Active Ways to Teach Kids about Elections
Kids learn by doing, so why not help them understand what the elections are all about by having them participate in some voting activities?
This is a list of activities and resources designed to help kids grasp the fundamentals of the election process. Young children as well as older kids can participate; just adjust the activities as needed. We used these activities with kids in grades kindergarten through seventh.
Note: This is not an exhaustive lesson about how our government works. It’s simply an overview of the democratic process of voting.
The important learning objectives here include:
how to cast a vote using a ballot (and the history behind this)
the majority wins (and how to lose graciously)
the importance of public speaking
understanding terminology related to the election process
If you’re trying to come up with a fun and engaging way to teach kids/students about the election process, I encourage you to get creative. The following activities are just suggestions. They might work for your situation, or you might use them as inspiration for games and exercises that work better for you.
We used these activities in our little informal family co-op. I get the cousins together about once a month and we have a themed History Exploration Day. Since the Presidential election was underway, we focused on that during the month of October. Since it was October, I tied in some fall fun with a pumpkin decorating contest. Like I said, get creative.
To do these activities as they are designed here. You’ll need to create a polling station. I used a couple of trifold poster boards from the dollar store, covered them in white craft paper, and set them on top of a side table. As a warm up activity, I had the kids help decorate our voting booths. We spread out on the floor and used red and blue construction paper, glue sticks, paper punches, and washable markers to create some patriotic designs on our trifold booths. (I forgot to take a picture of the voting booths after the kids had decorated them.) The ballot box is made from a shoebox covered in white craft paper with a cute patriotic label courtesy of seussvill.com.
Suggested Activities:
Follow the leader—candidates to be the leader give a speech before votes are cast.
Pumpkin decorating contest—vote for the favorite by ballot.
Vote on a treat to enjoy—accept defeat graciously.
Read a book about voting—learn about the election process in a humorous way.
Follow the Leader
This game allows kids (who want) to demonstrate a sense of leadership and, when used in this scenario, will give them a chance to practice their public speaking skills.
It was raining on the day we did this, so we set up a course in the basement. We used foam blocks, a hula hoop, and a play slide among other things.
The leader chose a path through the course and the rest followed.
The oldest child in our group (age 12) went first in order to inspire the younger kids with ideas to incorporate when they were leader. In the first round of the game, we gave everyone (who wanted) a chance to be the leader.
Next we sat the children down and I nominated four candidates to be a final leader. The candidates who accepted the nomination were given one minute to plan out the course they would create as the leader for the final round of the game.
Then each candidate had one minute to give a speech outlining to the others their plan for the final round and why the other kids should vote for them.
Finally, we went over to our polling station and cast our votes on paper ballots. And the winner led the kids through a final round of follow the leader. (Each time we voted at the polling station, I shared a fact about the history of voting. See the list at the end of this post for facts to share with your kids.)
Pumpkin Decorating Contest
Any contest where kids can vote on the winner will work for this activity. I chose an active craft that all the kids would enjoy. We gathered our pumpkins and tempera paints and set to work. (You can read about how we decorated pumpkins with little kids here.)
As kids finished, I gave them a Patriotic Puzzle Packet I had cobbled together using resources from Tim’s Printables and Coloring.com.
Once the pumpkins were decorated, we left them to dry. (For older kids you can put a time limit on this to make it more challenging.) I placed a number on the tray of each pumpkin. These numbers corresponded to the ballot I had quickly created as a Word doc with numbers 1-8 (the number of our participants). This time I instructed the kids to choose their two favorite pumpkins, and I let them vote for themselves if they wanted to.
We counted the votes and revealed the winners. There were ties for first and second place. I had also asked the adults to come up with other categories that would allow for each child to be a winner in some way. “Most Creative” was one category. Some others were “Most Colorful,” “Most Abstract,” and “Most Expressive.”
Vote on a Treat
I kept this very simple in the interest of time. I had made brownies in advance and frosted them with white frosting. The kids were given two toppings to choose between: sprinkles or mini m&ms. The topping that received the winning vote would be what everyone used to top their frosted brownie (and then enjoy).
We could have used a simple show of hands to vote for this, but I wanted to give the kids another chance to practice using a paper ballot. I created one with a picture of sprinkles and a picture of m&m candies. Once inside the voting booth, they circled the one they wanted.
Read a Book about Elections
Stories are a great way to teach kids. I used the hilarious picture book Duck for President by Doreen Cronin, author of the Click, Clack, Moo books. While kids sprinkled on the topping to their brownies and enjoyed them, I read Duck for President. We had lots of laughs and learned a little bit more about choosing a leader and what it’s like to be a leader.
Teaching Tip:
As kids were waiting in line at our “polling station,” I told them a bit of voting history trivia. Here I include some abbreviated history of voting in America and there’s a link to learn more.
History of voting in America
Originally, only land-owning white males could vote in the U.S. elections.
The Fifteenth Amendment, passed in 1870, technically gave African American men the right to vote.
The Nineteenth Amendment, passed in 1920, gave women the right to vote.
The Twenty-fourth Amendment, passed in 1964, outlawed the poll tax (which had been used to keep African Americans from voting).
The Voting Rights Act, passed in 1965, banned the “literacy test” that prevented many from registering to vote.
The Twenty-sixth Amendment, passed in 1971, lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
Read more about the history of voting in America at Carnegie.org.
I hope this inspires you to find fun and active ways to teach the kiddos in your life about voting and the elections.
Thanks for stopping by.
Keep learning!
Tiffiny