Eligibility for 4-H membership begins when a child has reached age 5 and is enrolled in kindergarten as of January 1 of the current year (Cloverbuds); membership to the 4-H club program begins when a child is at least age 8 and enrolled in 3rd grade as of January 1 of the current year. Ohio 4-H membership ends December 31 of the year in which an individual attains the age of 19.

Youth are welcome to join an existing club or you may wish to start a club of your own if you are willing to become an advisor.  Clubs can be as small as a family or as large as the club advisor wishes.  You may also wish to be a co-advisor for the club your child joins.  To become an advisor, we require you to complete the enclosed application and following the steps to become an official volunteer.

If you are looking for a club for your child to join, there are many in our county from which to choose.  Youth have their choice of more than 200 projects in a wide variety of subjects including guinea pigs, creative arts, rocketry, photography, cooking, fishing, cats, dogs, arts, aquariums, bicycle safety, gardening, model airplanes, woodworking, health etc. Youth can pursue one or more projects at a time and each is outlined in a project book that can be purchased from our office for between $5.00 and $20.00.

The Cloverbud program is designed to be cooperative rather than competitive so the fair “evaluation” is a show-and-tell session and recognition for participation rather than earning a score. About half of the clubs in Franklin County offer programming in their clubs for Cloverbud age youth.

Club format varies greatly as does the expertise of the advisors.  Some advisors prefer to limit the projects their members pursue to areas in which they have some knowledge while others will leave the selection open to each club members.

Some questions you may ask a club advisor to determine a good fit for your child(ren) are:

1. When and where does your club meet and how often?
2.  Are there projects that are more commonly pursued by your members than other projects?
3.  Are there any projects your members cannot pursue?
4. How many members are in the club?
5.  What are the ages of your club members?
6.  What happens at club meetings?
7. Do your club members participate in the fair?
8. Does your club have fund raising activities?  If so, how much and for what purpose?
9. What community service projects has the club done in past years?
10. Do your club members pay dues?
11.  What do you hope your club members gain from their 4-H experience? (fun, learning, friends)
12.  How do you like the parents/adults of the members to be involved?
13. How many advisors or co-advisors help you and what are their roles?
14.  Do you have any Cloverbud age kids in your club?
15. What projects have Cloverbud kids done in past years?

The frequency of club meetings varies from 6-12 months of the year.  Youth can join a club anytime but must be officially enrolled by April 1 to be eligible to compete at the fair.  Because of this deadline, most members have determined what project(s) they will work on by February or March.

There are other activities our office sponsors that may interest you.  Each year, we offer an overnight 4-H Camp for kids ages 9-13.  This camp lasts for four days and is held at Camp Ohio in St. Louisville Ohio (Licking County).

Please call the Franklin County Extension office at 614-866-6900, ext. 213 or email boomershine.10@osu.edu to receive a list of clubs in Franklin County who are accepting new members.  You are welcome to call these advisors for more information about their 4-H club.  Also, if, once you get started in a club and have questions your advisor cannot answer, please call.  We want to help you in any way we can.