Plan with purpose: Designing your best 4-H year yet
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EmailWhether it’s your first year leading or you have been leading for years, taking time to plan ahead helps your 4-H club stay organized, energized and youth-focused.
Kicking off a new Michigan 4-H year is an exciting time! Whether it’s your first year leading or you have been leading for years, taking time to plan ahead helps your 4-H club stay organized, energized and youth-focused. A little planning now can reduce stress later, increase youth engagement and create a meaningful roadmap for your entire group.
When volunteers and youth work together to map out their 4-H year, everyone benefits. Setting clear goals, identifying priorities, and preparing in advance ensures youth voice is at the center of the experience. A well-planned 4-H year:
- Builds excitement and engagement.
- Creates clarity and reduces last-minute stress.
- Encourages youth leadership and responsibility.
- Keeps families and volunteers connected.
Think of the 4-H year as a journey. A good roadmap includes these important “stops” along the way:
- Start with the big picture: What do we want to accomplish this year?
- Set a few club-level goals, like completing a community service project, offering more public speaking opportunities or increasing youth leadership.
- Encourage youth to set their own learning or project goals.
- Utilize a variety of resources in planning the activities for the year.
- Communication systems
- Use tools like calendars, group texts or newsletters to keep everyone on the same page.
- Share dates for meetings and events early—this helps families plan ahead.
- Invite families to take turns bringing snacks, leading activities or helping with events.
- Tap into volunteer strengths—whether it’s organizing, teaching or offering encouragement.
- Make sure youth ideas guide the year’s plans.
- During the first meeting, ask: What do you want to do? What do you want to learn?
- Empower youth to take leadership roles in planning, facilitating or evaluating meetings.
- Ask youth to look around their community: What needs are not being met? Planning a service project together helps youth see how they can make a difference while strengthening teamwork and empathy.
- Celebration and reflection
- Don’t forget to look back! Take time to celebrate accomplishments and reflect on what went well.
- Recognize both group and individual achievements, from service projects to personal growth.
- Take time to reflect all year long. When using the Experiential Learning Model, don’t skip out on the reflect and apply
Michigan State University Extension has developed two tools to support you in your role of planning your 4-H year and meetings:
- 4-H Club Calendar: Lay out the whole year in advance, including meetings, service projects and events.
- 4-H Meeting Outline: Use this to plan each meeting in more detail. This will help you think of objectives for your meeting, hit all the key parts of a 4-H club meeting and keep things running smoothly.
With confidence, clarity and a strong roadmap, your club is ready for a fun, organized and meaningful 4-H year!
For additional ideas on to help with planning for your 4-H club meetings, consider watching previous Michigan 4-H Volunteer webinars.
