Girl: Hello, today I am going to show you how to make a
winning 4-H poster
Posters are used in many 4-H projects from
Wildlife
to Health
to Woodworking
to Shooting Sports
to Animal projects
Learning to make a good poster
is a very valuable 4-H skill
Let's start with the basics
All posters must be 22 by 28 inches per 4-H display
All posters must be horizontally displayed
instead of vertically
and have a stiff backing
be it wood or foam core board or another type of
stiff backing
for the back of your poster
All posters must have
a title
and all posters must have a two by four inch label
in the corner stating the 4-Her's name, county, project,
and division level
When choosing the information for your poster
you must consider four things:
you must consider if the information is accurate,
if it is relevant,
if it is interesting,
and if it is done in an organized manner
If you have these four things
you are already on your way to a winning poster
Accurate
Make sure all of your facts are correct
Relevant
Make sure that your information is relevant
to the topic that you are covering on your poster
Interesting
Make sure that the information you cover on your poster
will hold a viewer's interest
Organized
Make sure that your poster
makes sense to the average viewer
When putting together your poster
make sure that your display is balanced and neat
Balanced
Make sure that all of your content
is not all over to one side or the other side
Make sure that your poster is visually appealing
It is a good idea to lay out your pieces
before finally pasting in place
Neat
Be sure that you do not have any unstraight edges,
messy paste jobs,
or just general unneatness on your poster
When choosing material for your poster
make sure to consider cost,
aesthetic value,
and what you can find around the house
The backing of your poster should be made of
foam core board
or similar material
Wood backing may be used if
extra sturdiness is needed,
but is not recommeneded for a normal project
Colored poster board can be found
in a variety of different colors
at many craft stores, and
dollar stores in your neighborhood
You may choose to use a border
on your poster
While this is not required,
it can add dept of aesthetic value
as well as interest to your poster
One great idea for bordering your poster
is using Duct tape
Duct tape comes in a variety of colors,
and patterns that may be found at many
stores in your area
Titling your poster does not have to be
difficult
You may choose to use something like
"A Cricket Machine"
or some other type of title creating machine
However, titles can easily be printed
off of a computer
or made with general poster letters
that can be found at most craft stores
Other items recommended for use on posters
are items made out of Duct tape,
scrapbook material,
newspaper clippings,
articles,
photos,
and anything else that might be relevant
to your specific project
Oh, and another thing
your poster must be covered in some sort of
clear plastic before sending it to the fair
Many counties
have available plastic poster sleeves
in which you can simply slide your poster
right through the end
and it is already the correct size
Other ideas for plastic coverings include
Acetate,
and rolled plastic
that you can just place over your poster
and tape secure
Well, there you go
Now you can be on your way
to having a winning poster
at your 4-H fair