4-H Pledge and the 4-H Wheel of Life:
foundation of lifeskills for youth
by Julia Steed Mawson
Creating a Sense of Belonging to 4-H
Helping anyone understand and feel they belong to something usually involves certain ritual or
traditional activities. In 4-H, the Pledge is part of that ritual and is used as a regular part of
traditional 4-H Club meetings. It is the cornerstone for helping youth and volunteers feel like,
“I’m in 4-H”.
For programs operating after-school or at nontraditional sites, creating this sense of belonging to
4-H is important. Reciting the 4-H Pledge can help youth and their caregivers who need some
form of transition to help them understand this is “4-H Time.”
Understanding the 4-H Pledge
Whether your program is in a traditional club setting or a non-traditional one, making sure
participants understand the real meaning of the words in the Pledge is key. Too often words
are said, without helping youth (and even adults) think about how to apply those words to the
real world. Repeating and memorizing the words of the 4-H Pledge is important, but if left there,
the words can become just rote sounds without real substance.
Try turning the pledge into an activity where youth participants are engaged through the 4-H
Wheel of Life activity. This can become an important part of life skills development as well as a
way to evaluate growth in youth. These overall life skills include:
4-H Pledge
I pledge
my HEAD to Greater Thinking……………
my HEART to Greater Loyalty……………
my HANDS to Larger Service……………
my HEALTH to Better Living………..……
for my club, my community , my country
and my world.
Lifeskills
Cognitive and Creative Skills
Personal and Social Skills
Vocational & Citizenship Skills
Physical and Mental Health Skills
Wheel of Life Activity
1.
Make a large circle on newsprint. Divide it into four
parts. Each part represents a part of the 4-H Pledge.
2.
Say the 4-H Pledge, stopping after the first “H” and
asking, “So if we are going to work on _(topic or
project)_ today, what would you be doing or thinking
about today that would show Greater Thinking?”
4-H Wheel of Life
HEAD
HEART
HEALTH
HANDS
The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
UNH, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and New Hampshire counties cooperating. 7/14/2016
3.
Continue on with the pledge, stopping at each “H” and asking the 4-H’ers to tell what
they think Loyalty, Service and Better Living would look like as it applies to that
particular day.
4.
Write down what the participants say in each quarter. Try not to editorialize or
change their words. Validate and honor what they say, by trying to write their
thoughts as they have expressed them. You may choose to not do this form of the
pledge every time, but do it often.
5.
You may choose to return to the circle at the end of the session and ask if they have
any new ideas about the meaning of each “H” now, after doing today’s activities.
Record any new ideas. If you use a different color marker for these answers it will be
easier to later identify the changes in thinking.
6.
Keep your sheets and see if over time their responses, and therefore their
understanding, become more sophisticated.
Extensions …Other Ways To Develop Understanding And Belonging
Look for other ways to “play” with the 4-H Pledge.
Try creating four boxes, one for each “H” of the pledge.

Fill the box with cards that have short examples of real life applications for that life skill
concept. For example, in the Heart box (greater loyalty) a card could say, “You offered to
help your parents water the garden.” Then as each component of the pledge is said, have
a child pull a card out of the matching box and read it.

Invite the children to make up their own examples and put them in the boxes for future
Pledge games.

The cards could also be designed as puzzle pieces, with each piece being added over
several days to make one large puzzle.
In Summary…
The key is to make the 4-H Pledge living and relevant. Be creative and look for other ways to
make the Pledge a great learning, reinforcing and evaluating tool.
The University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension is an equal opportunity educator and employer.
UNH, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture and New Hampshire counties cooperating. 7/14/2016