Spring Outside: 3 Ways to Move Club Meetings Outdoors

As the days grow longer and the weather warms up (but isn’t too hot), it’s the perfect time to take your 4-H club activities outdoors! Outdoor activities offer unique opportunities for hands-on learning, team building, and exploration of the natural world. Whether you’re in a rural setting or an urban environment, there are plenty of fun and engaging outdoor activities to enjoy with your 4-H group or as a family. This article shares five ways you can shake things up by taking it outside!

Nature Scavenger Hunt: Embark on a nature scavenger hunt to discover the wonders of the great outdoors! Create a list of items for participants to find, such as leaves of different shapes and sizes, animal tracks, bird feathers, or specific types of flowers. Divide the group into teams and set them loose to explore the surrounding area. Encourage participants to use their observation skills and work together to check off items on their list. The team that finds the most items within a designated time wins a prize!

There is a native plant scavenger hunt as part of the Florida 4-H Bluebird project on page 9 of the Leader’s Guide.
To make this even more engaging with youth, you can use iNaturalist. It is a free app from National Geographic that uses crowdsourcing to identify plants. You can create your scavenger hunt for your club in the app, and then families or teams of youth use their phone to take a picture, document, and identify plants or animals.
If youth enjoy this type of activity, you might want to consider the Florida Friendly Landscaping Project or the Florida Youth Naturalist Project. Both projects guide youth through learning about Florida’s native plants and environments.

Outdoor Games Day: Organize a fun-filled outdoor games day for your 4-H club members to enjoy friendly competition and physical activity. Set up stations for classic games like sack races, tug-of-war, relay races, and frisbee throwing. You can also introduce lesser-known sports or activities such as disc golf, ultimate frisbee, or orienteering. Tailor the games to accommodate different skill levels and abilities, and encourage teamwork, sportsmanship, and fair play among participants. Don’t forget to provide plenty of water, sunscreen, and snacks to keep everyone energized throughout the day!

This idea can also be a fun celebration to end the club year.
If you need ideas for games, check out these “Minute to Win-It” style games from Oklahoma 4-H with an agriculture theme (perfect for livestock clubs!) or this book of team games from Iowa 4-H.

Wildlife Watching: Take a walk on the wild side and explore the fascinating world of local wildlife! Visit nearby parks, nature reserves, or wildlife sanctuaries with your 4-H club and embark on a wildlife-watching adventure. Bring along binoculars, field guides, and notebooks to help identify and record sightings of birds, insects, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Encourage participants to observe animal behavior, habitat preferences, and adaptations to their environment.

Consider inviting a local naturalist or wildlife expert to join you on your excursion and share their knowledge and expertise with the group.
Visit a state park to look for signs of wildlife. You can request a letter from your Local UF IFAS Extension Office to waive the state park entry fee.
Clover by 4-H offers several easy activities to support projects that are grab-and-go. Wildlife Signs is an activity that is appropriate for a variety of ages. This activity helps youth make observations about the wildlife around them, and can be a great introduction to the 4-H Wildlife project! To access the materials, you need to create a free account.

Fostering Further Engagement
Florida 4-H supports several project areas that foster a love of the outdoors. If you know a young person with a spark for the outdoors, encourage them to explore a project related to Wildlife, Forestry, Shooting Sports, or Sportsfishing. We also have a Forest Ecology Contest and a Wildlife Ecology Contest.

With a little creativity and enthusiasm, the possibilities for outdoor activities with your 4-H club are endless! Whether you’re exploring the wonders of nature, , engaging in friendly competition, or observing wildlife in its natural habitat, outdoor activities offer valuable opportunities for learning, growth, and connection. So, grab your sunscreen, put on your hiking boots, and get ready to make lasting memories with your 4-H club members and families in the great outdoors!