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We’ve all seen photos of long-ago county fairs, when people from around the town would gather to show off and celebrate the town’s main focus — agriculture.
Today, county fairs remain vibrant venues, changing to reflect their communities yet remaining a treasured annual tradition and attracting scores of new families, as well as faithful fair-goers. 4-H fairs offer 4-H members the opportunity to grow in many ways:
• Exhibiting helps youth learn to set goals, work toward those goals, develop standards, get a sense of achievement and to communicate effectively about what they have done.
• 4-H members have the chance to educate fair-goers on a variety of topics including 4-H and the importance of agriculture.
• 4-H members gain leadership and volunteer experience by helping to plan, organize and run county fairs.
At a 4-H fair today, you might find children grooming their goats or shining up their saddles for the horse show, but it’s just as likely that you’ll find them filling their rocket’s fuel tank or downloading a new image for the Web page they’re finishing. Today’s 4-H fairs reflect the evolving interests of youth in the world today. And while many youth continue working with animals, growing things in their gardens or refining their sewing and cooking skills, 4-H contests have expanded to new venues. In each competition, youth are guided by judges skilled in the area, who offer feedback, encouragement, tips and advice.
These hands-on experiences help youth improve skills, learning the importance of following rules carefully, gaining confidence in interacting with judges and speaking with confidence about their project all while handling the excitement and nerves that come from public presentation.
We’ve all seen photos of long-ago county fairs, when people from around the town would gather to show off and celebrate the town’s main focus — agriculture.
Today, county fairs remain vibrant venues, changing to reflect their communities yet remaining a treasured annual tradition and attracting scores of new families, as well as faithful fair-goers. 4-H fairs offer 4-H members the opportunity to grow in many ways:
• Exhibiting helps youth learn to set goals, work toward those goals, develop standards, get a sense of achievement and to communicate effectively about what they have done.
• 4-H members have the chance to educate fair-goers on a variety of topics including 4-H and the importance of agriculture.
• 4-H members gain leadership and volunteer experience by helping to plan, organize and run county fairs.
At a 4-H fair today, you might find children grooming their goats or shining up their saddles for the horse show, but it’s just as likely that you’ll find them filling their rocket’s fuel tank or downloading a new image for the Web page they’re finishing. Today’s 4-H fairs reflect the evolving interests of youth in the world today. And while many youth continue working with animals, growing things in their gardens or refining their sewing and cooking skills, 4-H contests have expanded to new venues. In each competition, youth are guided by judges skilled in the area, who offer feedback, encouragement, tips and advice.
These hands-on experiences help youth improve skills, learning the importance of following rules carefully, gaining confidence in interacting with judges and speaking with confidence about their project all while handling the excitement and nerves that come from public presentation.
