Just wandering if anyone else has kids in 4H? We have been involved with 4H for 12 years now. My oldest was in for 10 years, my middle son has been in for 7 years and this is our daughter’s first year she gets to show. But she has been a cloverbud for 3 years. I have been the advisor of our 4H club for 5 years now. I love helping all the kids. 4H really has taught my kids a lot. Not only responsibilty but how to win gracefully (without bragging), and to lose gracefully. To always shake your opponents hand and tell them congratulations. Besides showing animals they can take tons of other projects. My daughter is going to take a sewing and cooking project along with showing a pig. (we raise 4H showpigs) Would love to know if any of you have kids that are in 4H!!
Could you shed some light on what is available through 4H other than animal showings/demonstrations. We don’t own any animals besides dogs and a cat.
Thank you in advance 
Absolutely! You can show dogs, too! There are many, many other projects you can choose from. A couple years ago my son did the first aid kit project. It taught him all about first aid (what to do in situations from a burn to someone choking) and he put together a first aid kit. Like I said before there are all kinds of sewing and cooking projects. Photography, cake decorating, quilting,scrapbooking,theater arts,writing projects, home living, which includes laundry, making simple furnishings, making over your room,leadership projects, gardening , outdoor projects, such as trees, birds, fishing,bees, gun safety, electricity, robotics,tractors and machinery,woodworking,etc.
So as you can see 4H is not only about animals!!
Hope that helps!
My kids just joined 4H in jan of this year. We still have soooo many questions about how everything works. For example, how do you get involved in all the different projects? It’s very confusing.
Your 4H advisor should give you all the paperwork you need. I am in Ohio so our paperwork has to be turned in by April 1, no exceptions. You should have a book with all the projects that are available and an enrollment form for each child to sign up for whatever project they are interested in.
Are you doing the misc projects or are you showing animals?
How old are your children?
And I guess I should add that when you do sign up for a project you will get a book and it will tell you everything you need to do. Not sure about you but our kids have to take their books and go to judging. They will get a A or B and could possibly get chosen for state.
My daughter is 9 and my son is 11. We are planning to show meat pen rabbits and goats. My daughter is wanting to get into the vet science program and my son is still deciding. I guess I need to ask our advisory because when we signed up we didn’t get anything. Our county youth fair is next week so everyone is busy with that. We weren’t able to get our rabbits in time to show this year.
My son is a second generation 4Her. He shows beef and this year will be trying the forestry project. (Although we don’t farm, he and his sister will inherit a beef and forestry operation). Both dc (my daughter is officially too young for most areas) enter items in the fair each summer.
In my state (Mississippi), in addition to animal projects, project areas include Communication and Expressive Arts, Family and Consumer Sciences, Plants, Conservation, Science and Technology, Personal Development and Leadership, and Miscellaneous Projects. Some examples of projects in each category are Public Speaking, Photography, Nutrition, Clothing, Horticulture and Gardening, Shooting Sports (including Archery), Robotics, Citizenship, and Entomology.
Your state 4H website should have a list of projects available. In my state many of the publications are available in pdf form.
We have done 3 years of 4h. Even though we have a little backyard farm, we have never shown animals through 4h. My son did two years of shooting sports (air rifle and archery), and then he did a year of model rocketry. My daughter did one year of entomology. There are SO many different projects kids can do. It often gets seen as just agriculture and animals, but it is so much more than that. A very small portion is ag, but the majority is other projects.
My daughter is in 4-H she is primary so she will show our pigmy goats until she’s old enough to show pigs or cattle. We LOVE it. It shows her responsibility and courage.
How do you find local 4H locations? I’d love to get my kids involved, but can only find info on the ‘clubs’ that show animals at the fair.
Any club should also take kids wanting to take misc projects. My club is mostly animals but about 1/4 of the kids take a misc project. Do you have a local extension office you could contact or maybe just google clubs in your area?
We’ve been trying for over a year to get into our local 4-H club. We gave up Girl Scouts with the hope of joining 4-H instead. Since my daughter will be turning 8 in May, she’ll be past Cloverbuds, but beyond that I don’t have a clue. 
I contacted our local County Extension office.
This is our first year in 4-H. What state are you in? For all the similarities I know each state and each county and even each club are very different because they are volunteer/parent led. I had 2 clubs very near me that I looked into, but the meeting times were not great for my family. Then out of the blue a family at my church invited us to their club. It is a few more miles away, but the timing is perfect and the group has been a great fit for us. If your extension office doesn’t get back to you with information on the different groups, attend your local fair this summer and introduce yourself. Look for names of clubs that seem to have the type of projects you are interested in and then find people from that club to talk with. So far I am very pleased with 4-H and I foresee my family being a part of it for the long haul. I hope you find a club that is a good fit for your family.
My kids really enjoyed 4H. They got to do all sorts of different activities , and meet some new kids! Mine were 8,7, and 5 when we were in it. They made apple pies, planted flowers, and learned how to peice together and sew a nine-patch quilt! They also had holiday parties. It was fun!