Girl Scouts vs 4-H

[blue daisy]

Can you share your experiences?  Would you recommend one over the other?

 

My boys have been in Cub/Boy Scouts since 1st grade and are happy doing that.  My daughter wants to join Girl Scouts but the local council is pretty disorganized.  I have asked around and no one is recommending that we join their troop (either troop is dying out, or way too huge, or just really disorganized).  Today at the county fair, we saw some kids showing their 4-H animals and we asked them a few questions about other projects they do, so I'm considering that as an alternative, but I really know nothing about it. (There was no 4-H group around where I grew up).  Basically, I'm looking for an outlet for her to explore a variety of hobbies/interests and get to know some other kids.

 

Thanks!

 

 

ETA  - I'm asking for my 6 year old DD.

Edited July 28, 2016 by blue daisy

[The Girls' Mom]

4-H offers much more variety in activities and learning opportunities, IMO.  Girl Scouts isn't what it used to be, unless you have a very determined and active troop.  

 

I would look into what your area 4-H does.  They have many areas that do not involve animals such as programming, service projects, etc.  I know our area is also very active all the way through high school.  They have a yearly formal that my girls have love going to.  (they aren't in 4-H, but have several friends that are and have invited them along)

Edited July 28, 2016 by The Girls' Mom

[bettyandbob]

They are two different things. You can find well run and organized clubs in both. It depends on the leadership of your local groups. We were lucky my. My dd had opportunities with a good girl scout troop and 2 4-H clubs. What happened was dd went through her badge book and did all the badges she wanted. She did the bronze award and then said she couldn't find anything to work on even though there was plenty to work on independently. She liked the meetings, but something was missing. I realized every single badge or project she did was animal related. She really didn't want to do other stuff.

 

4H can be more single topic oriented like that. Dd participated in a large animal 4H group that cared for the animals at a local farm park. She also joined a 4H dog club.

 

Both the GSA troop and 4H were good experiences for dd because of the leadership. The bad experience we had with GSA was their camp. Dd has been to a few overnight camps and the GSA one was awful.

[Sandragood1]

My dd is in 4-H (3years) and Girl Scouts 11 years). Both programs have their strengths and weaknesses.

 

I like that 4-H lets us choose which activities we do. If Fall is busy for you with other commitments then don't do any fall projects. I also like that it is multi age, for girls and boys, and secular. A family could do 4-H for all their kids and it'll cut down in the running around.

 

I like Girl Scouts for the cameraderie. A good troop has lots of skills and experiences to offer and an all-girl group lets girls take leadership roles without pressure.

 

In both youth groups, the leader(s) of your club/troop make ALL the difference. That's why a large troop that is well led can be superior to a small troop. You are looking for good leadership in the club/troop more than anything else.

Edited July 29, 2016 by Sandragood1

[OneStepAtATime]

Our local 4-H is really geared to Middle and High School kids so you would need to find out if the 4-H in your area takes littler ones.  As others have said, it depends on how well the group is run, just like in Girl Scouts.  Also, 4-H covers a LOT of different things now, but different groups will focus on different things.  There can be multiple 4-H groups in one area.  Here, some focus on sewing/food/plants, while others focus on animals, while others focus on things like archery and metal working, etc.  The regional organization here is not very organized.  Some of the local groups are more organized but others are not.  It really varies. 

 

 

[Erica in OR]

You can check with your particular state, but in Oregon's 4-H ages 5 through 8 are in the Cloverbuds program. A link to program info says, "Cloverbuds members do not participate in competitive events and are not allowed to have contact with large animals as a part of their 4-H experience. These groups do not elect officers. Their group activity may exhibit, showcase or can feature in a noncompetitive way with a display at an event which could receive 'display or participation' ribbons."

 

We've had varying experiences in my two daughters' 4-H groups. As a previous poster mentioned, it really depends on leadership. They had a great fiber group (knitting, crocheting, spinning, felting) with a super organized and talented leader. We started with a sewing group. Leader was flaky, kept changing times/cancelling at the last minute, and left after just a few months to pursue a business opportunity. We're doing a group now that combines lots of the handicrafts, but also does small animals. We can pick and choose the parts we want to participate in.

 

One difficulty we had was identifying a group that had activities we wanted that was also taking new members.

 

Erica in OR

[TravelingChris]

My girls were in 4H in three different states.  One started out as a Cloverbud.  THe first state was a larger group that met in the evenings.  DIfferent kids had different projects they were working on.  The club itself did things like Christmas party and service projects and at the club meeting, people would demonstrate what they had done in their project.  NOt for Cloverbuds but for the regular 4H, there were special competitions too like the Consumer Education one which was held one Saturday at the main 4H building in the county and had various consumer ed activities like one was figuring out which sunscreen was the best buy (Best coverage for the lowest price).THere was also anothr event for public speaking.  Then there was the fair too.    IN the second state the girls were in 4H, they just participated in the shooting program.  In the third state, our home school co-op had a club that met during the recess period.  That club was another project based club and again there were Cloverbuds in that one too but of course, my daughters were well beyond that age.

[MomtoCandJ]

My dd does both- she's a Brownie Girl Scout (in a fairly active troop) and participates in 4-H. Though for now she only does BB gun club.

[blue daisy]

Ok, thanks everyone! I'm going to have to contact some local 4-h groups to learn a little about them. I've been trying to contact Girl Scouts but it's like pulling teeth trying to get any info out of them.

 

I will say that one of the girls we talked to at the fair yesterday was 6 years old, showing her rabbit, so it looks like there are opportunities for younger kids here. We're going back to the fair tomorrow so I will ask around some more. 4-H sounds like a lot of fun.

[Rachel]

Ok, thanks everyone! I'm going to have to contact some local 4-h groups to learn a little about them. I've been trying to contact Girl Scouts but it's like pulling teeth trying to get any info out of them.

 

I will say that one of the girls we talked to at the fair yesterday was 6 years old, showing her rabbit, so it looks like there are opportunities for younger kids here. We're going back to the fair tomorrow so I will ask around some more. 4-H sounds like a lot of fun.

My nephew and nieces show pigs and calves at their county and state fair without being in 4-h. I'm not sure if they go on their own or what. Only my nephew is old enough for 4-h, but he hasn't started yet. My little niece showed her first pig last week and she won't be 3 until September. It was pretty cute.

[Faithr]

We were in 4H for a couple of years.  We had to drop out due to several factors but while we were in it, it was awesome!  Our group did chicken embriology each year which was really cool.  They also did dog training and showed rabbits.  We had a great sewing leader and my dd was really into that for a while.  The best thing was for my son though who won an award for public speaking.  There are so many opportunities in 4H.  Honestly, if you are really into 4H you could unschool with all the projects and activities available.  It's that rich.  We had several foreign exchange students stay with us during the summer via 4H.  My kids never took advantage of going overseas but they could have.

 

Don't know if you are Christian or not but my dd wound up getting involved in American Heritage Girls which she absolutely loves.  In fact that is where most of her friends come from.  It has become a pillar of our homeschooling life.  It is set up almost exactly like Boy Scouts.  Many of the families have their boys in scouts and their girl in AHG.

[ktgrok]

I was in 4-H as a kid, in a surburban area so no animal projects. It was a fantastic experience. Our group would pick a few projects a year to do as a group, plus we could do some on our own. So we did wood working as a group, each being assisted by the leader's husband who had a jigsaw and such. We transferred the pattern, sanded, and painted sitting around a table together, and went to the garage to use the saw. Other group projects I remember were ceramics and...hmm..okay, that's all I remember. I was on the young end, lol. At home I remember doing a sewing project, a gardening one (I grew strawberries in a barrel which was really cool), and some other stuff. We also did public speaking, where we did "demonstrations"...had to tell how to do something with visual aids, etc. Kind of like being on a cooking show, where you show how to mix the ingredients, then have pre-prepared batter to show, then the done cake, etc. I do remember doing my demonstration on how to make a piñata at the fair, which was cool. And displaying my ceramics and I skirt I made. 

 

We did have an award assembly that was county wide. Oh, and for each project you filled out a project book. It would have questions you answered, photos, etc. Kind of like a science fair board, but in a booklet. You turned those in, and if it was done properly it got a blue ribbon. Kids who got a certain number of "blue award books" got a certificate to a local amusement park or something, from what I remember. 

 

Here the 4-H groups are all single project type groups, from what I can tell. Mostly robotics. Not well run. Maybe I'll get up the gumption to start my own group in a year or two, we'll see. We may move before then, so I'll see what's available. 

[Wheres Toto]

I"m in NJ and involved in 4-H.  Dh and I run a STEM club that had ages 7 to 13 last year (8 to 14 next year).  We meet twice a month, all the kids (even the Cloverbuds) can do projects but the Cloverbuds get participation ribbons at fair.  We have quite a few small animal clubs in our county and its the same way - they Cloverbuds can bring their animals to fair, enter the pet shows, etc. but receive participation ribbons for exhibits.

 

Around here 4-H does allow non-members to place exhibits in fair, with some exceptions for animals that need to be project animals.  My club members had exhibits in science, fine arts, photography, creative writing, child care, and small animal.  We did not do project work during club meetings, we did STEM projects/demonstrations/experiements many of which could be expanded into individual entries if anyone wanted to.  I was also available to help anyone with project work if they needed it.

[shawthorne44]

One other option is American Heritage Girls.  4-H seems to be more for older girls.  I started out wanting to be DD's Girl Scout troop leader.   I ran into the same problems you did.   Plus, I was disturbed about the direction Girl Scouts has taken since I was one.  

 

 

[Amy in NH]

One other option is American Heritage Girls. 4-H seems to be more for older girls. I started out wanting to be DD's Girl Scout troop leader. I ran into the same problems you did. Plus, I was disturbed about the direction Girl Scouts has taken since I was one.

We currently have 15 kids age 5-17 in our 4-H club. Most of them are between 6 and 11, and most are girls.

[shawthorne44]

We currently have 15 kids age 5-17 in our 4-H club. Most of them are between 6 and 11, and most are girls.

 

That might be just the local group then.  I got the impression that the leader's experience was that most parents of young kids who were asking about 4-H were looking for free babysitting.  

It might also be that I live in a rural area and those with young kids that want to do 4-H just do it themselves.