Anyone else on CC have their child/children in a 4-H Club? DH and I just signed our son up and I really think it is going to be a really great way for him to spend some time as he gets older. We went to our first meeting Monday evening and they were practicing for a "horse bowl" in which the kids are asked questions pertaining to horses and they have 5 seconds to answer the question. Kinda like a academic team. My 4 year old was there for only an hour and he already knows how many teeth a horse has, what causes ringworm, and what another name for a worm is. I am excited about this and just wanted to know if anyone else on here had a child in a 4-H club.

Hope you will excuse an my Australian ignorance but what exactly is 4-H club. I have seen this term a lot and always wondered. Is this a club that is only in America?

BarbaraK, I'm honestly not sure if 4-H is only in America or not. It is a club where kids can go to learn about horses or other farm animals. They learn to show them, groom them, train them and other things pertaining to horses and/or other farm animals. They also reinforce things like respect for others, patience with animals/humans, etc. It is a great after school club for kids. I went checking out prices of helmets today and they are pretty expensive. Almost $60.00 for the one he will probably need. YIKES! I have to take my DH back to buy because he is the one with the horse background and really knows exactly which one he needs to get. We just recently bought a horse trailer with living quarters in it so we will be more comfortable going to all the shows. I mainly wanted it so I wouldn't have to use the porta potties anymore at the shows. We have horses on our farm and my son has his own pony. We are going to look pretty funny pulling up at a show in a 32 ft. horse trailer and then unloading a minature pony from the back

It's not limited to just animal education. The 4-H symbol is a clover with an "H" in each leaf. The 4-H's stand for HEad, Heart, Hands and Health.

I found this on the internet:
The 4-H Pledge
I pledge:
my HEAD to clearer thinking
my HEART to greater loyalty,
my HANDS to larger service,
my HEALTH to greater living,
for My club, My community,
My country and My world.

4-H has a number of categories for kids. Most of them ARE animal related (4-H is a dept of agriculture mandated organization), but there are cooking, knitting, cross-stitch, sewing, and CAKE DECORATING categories.

The judging is usually a big part of county and state fairs.

I taught a 10 year old daughter of a friend of mine how to decorate cakes for her 4-H project. She not only got all blue ribbons, but got a couple of ribbons that are above the blue! I cried as much as her mom .... we were so proud of her!

The 4-H program at DD's school is currently not functioning, as the parents who helped run it last year didn't come back this year This is DD's first year at this school and we both thought 4-H looked really neat. I am considering volunteering to help with it next year, but I'll have to check the time committment because I still have DS after school & DH doesn't get home until 6. DD's teacher runs the Cloverbuds (for the younger kids), so I am planning on talking to her & hopefully we can have a program next year.

Keep us posted about what you guys think of it & what activities you're doing!

-Lisa

In the 4-H club my son is in we are only dealing with animals. Not sure if that is only for now or if we will deal with other things later. Sorry about posting incorrect information. My son has only attended ONE meeting so we are just getting started and I guess I just assumed that it was only animal related since we only discussed animals and nothing else.

Dordee, you needn't apologize for that! I never knew there were other categories until my friend asked me to help her daughter learn cake decorating! I thought it was just for farm kids with their pigs, cows and horses!