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Me Map

Healthy connections make life fun! Healthy connections are important for everyone in your life. Relationships go both ways with your family, friends, teachers and others.

We are social beings. We live, work and play with others. Friends and contacts are important for people of all ages, from babies to 4-H’ers to the elderly.

Why Are Our Relationships So Important?

Support from family, friends, club members, schoolmates and even community organizations helps us:

  • Four teenages walking together across a fieldCope with our problems and stress. (When people do not have positive connections with friends or family, they may turn to negative habits, such as drinking or drugs.)
  • Share feelings (sometimes even “vent” our emotions!).
  • Keep from getting lonely or feeling down.
  • Feel safe and protected.
  • Be confident in ourselves.
  • Learn social skills and “rules.”
  • Learn to care for others and not be selfish.
  • Protect our bodies from sickness, viruses and diseases.
To be happy and healthy, we need to connect with others. So for good health, follow these guidelines:
  • Get enough sleep
  • Be active
  • Stay connected
  • Eat well
  • Practice safety

Some studies show that Americans today are not as socially connected as previous generations. In other words, we belong to fewer organizations, know our neighbors less well, meet with friends less often and even socialize less with our families.

Let’s make a Me Map. A Me Map shows who is part of your life.

Activity Supplies

Here’s what you will need to make a Me Map:

  • Piece of Paper
  • Pen or Pencil
  • Crayon, marker, or colored pencil

Activity Steps

  1. Boy holding a Me MapIn the middle of your sheet of paper, draw a “Me” triangle, which stands for you.
  2. Now, draw shapes for the most important people in your life. Make the shapes large or small, depending on your feelings about how important or close the person is to you. You can put shapes closer to you or farther away. Add symbols for pets or activities you love.
  3. Now we are going to connect the shapes. Draw a line from you to each person, pet or activity. Make a solid thick line if you feel really close to them. Make a dotted line to show someone you are not as close to. Make a wavy or crooked line to show a connection that is sometimes on and off. Draw different kinds of lines to show other feelings about your connections.
  4. Now we are going to add color. Color in the shapes of people that you mostly interact with face to face. For connections mostly online or through mobile apps, like Snapchat or Facebook, leave circles and squares blank.
  5. Congratulations on making your Me Map!

Let’s Talk About It

  • Everyone’s Me Map is different. What is unique about yours?
  • Were you surprised to find so many connections on your Me Map?
  • What is interesting to you about the connections you drew?
  • Is there anything you wish were different?
  • How are online and face-to-face connections different? Do you have connections that are only online?

Submit Your Activity

cartoon lightbulb, hand, heart, apple, squiggly lines, flying WV, and 4-H CloverWith the help from a parent or guardian, take a picture of your completed Me Map.  Submit your picture below, along with your answers to the questions. 

All West Virginia youth of 4-H age* who submit a Me Map will receive a 1.5" square vinyl 4-H sticker (while supplies last). There will be six activities in total, so make sure to collect all of the stickers!

The random prize winner was Scarlett from Monongalia County. She received $25 in Shop4H merchandise.

*Participants must have turned five years old by June 30, 2021 and have not yet turned 22 years old. 

The 2021 State 4-H Health Officer program and activities are funded by the William Lewis and Marie L. Campbell 4-H Fund.

Learn more about the 2021 West Virginia 4-H Health Officer topic - Healthy Relationships.