4th H for Health Challenge

2019-2020  DE 4-H Healthy Living Club Challenge

Challenge Kick Off: September 1 – August 31, 2020

Clubs take part in the 4^th H for Health Challenge by introducing a variety of healthy living practices during club meetings each month. Complete bonus challenges to earn “points”!

Main Challenge Areas:

Water Consumption:

Offer water as the main beverage at club meetings

Fruits and Vegetables:

Include a fruit and/or vegetable as a snack choice

Physical Activity:

Organize a physical activity to get moving for 10-15 minutes

Earn extra points by completing bonus challenges!

REGISTER your club as a participant in this Healthy Living Club Challenge by Sept. 30, 2019 Register by sending an email to betsym@udel.edu or 302-831-8864. – 50 points

Elect a club Wellness Officer – 100 points

Social Well-being Challenge – 100 points

Incorporate a TEAM BUILDING ACTIVITY into a club meeting. Social relationships are an integral part of our well-being and help us establish a sense of belonging. Building relationships among club members is a great avenue for establishing a productive club and a safe space for all members to gather.

Personal Well-being Challenge – 100 points

This bonus is about personal well-being and how we can grow ourselves through our passions, interests, and aspirations. To achieve the bonus, have your club take part in an activity that has members exploring their dreams and establishing a goal for this month or whole year. After members have established their own goal, consider having them discuss a TEAM GOAL they want to work on as a club this year.

• Vision Board: Have youth bring old magazines to meeting. Each youth has a piece of paper and collects images or text from different magazines that represents their interests and dreams. Have them decorate it and then share an aspiring goal that they have.
• Interest Maps: Give youth a sheet of paper and have them write down all their interests, connecting ones that have similarities. If they see a pattern in their interests, have them focus in on that area and establish a goal.

Emotional Well-being Challenge – 100 points

Emotional well-being is emotions, feelings, and awareness or focus on their inner self. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services explains Mental and Emotional Well-being is “essential to overall health. Positive mental health allows people to realize their full potential, cope with the stresses of life, work productively, and make meaningful contributions to their communities. Early childhood experiences have lasting, measurable consequences later in life; therefore, fostering emotional well-being from the earliest stages of life helps build a foundation for overall health and well-being.”

Introducing opportunities for youth to learn about their emotional well-being is an important component of our 4-H programming. Take time during your club meeting to incorporate a technique that will help youth build their emotional well-being.

Here are some example ideas of activities/conversations to have to meet the Emotional Well-being Challenge:

• Have a conversation about anti-bullying: What do they see at school? How can they help others feel included? How can they address a bullying situation next time they experience or witness it?
• Open your club meeting with 4-H Yoga which incorporates yoga poses with each verse of the 4-H pledge.
• Self-compassion exercise with “I am…” statements: have youth write down 2-3 statements “I am …….” Acknowledging their strengths and attributes they recognize in themselves.

Financial Well-being Challenge – 100 points

Our awareness of financial health can have an impact on how we think, feel, act, and share with others. This challenge will introduce ideas and strategies to increase the strength of our financial literacy. Learning skills early on can help prepare for the future when finances become a staple part of our daily life.

• Savings
  • Strategies to Save: Based on your needs or wants, make mini banks to take home and start saving for your goals. Have members bring small mason jars or recycled plastic bottles, decorate and label for your different needs and/or wishes. (ex: Fun with Friends, Car, Clothes, Movies, Summer Fun, Savings etc.)
    • Experts recommend that we save a small percentage of the money we earn to put into savings. Encourage your youth to talk with their parents about a savings account if they don’t already have one.

Environmental Health Challenge – 100 points

One area of well-being we may not often consider is how our physical and natural environments impact our personal and public health. This can include access to safe routes to be active, nutritious foods that are affordable, safe water to drink and maintaining healthy environments where our food is grown. It is important that we consider how we treat our environments so that we have sustainable access to our basic human needs for generations to come.

Consider one of the topics below to discuss at your club meeting to learn more about the importance of our environment and how that can impact our health:

• Where our food comes from: This activity will help you consider where foods in our diet come from. Are they “local” or do we depend on agriculture from greater distances? Consider how distance of transportation for foods may impact our physical environment and discuss strategies to produce and purchase more local foods.
• Invasive Species: Learn about weeds and other species that interrupt or inhibit the safety of growing plants we need and food production we seek.
• Pollinators: Discuss with your club the role that bees and other pollinators play in food availability.
• Decluttering our space: Our environment can also include our personal space. The space we are in can impact our emotional health and decluttering our space helps declutter our mind of negative thoughts, emotions and feelings.
• Nature Hike: Take a hike through the woods or down the sidewalk in the neighborhood your club is meeting in. During this hike have youth note the things they see (different plants, bugs, animals, people, etc.). Afterwards, debrief on how they feel after getting some fresh air outdoors and encourage members to get 60 minutes of physical activity each day and try to get those minutes while outdoors if possible. *This could count towards physical activity challenge too!

Community Well-being Challenge – 100 points

This challenge is taking what you have learned and sharing it with others. Think of a way you can share healthy living with people in your county to help them live a healthier lifestyle.

Here are a few examples:

• Build a raised bed at a nursing home so residents can garden from a wheelchair.
• Create posters promoting healthy choices and place around town.
• Present to your families, a community organization, or your school about making healthy changes.
• If you have a community parade or event, create a float or display about healthy living.
• Ask local farmer’s market if you can set up a display to promote fruit and vegetable consumption.

Include a short blurb and/or picture of your club completing the BONUS challenges in order to earn the extra points.

Clubs that participate will be recognized at county achievement events to celebrate their success!

4th H for Health Challenge 2019-2020 Printable info & tracker (see below)