We live in the south and my son is doing 4H this year.
He is showing a goat.
My niece and nephew are in high school now and have been involved in 4H all through school and go to the camps and are on leadership boards.

4H is not something that I grew up with in the suburbs of a large north eastern city, but my husbands whole family did 4H.

I grew up doing horse and pony 4-H. Teaches you to care for a "project animal" plus lots of volunteering/community service.

For those asking it stands for head, heart, hands, health (and pledging to use those things for the greater good).

OP: where do you live? There are 4H groups in this region and they cover all the areas - from the farming to nature to skills. I believe the best county fair around the DC area is for Howard County (which includes Columbia, MD area )which has great 4H displays and a real agricultural connection. You can learn a lot about 4H at the fair. The fair is August 8-15th. http://howardcountyfair.org/

4H is the youth program of U.S. Land Grant universities around the country, so they are stronger in some parts of the country than others.
4H: Head, Heart, Hands and Health

There is even a 4H program at the University of the District of Columbia: http://www.udc.edu/college_urban_agriculture_and_environmental_studies/4_h_and_center_youth_development

Check out Cloverbuds, 4H for younger kids.

PP which club are you in? I think my rising third grade would love it, but it seems like the clubs start at 9, and she misses the cut off by only a few days.

Yes! We are in fairfax county and my kids participate. We are headed out to the fair today. I highly recommend checking it out and the various clubs. Lots of funs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in SF and I thought DD would like 4H so I signed her up. We went to the introductory meeting, which was at the other end of the city and took an hour to reach on mass transit. We got home after 10pm. All their 4H activities involved things outside of the city, or hosting at your house. We don't have a car and not everything was mass transit-accessible, and we have a tiny 1 bedroom that can't comfortable accommodate two people, let alone 10-25. Plus every single 4H project cost money. So I told DD we couldn't do it. But man, she'd have loved it - lots of nature stuff and lots of animals.

I looked into Girl Scouts for her but there was no branch in the city.

It's associated with the USDA. What made you think this screamed "perfect for a carless family in urban SF?"

I don't really know what it means to be associated with the USDA - it has to do with cows? Farming? I'm a city girl, raising my girl in another city. I don't know shit about 4H except that it has to do with farmers and growing stuff and animals and things like that - all things my kid loves. I figured if they had it in the city, it'd BE in the city. There's Golden Gate Park. There are real live bison in there. I figured she'd get to garden, and visit people who have chickens in their yards, grow some fruits or veggies, I don't know. I was just trying to do something my kid would like. It didn't work out. So we wasted four hours of our life; not a huge deal in the scheme of things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in SF and I thought DD would like 4H so I signed her up. We went to the introductory meeting, which was at the other end of the city and took an hour to reach on mass transit. We got home after 10pm. All their 4H activities involved things outside of the city, or hosting at your house. We don't have a car and not everything was mass transit-accessible, and we have a tiny 1 bedroom that can't comfortable accommodate two people, let alone 10-25. Plus every single 4H project cost money. So I told DD we couldn't do it. But man, she'd have loved it - lots of nature stuff and lots of animals.

I looked into Girl Scouts for her but there was no branch in the city.

It's associated with the USDA. What made you think this screamed "perfect for a carless family in urban SF?"

They do 4H in urban settings too:
http://urban4hscience.rutgers.edu

Anonymous wrote:We live in SF and I thought DD would like 4H so I signed her up. We went to the introductory meeting, which was at the other end of the city and took an hour to reach on mass transit. We got home after 10pm. All their 4H activities involved things outside of the city, or hosting at your house. We don't have a car and not everything was mass transit-accessible, and we have a tiny 1 bedroom that can't comfortable accommodate two people, let alone 10-25. Plus every single 4H project cost money. So I told DD we couldn't do it. But man, she'd have loved it - lots of nature stuff and lots of animals.

I looked into Girl Scouts for her but there was no branch in the city.

It's associated with the USDA. What made you think this screamed "perfect for a carless family in urban SF?"

Anonymous wrote:We live in SF and I thought DD would like 4H so I signed her up. We went to the introductory meeting, which was at the other end of the city and took an hour to reach on mass transit. We got home after 10pm. All their 4H activities involved things outside of the city, or hosting at your house. We don't have a car and not everything was mass transit-accessible, and we have a tiny 1 bedroom that can't comfortable accommodate two people, let alone 10-25. Plus every single 4H project cost money. So I told DD we couldn't do it. But man, she'd have loved it - lots of nature stuff and lots of animals.

I looked into Girl Scouts for her but there was no branch in the city.

I think you win for most pointless post ever.

OP, check the public library calendar. There are some events sponsored by 4H. Also, in MoCo, they've had past Montgomery County Fair 4H winner present at some of the kid events.

If your kid is too young, check out the nature centers for classes.

sorry for my ignorance, but what is 4H? sounds fun for my toddler child.

You might want to try the older kid forum.

Grew up in 4H - LOVE IT!

Get involved; you won't regret it and your child will love it. Great folks and fun enriching activities - plus, what kid doesn't love animals?

We live in SF and I thought DD would like 4H so I signed her up. We went to the introductory meeting, which was at the other end of the city and took an hour to reach on mass transit. We got home after 10pm. All their 4H activities involved things outside of the city, or hosting at your house. We don't have a car and not everything was mass transit-accessible, and we have a tiny 1 bedroom that can't comfortable accommodate two people, let alone 10-25. Plus every single 4H project cost money. So I told DD we couldn't do it. But man, she'd have loved it - lots of nature stuff and lots of animals.

I looked into Girl Scouts for her but there was no branch in the city.

Can you tell me about it? I saw the website but I would love to hear experiences and personal stories!