuts at the March 4-H club meeting.

The poster stand held an introductory board, the list of supplies, the recipes (for the donuts and glaze), and thank you board.

Sophia demonstrated how to mix the ingredients.

She showed how to prepare, fill, and use a piping bag.

Sophia then filled a couple of donut rounds in the pan.

Since the donuts are baked (versus being deep fried), the dough is soft and needs to be in little forms. Each of the depressions in the pan have an upright center to make the donut hole.

 Olivia assisted Sophia by flipping the poster boards.

Sophia showed how she glazed each of the mini donuts.

 She asked if anyone wanted to sample the donuts. The youth were very eager to try the donuts and have seconds.

The pan of donuts - all 24 of them - were gone within minutes.

One of the girls even asked if she could bring home the batter that was used so they could make the donuts (they were going to put the batter in a standard pan and then cut them into donut-size pieces afterward they were baked).

The recipe she used is one she found online. I'm not sure where she found it. At any rate, here's the recipe:

Things You Need

• 2 mixing bowls
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Whisk
• Hand beater (or you could mix everything by hand)
• 2 small microwave-safe bowls
• Donut tin
• Piping bags
• Oven mitts
• Toothpicks
• Knife/Fork
• Cooling rack
• Small bowl
• Spoon

Batter Ingredients

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking power
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¾ salt
• ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
• ¼ cup vegetable oil
• ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• Softened butter or cooking spray (for the tins)

Glaze Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 small pinch of salt
• 2-3 tablespoons milk
• Food coloring and sprinkles (optional)

1. Begin by preheating your oven to 425 F.

2. First, soften the butter in the microwave, then thoroughly use it to grease your donut molds. Set them to one side. (You could use cooking spray instead if you prefer that.)

3. In your other mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and mix until well combined.

4. In your other mixing bowl add the melted butter, vegetable oil, sugar, and the vanilla seeds or vanilla extract. Then mix until smooth.

5. Once they thing is mixed add the eggs one at a time as well as the other teaspoon of vanilla extract.

6. The next step is combining the dry ingredients and milk to the wet ingredients. Begin by add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, then half of the milk, another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, the rest of the milk, and then the rest dry ingredients. The idea is to start and end with the dry ingredients.

7. Mix everything until smooth.

8. Once your batter is done, put it into a piping bag.

9. Carefully pipe the batter into your molds. Making sure to stop once they’re a little over half way filled otherwise the donuts will spill over.

10. Place the donuts into the oven and bake for about 7-8 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

11. Remove your donuts from the oven and let them cool for a couple of minutes. Then carefully take them out of the pan and let cool to room temperature before frosting and adding sprinkles.

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