Whether youth participate in clubs, projects, camp, or in other program settings, the 4-H Youth Development Program's mission and goals remain the same... to help youth develop to their full potential! 4-H Youth Development is a nonformal educational youth program, conducted by the University of California Cooperative Extension. The purpose of 4-H Youth Development is to help diverse young people discover and develop their potential and grow into competent, contributing, and caring citizens.
Learn by doing activities, youth-adult partnerships, and research-based educational programs help young people enhance their leadership abilities and develop a wide range of other life skills. WHY? leadership/citizenship development; life skills education; strengthening youth-families-communities; advancing the field of youth development HOW? experiential education ("learn by doing"); bridging research and practice; building partnerships for programming and funding; cross-age learning and teaching; youth-adult partnerships WHERE? community clubs; special interest projects and programs; camp experiences; distance learning