Welcome to Marais des Cygnes District 4-H!
We are happy to welcome you into our 4-H Family. You will find information on how to join the Marais des Cygnes District 4-H program below.
To be a 4-H Member, youth must be age 7-18 by January 1 of current 4-H Year. We also have a Cloverbud Program for those youth who are 5-6 years old by January 1.
The key to understanding 4-H and all the great opportunities that 4-H offers is to get involved and asked questions. Questions about joining 4-H can be directed to either Marais des Cygnes Office.
Karla Hightower - Paola Office (Miami County 4-H) - 913-294-4306 or
Abbie Powell - Mound City Office (Linn County 4-H) - 913-795-2829.
Enrollment for the 2024-2025 4-H Year starts on October 1.
*New Family enrollment is from October 1 to May 1.*
*Returning members re-enrollment is from October 1 to January 15*
If you enroll/re-enroll after the required dates you are not eligible to show as a 4-H member at the Counties Fairs in our district.
If you are considering enrolling and it is July, August or September Please wait until October 1 to do so as the 4-H year is almost over. Start visiting clubs now and see which one fits your family and enroll for the new year after October 1.
Steps to Joining 4-H -
1. Find a Club in your area by checking out our Linn County 4-H Clubs or Miami County 4-H Clubs
Note: We also have Project Clubs in Linn & Miami County. For example, when you are enrolling in dog, add the dog club to your list of clubs, rabbits, add the rabbit club, & So on. If you do add a Project club please remember to keep your Community Club as your Primary Club. And when adding projects be sure to use your Primary club as the club for each project.
2. Pick out a couple of clubs in your area and visit them to see which one fits your family.
3. Find Projects that interest your 4-H’er. Project Selection Guide - This will give you a little information about each of the projects available to participate in.
4. If you are joining 4-H for the first time you will need to go to the 4-H Online 2.0 website, create a 4-HOnline account and enroll your child. If you are a re-enrolling family you will go to the 4-H Online 2.0 website and login to your account with the email & password you used the previous 4-H year and re-enroll your child in 4-H for the current 4-H year. 4-H Enrollment starts October 1st. Re-enrolling 4-H members need to be enrolled by January 15 and new members must be enrolled before May 1st to show at either County Fair. For step-by step instructions on how to enroll or re-enroll in 4HOnline, click on Family Enrollment Guide
Kansas 4-H has implemented a $15 per member fee. The fee is payable when you enroll in 4-H using 4HOnline.
Check out the *** Newly updated 2024-2025 Marais des Cygnes 4-H Policies & Guidelines***. (included in this document are tagging dates, animal owner requirements, animal age requirements)
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If joining a 4-H Club is not feasible, then you can become an Independent 4-H’er. You will have to fill out and turn in the 4-H Individual Study Member Plan as well as enrolling in our 4-H Online 2.0 system. You will follow the instructions in Step #4 to enroll for the current 4-H year.
4-H Individual Study Member Plan 2024-2025
(you may have to download this in order to for it to be fillable)
(you will need to fill this form out and turn it into the extension office before your 4-H online membership will be approved)
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PAYMENT INFORMATION
NOTE: The information below tells you what you need to do if you choose to pay by check. You cannot pay at your local extension office, you are required to send your payment directly to the State 4-H Office.
Make check payable to:
Kansas 4-H Youth Development
Please include each of your 4h'ers names on check in the memo line.
Make your check payable to: Kansas 4-H Youth Development
Mail your check to:
Kansas 4-H Youth Development
1612 Claflin Rd 201 Umberger Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
NOTE: If you chose to pay by check at enrollment you must pay by check. You can not go back and pay by credit card after you mark pay by check and have finished your childs enrollment.
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Note: Projects and Clubs do not pre-populate at re-enrollment. Returning members will need to select their club and all desired projects. If they select a project that they had last year, the years in project will increment correctly based on what they had on their enrollment this year.
Please be sure to look at each project in the list and pick all projects you are interested in. If you do not add a project to your list you will not be able to show it at the county fair as a 4H member. (It can be shown in Open class.)
How to select projects
Projects are areas that your 4-H’er wants to explore and learn more about. Some projects have club project leaders while others are more of a self-study. A 4-H member should base their project selection on the following:
- The project should fit your childs own personal interests, needs and capabilities. Be sure to pick a project that is within the age and ability of your youth.
- The suitability of the area in which you live for a project.
- A 4Her and their parents should be aware of the amount of time needed to complete a project. They should also be aware of the amount of time they will need to spend on that project in order for it to be completed.
- The cost and needs of a project should be considered as well. The member and parents must consider how much a project will cost, if they have enough space to complete the project and if they will need additional equipment in order to complete the project.
- Are project leaders available to help with the project in the club and are the parents willing to help the member if it is needed, with the project?
Projects are selected at the time of enrollment. 4-H members must be enrolled in the appropriate projects to be eligible to exhibit the project at the county fair.
*** New 2024-2025 - Project Listing ***
Detailed Project Information
(each project if clicked on will give more information in greater detail about opportunities for being in that project)
