4-H New Member Resource

You have successfully enrolled in the Dakota County 4-H program! We are excited that you have chosen the 4-H program as a learning opportunity for your young person. If you are brand new to 4-H, 4-H is an out-of-school, hands-on learning program for anyone in Kindergarten through one year past high school (grade 13). Youth choose a project that’s interesting to them and explore it with peers and caring adults. 4-H clubs are groups of youth who want to learn together and meet in every part of Dakota county and throughout the state of Minnesota.

We hope you find this resource helpful for navigating the program.

What's a 4-H club?

Most 4-H'ers join a local club at some point. Clubs are fun, regular gatherings where they:

• Make friends
• Find help with their 4-H projects
• Find leadership opportunities
• Take part in culturally-specific activities and other activities and events

Clubs offer

• Small-group learning
• Caring adult volunteer leaders who are screened, trained and guided by local University of Minnesota staff
• Grounding in research-backed curriculum and best practices for nonformal learning
• Support to help you dive deep into project learning

Most clubs welcome anybody in kindergarten through one year past high school and interested in any project area. Youth in kindergarten through second grade join as Cloverbuds. Clubs may meet after school, in the evening or on the weekend. There are community clubs in every area of Dakota County. You may meet people you already know or a whole new set of friends.

Dakota County 4-H Clubs

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bZ6KJcMcHxQ41L2FyiGkDPieODxbq68i/view

Leading a club is one very important role that an adult volunteer can play. Club leaders don't work alone. All volunteers are screened, receive training and ongoing support from local Extension staff and have access to a wealth of online materials.

We recite the 4-H pledge at each meeting in order for their members to have a sense of belonging. Making a commitment to the four H's helps the members commit to something bigger than themselves. Below is a visual demonstration of the pledge.

https://extension.umn.edu/about-4-h/4-h-pledge

The sky’s the limit! 4-H offers learning experiences in science, photography, agriculture, healthy living, civic engagement and much more. We have one-day events, year-long projects and everything in between. There are many ways to try 4-H.

Grade K-2 members are considered Cloverbuds. A Cloverbud is a 4-H member who is in kindergarten through second grade. Cloverbuds explore and learn by doing fun activities, guided by adult volunteers. Cloverbud members have the opportunity to participate in day camps, county fair, cloverbud workshop days, club opportunities and much more! Cloverbud programs are age appropriate and non competitive. In cloverbuds we focus on developing life skills through the experiential learning cycle.

Grade 3 through one year post high school members are able to dive deeper into project areas. We believe that kids learn best by doing. That's why all 4-H'ers do hands-on projects in areas like science, health, agriculture and civic engagement. We give them a positive learning environment and guidance from adult mentors. We encourage them to take leadership roles. Kids can concentrate on one project area or they can try as many as they like. 4-H members in grades 3+ have the opportunity to participate in all 4-H activities and as they get older take on various leadership opportunities.

Make sure to read the weekly communication tool the Friday Forecast! Each week the Friday Forecast will be sent to your email. This communication tool provides you will details on upcoming workshops, and program opportunities and shares past events and news that is happening locally in our program. Past editions can always be found on our website https://extension.umn.edu/local/dakota#weekly-newsletter--2452513

Email: torg0016@umn.edu
Website: https://extension.umn.edu/local/dakota
Location: 4100 220th Street West, Farmington, MN, USA
Phone: 651-480-7700
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dakota.county4h/