One of the greatest challenges you will face as a 4-H leader is to work with your club officers to plan exciting, active meetings that positively affect club members and inspire greater participation in 4-H learning experiences. All leaders want good things to happen in their 4-H clubs, but this will happen only if you give thought and effort to your club planning. One key is the active involvement of members in club program planning.

In 4-H clubs where families are excited about 4-H, where members and adults willingly volunteer to work and where members are eager to join, good planning has been the key to success. A primary focus should be on what happens at club meetings. Active involvement in club meetings helps create interest and provides inspiration and stimulation for members to learn through new experiences. There are many ways to incorporate active, fun learning into the 4-H club experience.

Structuring a Meeting

Club meetings should really be divided into three primary sections: group building, group decisions, and program or activity time.

• Group Building includes recreational and social activities. Strive to have 15 to 20 minutes of group-building time in a typical meeting. It may occur at the beginning of a meeting as a gathering activity or mixer, or at the end of the meeting as a recreational activity.
• Group Decisions focuses on the business portion of the meeting. During this time members should be actively involved in discussing club plans, presenting committee reports, making motions and voting. Consider using active methods of voting. For example, all members in favor of a motion could move to the left side of the room, while those opposed move to the right side of the room. Allow 15 to 20 minutes for this component of the meeting.
• Program or Activity Time is the portion of the club meeting when new knowledge or skills are offered. It can take 40 to 60 minutes. Examples of programs include hosting a guest speaker; having a resource person, project leader or 4-H members lead a hands-on project learning activity; conducting a community service activity; and having member presentations.

Be Ready to Adapt!

These descriptions and times are guides for the planning process. Each club meeting is unique, so don’t hesitate to adapt the model to make your meetings positive learning experiences for your club members.

Visit the Volunteer section of the Michigan 4-H Web site at http://web1.msue.msu.edu/cyf/youth/volunteer.html for other tools that will help you plan effective 4-H club meetings. This site has lots of ideas to help you get your club year off to a good start, involve parents more effectively in your club activities and gather input from your members on what they hope to learn through their 4-H club experience.

"The Larger 4-H System," illustrates the relationships between 4-H members, clubs and all of the organizations and entities -- in communities, counties, the state, and the nation -- that support this delivery method in the Cooperative Extension System.