When you think of 4-H what does it bring to mind?  Possibly growing food on a farm or raising a cow.  When I was growing up my aunt’s family had a farm in South Dakota and the kids did raise cows and entered jams, pies and vegetables in the county fairs.  I always thought that it sounded fun, but I grew up in a city.  We didn’t have land to grow things or raise a cows.  However, we would go to the Alaska State Fair and saw all the beautiful home-grown things and the yummy homemade jams, jelly and various other things.

When I began to homeschool we were with a “private school” and had to choose a small group to be a part of.  When I saw a 4-H group advertised I knew this was the group I wanted to be involved in.  We lived in a city so what could 4-H offer it kids.  This was the wrong question, I should have asked what didn’t it have to offer.

We began our 4-H journey in 1st grade and were involved for approx. 9 years and our extension office offered so many opportunities for my son to grow, learn, and lead over the years we were involved.

Here is a list of some of the activities/projects my son participated in over the 9 years.

• Rocketry
• Archery
• Sewing
• Raising Citrus tree
• Poster Competitions
• Marine Science
• Dog Training
• Photography
• Demonstration Speeches
• Bike Safety
• Consumer Choices
• Talent Competitions
• Embrology
• Entomology
• Power Point Class
• Circuit Boards
• Solor Cars
• Cake Decoration
• Movie Making

He  also:

• Taught classes in entomology, archery, scrapbooking
• Attended County Council Meetings
• Attended Jr. Congress
• Attended State Congress
• Attended Legislature in Tallashee
• Was a 4-H Ambassador
• Lead Community Service projects
• Kept Record Books for all his project

4-H also afforded me the opportunity to volunteer and become a 4-H leader.  4-H is always looking for adults who can volunteer in various ways.  You could help with an established club, start a club or teach a workshop or skill.

If you interested in 4-H or would like to learn more please visit their Florida website 4-H. If you are located in a different state you can do a search on 4-H in your state. Here is the link for the National National 4-H. They also offer some great curriculum that can be purchased if you want to do any of the projects with your children.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.