Entry Information
Online Entry: Deadline April 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Arts & Crafts Expo Registration
The event allows members to showcase their work in five different categories. Members may enter in one or more categories, and the item must be related to a 4-H project. You may enter no more than 2 entries per category. Like the San Mateo County Fair, you may drop off items, or have a representative drop off the items for you. You do not have to stay, but items MUST BE PICKED up by the end of the event. Items must have been made since the beginning of this 4-H program year (July 1, 2025). See below for more information on registration, rules and regulations.
DATE: April 25, 2026
LOCATION: San Mateo County Office of Education
EVENT SCHEDULE:
10:00 - 11:00 am - Check-in
1:00 pm - Awards and Pick-Up
Contact: Angela Apple
Help Wanted!
4-H youth and adults are needed to help with the event as registrars, runners, tabulators, and set-up/take-down volunteers.
General Information
Eligibility:
Any 4-H member. Participant does not need to be in a 4-H Arts & Crafts project to enter, but the item(s) must be related to a 4-H project.
Categories - What To Enter:
1. Needlework
Example projects:
- Knitted accessories – scarves, purses
- Embroidered accessories
- Sewn accessories – purses, scarves, stuffed animals, pillows
- Quilts
2. Hobby Crafts
Example projects:
- Jewelry making, beading
- Leathercrafts
- Paper crafts
- Woodworking
- Duct Tape Creations (non-fashion)
- Ceramics
- Lego Creations
3. Project Display Boards
Posters should be up to 22” x 28”, boards should be up to 36” x 48”. Sorry no Audio/Visual displays. Posters should illustrate a single theme or idea and should include some indication of learning experience by exhibitor.
Example projects:
- Bee Keeping
- Astronomy
- Automotive
- Beginning 4-H
- Community Service
- Drama
- Gardening
- Hiking/Geocaching
- TV Production
- Vet Science
- Web Design
4. Photography
All entries must be mounted, matted, or framed. Photographs must be mounted on photo mat boards or framed WITHOUT glass. Photo size cannot exceed 8” x 10”.
5. Visual Arts
All works must be mounted or framed, no loose works on paper. Maximum size: 2’x 2’.
Example projects:
- Paintings
- Drawings
- Etchings
Rules and Regulations
You may enter no more than 2 entries per category.
- All items must be completed as shown on the entry form by the participant. You must describe the skills used and what parts were done by others; ie. a glazed bowl, you designed and formed it, but the glazing and firing was done by an adult.
- The Danish System of judging will be used. Items will be judged against a set of standards, not against each other.
- Articles must have been made since the beginning of the current 4-H year (July 1, 2025).
- Each item must be registered separately by April 18, 2026 and are to be submitted to the Registration table the day of the Life Skills Festival and Field Day (April 25, 2026) between 10:00 and 10:30 am.
- All items must be discreetly marked with the participants name and age. You MUST complete the explanation of what you did to create your project on the registration form.
- Participant does NOT have to be present during the Expo. You or your representative may drop off the item at the registration table and they all items must be picked up at the end of the Expo. There is no storage for leftover items.