Cooking club leader Tanja sharing photos and quotes from her club this year.
On May 15, 2012, 4-H Leaders from around Oahu gathered to be recognized for their club leadership efforts and to share some of their favorite activities from club work this year. There was so much knowledge and experience in the room, that we tried to capture some of what was being said about the “nuts and bolts” of leading a 4-H club.
Do icebreakers. Leaders said that when a short, easy icebreaker is incorporated into each meeting or session with the group, it helps youth settle in faster, get focused and become a “group” more quickly. Some examples were: gummy bear taste testing; contest for biggest bubblegum bubble; short people scavenger hunt (find someone whose birthday is in May, etc.) Doesn’t have to be fancy, but needs to be fun and short.
Create name badges. During one of the first meetings you have with your club, do an activity where each youth creates their own name badge- unique to them, but including the 4-H logo. Make them last with lamination and clips. It’s not realistic that every time you meet youth will have 4-H shirts on, so creating the name badge that they wear during your 4-H club time solidifies their identity as a club. When you go out as a club, wear the badges. This lets everyone else know who you are too. An example of this was a Jr. Leadership club who was doing clean-up at a park, and some other youth saw them with name badges and asked who they were. This was an opportunity for them to be 4-H and after school program ambassadors.
Set the tone with a routine. Youth thrive in predicable situations. As a leader, you have the opportunity to set the tone of your club by establishing simple routines that youth can then take on for themselves. Setting out pencils, flag sets, record books, etc prior to your session or club time visually lets everyone know what is going to happen. Youth can then adopt these “jobs” as part of being an officer in the club. Different clubs may have different routines- consider what is unique about your club and set small jobs as routines for each meeting. Examples may include: art clubs might need someone to inspect pencils/markers for damaged ones or organizing for the activity; photography clubs might need camera batteries checked or memory cards emptied; cooking clubs need to sanitize all surfaces prior to starting, etc.
Identify a leader within the club. Some youth are natural leaders, and it is to your advantage as an adult club leader that you seek out and cultivate a person in the club who wants to help and be a leader. This was reported as especially helpful with a diverse age group- having an older youth assist was priceless! You are doing two things at once: giving one youth responsibility and leadership skills while that youth is demonstrating to others as a peer how to be positive.
Elect officers. These are your helpers- who make your job easier! There was some consensus that officer elections should take place about once a month or so, if you are meeting every week. This would allow all in the club to have a role during the 4-H year- but it is up to you and your club how you choose to handle officer elections. Meeting with your officers for a few minutes prior to the rest of the club joining you was also mentioned as a good practice to adopt. (Perhaps do it the day before if club day is time-stretched.) This way, you can let them know what is going to happen, what activity is coming up and what the expectations are for them during the meeting and activity. This helps set up young leaders to succeed- they have all the information and feel prepared to assist.
Do Record Books. In some way, shape or form have youth keep track of their projects and accomplishments. For some, this is pictures and captions in a PowerPoint presentation printed and kept in a binder, for others it is a hand-written journal with photos and others will use the 4-H Record Book Forms that are free to print. Online record books are still a thing of the future for us, but we are working on it! Younger 4-Hers such as Cloverbuds might have a portfolio type book with drawings, art work and simple information for them to take with them. It is important the record book include the 4-H logo, the club name, youth name, year, and city/town or site. In the future, these books will be treasured by parents and youth, especially if they move often and keep few things.
Voluntary club participation. If at all possible, working within the system that you have, create clubs from kids who really want to be there. This was mentioned several times by different leaders of various clubs. A common theme is that more quality project work gets accomplished and there is virtually no behavior issues that need intervention during club time when all youth participating were there by choice. At the same time, however, it is 4-H culture to maintain the club for a designated amount of time, so asking for “commitment for X amount of weeks” is acceptable. 4-H Life Skills Wheel shows us that things like “self-discipline” and “self-motivation” are indeed skills which youth learn from 4-H participation. A healthy balance of freedom of choice in the after school setting with some expectation of long term commitment will strengthen your 4-H programming.
Set up the club, but then expect input. Leaders commented that things went really well when they came up with the first two activities/lessons but then left time for youth to provide input and additional planning into the rest of the club time. Another way to do this is to create your Program Plan, the “snapshot” of what you want your club to look like, with generalized ideas and goals, which leaves room for details and input from youth. As an example, a drama club leader wanted the club members to write their own scripts. The youth chose what they were going to write about and whether they did it as a group or individually. Your job as club leaders is to set some parameters, but to facilitate youth to lead themselves through learning. This type of planning works best with older youth- Cloverbuds need more directive and planned activities, though you can still get a sense of what they will like by asking for feedback after activities. (Part of the Experiential Learning process that is so important.)
Take time to learn introductory aspects of club topic. In cooking club, for instance, you should take time at the very beginning to cover cooking and eating etiquette, culturally relevant topics and kitchen cleanliness. For photography, everyone should first understand parts and functions of their cameras. In outdoor clubs or sports clubs, take the time to cover safety, first aid, water needs and weather safety. As leaders, do not assume youth know any of this before starting your club.
Be honest. Tell youth what to expect if they join the club you are leading. A leader of an outdoor adventure club said it best: “I told the kids, if you don’t want to get dirty, sweaty, mud on your shoes, don’t come to my club. Go do cooking instead.”
Get creative with time. When taking your club out on a field trip, you can do your club meeting on the bus. Maintaining the routine of the pledge and attendance, ice breakers and minute reading is important, and you can do it anywhere. If working with younger 4-Hers, don’t be afraid to use less time if you are losing them half-way through your activities. It is better to have quality time with them, even if it’s only 30 minutes.
What advice do YOU have for other 4-H leaders? Especially ones who are new to leading clubs?
Military 4-H Pacific 