Tips for Writing a 4-H Activity Lesson Plan
Use Kid Appeal: Your goal is to provide a lesson plan that volunteers or staff members
can use to present an educational activity to kids. The activity needs to be fun and
engaging for the kids to be effective. You are someone who knows the subject and has
taught this activity, or something similar, many times before. You are simply trying to
capture this fun activity so others can enjoy it, too.
Use Experiential Learning: 4-H has adopted a process that allows youth to first learn by
doing before being told or shown how and then process the experience. The Experiential
Learning Model includes five specific steps: 1. Participants experience the activity. 2.
They share the experience by describing what happened. 3. They process the experience
to determine what was most important and identify common themes. 4. They generalize
from the experience and relate it to their daily lives. 5. Participants apply what they
learned to a new situation. The activity plan template is based on the Experiential
Learning Model.
Use the Template: You’ll create your activity using the “Activity Plan Text Template.”
As you write, use “Parts of a 4-H Activity Plan” for information on how to complete each
section of your activity plan. The activity plan template has been tested by many staff and
volunteers. We know it works! It is designed to be a helpful, easy-to-follow guide to
make your creative work as painless as possible. It ensures that your activity will feature
experiential learning. It also provides 4-H with a consistent product that we can post with
pride on the state 4-H web site.
Use a Word Processing Program: Use Microsoft Word when writing your activity. Use
Times New Roman, 12 point, as your font.
Produce Clean Copy: Make sure your text is clean, clear, and complete. Here are some
good practices to follow when writing your activity:
 Use the second person “you,” not “we,” i.e., talk directly to the person who will
be using your activity plan.
 Use one style throughout.
 Make all text flush left, unless you are making a bulleted or numbered list.
 Use only one space, not two, after a period, question mark, or exclamation point.
 To highlight a word or phrase within the text, use italics, not bold or capital letters
 Book titles should be in italics: Little Town on the Prairie.
 Periods and commas go inside the quotation marks, like “this,” or like “this.”
 When speaking of young people, use the word “youth,” rather than “children,”
“kids,” or “members.” Use “group” rather than “club.” Use “helper” or
“volunteer” rather than “leader” or “advisor.”
 Double check your facts, especially names and titles.
 If you want to alert reviewers to something in the text, put [brackets] around it.
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Do Criteria Checks: As you create your activity, check regularly to see how you are
meeting the first 11 National 4-H Curriculum Criteria. (See “Criteria for Reviewing
Activity Plans.”)
Take Quality Photos: Provide at least one 3” x 5” high quality photo to represent your
activity. Here are some tips:
 Each photo should be sharp, with a simple background so the subject stands out.
 Get close to the subject! The subject should fill the photo because it will not be
used very large in the activity.
 You don’t have to have people in your photo, but if you do, they should look like
they are engaged in the activity. Youth subjects should be around the target age of
the activity and should be “doing” while any adults should be “supporting” them.
Try to show diversity of races, physical abilities, and males/females in your
photos, if you can.
 If you are shooting digital photos, set the camera at its highest image size (at least
900x1500 pixels) and finest resolution.
 Generally, don’t rely on Internet photos. Photos extracted from the Internet (with
permission, of course) are often not print quality.
Get Photo Permission: Cooperative Extension has adopted an official release form for
use by all faculty and staff who publish pictures and/or video in which people appear. If
an individual is identifiable in an image published in an electronic or hardcopy format,
and they are not employed by UW-Extension, you must have a signed release form on
file. Photographs taken at public events and in public spaces do not require written
consent unless an individual is singled out and identifiable in the photo. Consent is not
needed to photograph groups of people in a public place. In the case of youth under age
18, the release must also be consented to and signed by a parent or guardian. For a review
of UW-Extension policies and a copy of permission forms in English and Spanish, go to
www.uwex.edu/ces/admin/policies/photo.cfm. It is okay to use the shorter “general”
release form. If you have youth/parents/guardians sign a general permission form during
4-H enrollment, you can substitute that form. The State 4-H Office just needs to know
that permission has been obtained and that the form is on file in your office.
(Adapted from National 4-H Cooperative Curriculum System “Writer Packet.”)
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