Junior Contests
4-H Project Achievement Days (Junior 4-H’ers)
Computer Contests
The computer contest is held in the morning and is an individual contest. It is divided into two age groups: 10 & 11 year olds compete in one age category, while 12 & 13 year olds compete in another.
10 & 11 year olds
Competitors in the 10 & 11 year old category should create a digital story using ScratchJr. This story should be developed prior to the contest day and emailed to the State Specialist two days before the contest date and by 5 PM. Participants should be prepared to discuss their project with judges.
Participants should also prepare a 3-5 minute PowerPoint presentation on your ScratchJr story. Use this rubric to guide the creation of your presentation. Participants may also reference the Best Foot Forward publication to help in the creation of their PowerPoint.
Additional Information
- Presentation rubric
- How to use ScratchJr (video)
- How to use ScratchJr presentation
- Sample 4-H Youth presentation featuring ScratchJr
PPT / PDF
12 & 13 year olds
Competitors in the 12 & 13 year old category should create a digital story using Scratch. This story should be developed prior to the contest day and emailed to the State Specialist two days before the contest date and by 5 PM. Participants should be prepared to discuss their project with judges.
Participants should also prepare a 3-5 minute PowerPoint presentation on your Scratch story. Use this rubric to guide the creation of your presentation. Participants may also reference the Best Foot Forward publication to help in the creation of their PowerPoint.
Additional Information
- Presentation rubric
- How to use Scratch (video)
- How to use Scratch presentation
PPT / PDF - Sample 4-H Youth presentation featuring Scratch
PPT / PDF
Robotics Contest (8-13 year olds)
The robotics contest is held the afternoon of Project Achievement Day and is a team contest. Each team must have 3-4 youth on the team. This contest requires youth to work in teams to solve programming challenges using the NXT robot. The contest mat is normally released in March which means youth have about three months to prepare. Reference past contest mats below to get an idea of what the contest might look like. Youth should also prepare a 3-5 minute PowerPoint presentation on the topic assigned by the contest chair (this topic is announced in March as well). Each youth is expected to contribute to the presentation and the judges will ask questions of each youth.
Additional Information
Old Junior Contest Mats
Listed below are some of the contest mats used in previous years. Use them as a reference point to understanding what a typical contest mat looks like or use them in a county competition or kick-off.
