4-H is a community of 6 million young people across the world who are learning how to live healthily, be leaders, become engaged in their communities, and use science and technology to make good decisions for their future and their communities’ future.
The Iowa 4-H Youth Development Program provides opportunities for youth to develop skills that they can use now and throughout their lives. Iowa 4-H builds upon a century of experience as it fosters positive youth development that is based on the needs and strengths of youth, their families, and communities.
Iowa 4-H follows the principles of experiential learning and draws on the knowledge base of Iowa State University and other institutions of higher education in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. The Iowa 4-H Program's vision and mission statements clearly view youth as partners working with caring adults, and as full participants in planning and working for individual and community change.
Vision: Preparing Iowa’s youth to be successful, contributing members of society.
Mission: 4-H empowers youth to reach their full potential through youth-adult partnerships and research-based experiences.
Kids learn by doing with positive adults and friends in a fun, safe setting. Whether coding, photography, stargazing, soccer, rabbits, robots, cultural diversity, dance, etc, there is a 4-H learning community working on that.
There are two kinds of 4-H Learning Communities:
- 4-H Clubs Grades 4-12
- Clover Kids Kindergarten to 3rd Grade
To see what is currently available, visit your county’s 4-H page.