4-H is the largest national youth organization in the United States and in North Carolina, it functions locally. Youth ages 5-18 are welcome to join. Competitive ages are 8 & up. Youth ages 5-7 are Cloverbuds, and they participate in non-competitive events and activities that promote cooperative learning experiences. Granville County 4-H has lots of ways to get involved for youth and adults! Granville County 4-H provides opportunities through clubs, project records, summer camps and more. Learn more below to find out what best fits your needs. Feel free to call 919-603-1350 with any questions, comments or concerns.

How do I enroll my child in 4-H? Click Here to enroll! 

What clubs are in Granville County? Visit our Clubs page!

Below is a list of some of the 4-H programs in which youth can participate, but remember there are TONS more opportunities available!

Granville Teen Leadership- More info coming soon!

Project Records – There are 4-H curriculum guides in 56 subject areas. In other words, there is a curriculum guide on any subject your child is interested in probably. Youth can get a curriculum guide from the 4-H office and work in it independently or in a club setting. Then the 4-Her uses a template to complete a project record. Sections include your 4-H plan for the year, goals, what you learned from your project, express yourself-a sort of scrapbook section, and your 4-H story. It is short and teaches youth how to set goals, make a plan, keep records, and express themselves creatively. This is a competitive program and records are judged at the county and district (actually state) level with prizes including medals and money depending on the category. Projects are due to the county in January by a deadline that changes each year. For more information, please visit the NC State 4-H Awards & Incentives website.

Citizenship-Ideas

Community Service Ideas-University of Nebraska

Presentation Program – Youth make a 5-12 minute illustrated presentation or demonstration on a topic of their choice. They then present at County Activity Day where they receive positive feedback from a panel of judges. Granville County Activity Day will be on Thursday, May 16, 2019. Next, the county winners will present at District Activity Day, which will be in Orange County this year on June 21. If they are gold winners there, they present at NC 4-H Congress at NC State University the third weekend in July.

The goal of the 4-H presentation program is to prepare young people to be successful when making presentations at school and later at work and to teach them to organize their thoughts to better communicate when in interviews for college entrance, college scholarships, and jobs, etc. For more information, visit the NC State 4-H Presentations page.

Four County 4-H Poultry Show & Sale – Youth and parents attend an orientation workshop to learn how to raise poultry. Two new breeds are chosen each year. In May, participants receive day-old chicks of the breed they choose and raise the birds until the Fall when the pullet chain ends with a show and the auction of 3 of the birds raised. There are cash prizes, trophies, and other awards, and the 4-Her receives half of the auction proceeds from the sale of their pullets. This is a wonderful first animal science project for a 4-Her as chickens grow very quickly-almost instant gratification – and the birds remain small enough for even the Cloverbuds to handle well.

Youth Market Turkey Show –The Youth Market Turkey Show is an opportunity for youth to raise and show market turkeys. The 2019 Youth Market Turkey Show will be held during the NC State Fair, with turkey hen check-in and show dates to be announced. The competition is open to any NC youth between 5-18 who will be in grades K-12 on the day of the show. Registration opens at 9:00 a.m. on March 1, 2019 and continues until we reach our limit of 300 participants. $10 fee per participant.

Please follow this website to learn more about the turkey show. NC State 4-H Youth Market Turkey Show 

Annual Livestock Program – Youth attend workshops to learn how to select, care for and show animals including wool and meat sheep, dairy and meat goats, and cattle. Various shows throughout the year. Locally we have the Spring Central Piedmont Jr. Livestock Show & Sale, and in the late Summer/Fall we have the 4 County 4-H Livestock Show. We have a livestock interest meeting on Tuesday, January 29 at 6 p.m., please RSVP.

Dairy Judging – Youth dairy judging programs are designed to help youth improve their cattle evaluation, but also provide the opportunity to develop excellent communication skills. Members of dairy judging teams often become lifelong friends and share invaluable experiences through team practices and travel to competitions. Local dairy judging teams (both 4H and FFA) are invited to the North Carolina Youth State Dairy Judging contest, typically held in April.

2021 Dairy Judging Contest

Horse Program Contests – 

Short Story Writing – 200 to 1000 words, typed, double-spaced or handwritten in ink

Poetry – less than 50 lines, typed, double-spaced or handwritten in ink

Essay – 200 to 1000 words, typed, double-spaced or handwritten in ink

Drawing – matted size 9”x12” to 18”x24”, pencil, chalk, charcoal, pen and ink, or pastels, matted w/3” border

Painting – matted size 9”x12” to 18”x24”, watercolor, acrylic, oil, or tempura (Juniors only), matted w/3” border Crafts – woodworking and craft items including horse and rider

Photography – 5”x7” – 10”x12” mounted, black-and-white or color

Poster – Standard 22”x28”, ANY horse related topic

Sewing – articles to be worn by a horse or rider (blanket, saddle pad, grooming apron, boot bags, etc.)

Entries are due the end of April along with a $5 entry fee. Short stories, poems and essays are due the end of April. All other non-writing horse entries are due the middle of June.

Horse Artistic Expression & Creative Writing Events

NC Horse Program –Do you love horses but don’t own one? Would you like to learn more about horses and be in a club with other people who like horses, too? 4-H has the answer for you! If you have a horse or access to a horse, you can also compete in 4-H horse shows.

NC 4-H Horse Program Webpage

NC 4-H Horse Program Educational Events

NC 4-H Horse Shows

NC 4-H Cloverbud Horse Program

NC 4-H Horticulture Program – From growing tender turnips, to identifying squash from seeds to measuring trees using a Biltmore stick. Find out about the opportunities that wait! NC 4-H Grow For It- Horticulture Programs

NC 4-H Forestry & Wildlife Program – Each of the projects incorporates experiential learning opportunities that will form a base for further discovery in the wildlife area of your choice. NC 4-H Forestry & Wildlife Program

4-H Wildlife Projects

4-H Forestry & Wildlife Presentations

4-H Forestry Contest

WHEP – The 4-H Wildlife Habitat Education Program

Photography Contest – Youth may submit up to four photographs for judging: one each in Nature’s Beauty, 4-H in Action and a TBD category. Photos may be in color OR black and white and any size, 8″x10” or smaller will be accepted. Entries in the 9-12 and 13-18 year old categories will advance to the State Competition. Entries are due at the beginning of June. NC 4-H Photo Contest

4-H Poster Contests – Youth may enter the Poultry, Dairy, Career, Beef Contest(s); or can enter all four. Poultry and Dairy entries are due the second week in July. Beef posters are due the end of May and Career posters are due first part of June. All entries must be on standard poster board (22” x 28”). Entries from 5-7 year olds will only be judged on the county level, while the winners in the 8-18 year olds will advance to the state competition. All entries will receive 4-H scholarship dollars. NO clipart or copyrighted material (cartoon characters, etc.) are accepted — original artwork only. No cut-out letters, etc.

Citizenship NC Focus – Two 4-H teens from each county travel to Raleigh to learn about becoming citizen leaders. Participants will meet one on one with their legislators at the legislature, attend workshops and develop a citizenship project that they will come back to our community and implement. June 10-12, 2019.

NC 4-H Electric Program – Annual program for youth interested in learning more about how electricity works and exploring careers in engineering. Youth attend electric workshops in the county and work on an electric curriculum guide on their own-supervised by parents or me. The program culminates annually with NC 4-H Electric Congress. This 3-day event is held on a different college campus each year and is sponsored by NC electric companies so it is FREE to participants. Youth participate in workshops and there is always a fun side trip such as white water rafting or a riverboat cruise, depending on where the event is held. Again all expenses, including transportation and side trips, are paid for participants. July 9-11, 2019.

4-H at the Fair – 4-H’ers may enter crafts, decorated cakes, photography, entomology (insect) collections, and exhibits at the N.C. State Fair. Entry forms are due at the end of September and entries must be received the week before the fair opens (check the current year’s fair catalog for specific rules). NC State Fair Webpage

NC 4-H Congress – Culmination of the 4-H program year when 4-Hers from all over the state stay on campus at NC State University, eat in the dining hall, attend leadership and service workshops, elect new state 4-H officers and work side by side with other 4-Hers in a huge service project. Always held the 3rd week of July. July 20-23, 2019.

AIRE – Program for teens that teaches them how to complete an Application, Interview, Resume, and Essay. This is a competitive program for teens and the rewards are free trips to various national 4-H events. For more information, please visit the NC State 4-H AIRE website.

4-H Scholarship Program – College scholarships are available to 4-Hers and the greater your 4-H involvement, the greater your chance of receiving a scholarship, all other things being equal. For more information, please visit the NC State 4-H website.

Teen Retreat – The North Carolina State 4-H Program is divided into five districts; West, South Central, North Central, Northeast and Southeast. Each district has a teen council and elected officers. These teen officers help to plan the district-wide 4-H events for the year, including: District Activity Day, Teen Retreat, and other district teen activities. Teen Retreat is usually held in March and is a lock-in type leadership building retreat that generally offers training and workshops centering around the state 4-H project. 4-H’ers ages 13 to 18 are able to attend. District teen council officers are elected at Teen Retreat.

Delegate to the NC Assoc. of County Commissioners annual conference -YouthVoice provides county commissioners with the opportunity to connect with the next generation of leaders. The event brings together Youth Delegates from 4-H Youth Development clubs and Boys and Girls Clubs of North Carolina. YouthVoice, which takes place on Friday and Saturday of the NCACC’s Annual Conference, offers sessions that help youth gain a better understanding of what county governments do and the role of commissioners as the governing body for counties, and provides multiple opportunities for youth and county officials to connect. Youth and county officials are formally together for Saturday morning’s breakfast and General Session. County officials will also have the opportunity to meet their county’s Youth Delegate prior to the conference. In order to qualify to attend, Youth Delegates must speak at a Board of County Commissioners meeting prior to YouthVoice and submit a photo of themselves with their Board of Commissioners. The Association strives to bring a diverse mix of youth representatives age 14-19 from each of North Carolina’s 100 counties to YouthVoice. The NCACC has partnered with 4-H Youth Development, a service of N.C. Cooperative Extension, to coordinate and bring Youth Delegates to YouthVoice since its inception. The Association welcomed Boys and Girls Clubs of North Carolina as a partner organization in 2012 to bring additional representatives to YouthVoice.

Important Note: All competitive programs in 4-H are for youth 8-18 years old. For those 5 to 7 years old, everyone receives the same recognition. For example, Cloverbuds (5-7 years old) will all receive blue ribbons for their project records with judges’ comments on what they can improve upon. The other judging categories would be 8-10, 11-12, 13-15, and 16-18 years old and there would be a first, second and third place prize in each category.

Remember: everything done in 4-H is age-appropriate and 4-Hers will only be in competition with others their own age.