How to Rock Your 4-H Record Book!
It’s summer time and that means all things 4-H! Raising animals and doing 4-H projects is a lot of fun. What’s not fun? Fighting with your kid to get their record books done. I’ve learned a few things since we began 4-H and I’m here to share with you how you can help your child rock their record books!
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Every year I promise myself that we will not wait until the last minute to work on record books. Each year we get a little better. This year my goal is for the kids to have their books as close to done as possible by the beginning of August. Our fair is the third week of August.
If your county extension office offers work days take advantage of them! This is a great way for the kids to get their work done and have a leader there to answer questions. I like the idea of setting aside one day a week to work on record books. Because alliteration is fun I like 4-H Fridays.
For more tips and how to guides check out this post: “4-H Program|An Overview”
Here is how your kids can rock their record books!
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Fill out every blank
This might seem like a no brainer but you’d be surprised by how many books I check over that have blank spaces. Teach your kids to make sure every box is checked and every question is answered. Even if the answer is “NA” for not applicable.
I’ve been told by our County 4-H organizer that she has set aside many job applications because the applicant didn’t fill out every blank. So doing this on their record books is good practice for the future.
Type up the record book
Our state has our record books available online so it can be typed up. This makes for a very nice finished record book. So we take a sloppy copy to all our meetings and transfer the info to the typed version later.
Because I’m OCD about some things I like to put the books into nice report covers. I think this just gives the record book a nice finished touch. You can get a box of 25 for just $19.99 at Amazon. I bought a big box because each of my kids does multiple projects.
Choose great goals!
Looking for a way to keep your 4-H project on track? Check out my Animal Project Organizer on ETSY! You can click here to purchase the Organizer for just $4.99
Another idea for goals is to choose:
One knowledge based goal (ie: learn all about a disease, learn about the meat cuts, learn the body parts, read a book on raising goats/pigs/sheep…)
One skill based goal (ie: how to ear notch a pig, how to tattoo a rabbit, how to trim hooves, clip my animal for show)
One personal development goal (ie: work on my record book once a week, keep a log of my practice time, help the younger members at a project meeting, keep a chore chart)
Make the expense record as detailed as possible.
Provide as much information as possible in your expense record. You might add details such as how many bags of feed you bought. How much the bag weighed. Where you bought your feed. This also provides you with a good record that you can go back and reference in the future. Who gives you the best deal on feed. How much have prices gone up over the last few years? All this info could be in your record books for you to access in the future.
Fill up the space given
When it comes time to fill out the record book have your child answer questions in complete sentences. If they can fill up the space given with their answer it shows they put some effort into it.
You can find this handy drawstring bag in my Etsy shop.
Write a great story!
4-H is all about developing future leaders! Write about what you learned and how you grew as a person.
Be creative. Write a story from the perspective of your animal. Make sure to include actual events and what their “human” learned so it still hits on the educational aspect.
Focus on one specific event or lesson learned. If you can make a whole story out of breeding your animal it shows an in depth understanding of the topic.
Write an overview. Talk about what was learned throughout the year. The favorite parts of the meetings. What was hard and what you learned through trying.
Add extra pages
If your county allows extra pages at the back of your record book then fill it up!
-You can add an extra page of photos.
-Any handouts that were given out at project meetings.
-A recipe if the project is a food project.
-A drawing of the plan used to build your exhibit.
-charts/graphs/time cards of how often you worked with your animal.
Be creative with what you add.
Pay close attention to what your county allows. We are allowed extra pages but the number is based on the age group. The kid’s stories also are included in these “extra pages”. So if you are allowed 6 extra pages and your story is 3 pages long you only have 3 pages to play with.
Following instructions is also good practice for the future!
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I hope your kid’s have great record books this year! Good luck at your fair!
Have any questions or comments? I would love to hear from you. Please comment below and let’s start a conversation!
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6 Comments
VERONICA GONZALEZ
Any ideas on secretary record book?
Jennifer
We have a specific document that our county uses for the secretary record book so most of the record book consists of that document. As extra my daughter added all of the newsletters she had made for our club to her book. She put in all the minutes she had taken at our business meetings. She included attendance records. A nice touch is to add tabs to your record book for each category. She has hers broken down by Annual Plan, Agenda, Attendance, Minutes, Leadership Team, and Newsletters. Creating a fun cover is a good idea. You can use pictures of the group or any other design. I use the free version of Canva and create pdfs there. My kids have had fun designing report covers in Canva as well.
Linda
Good ideas! Make sure you check to see if plastic sleeves are allowed or recommended in your area. We do not recommend here as add weight, glare and thickness to books. At state level award consideration not allowed. Always free to use for past years that are not being considered.
Jennifer
That is excellent advice! I don’t think our county has any restrictions like that so it never even crossed my mind! Checking with your county is always the best way to go. Thanks for weighing in on the post!
Jennifer
Great advice! My son has won 1st for his record book 6 years in a row in our Pig Squeal, and the two years he did Chick Chain. We put every page in plastic sleeves, and if you are limited on photo pages we make those pages a collage. Now both of my sons are starting the Goat Project next week.
Jennifer
That’s awesome! The plastic sleeves are a great idea. Hope you enjoy the goat project. My daughter does goat and we love it!