It’s election season, and that means your children are inevitably hearing a lot about voting. They may not understand just what voting means and could have questions. This is a perfect opportunity to talk with your children about what voting is, what it means, and how it’s done. Of course, my favorite way to teach is through play and reading, so here are some creative and fun games, activities, and books to help you teach your little one all about voting!
Hold a Vote at Home
The simplest way to begin teaching the concept of voting to young children is to jump right in and hold a vote. You can hold a vote about what movie to watch, what restaurant to go to for dinner, or what book to read next. Explain that everyone in the family gets one vote. Create little ballots and help your child mark their choice. At the end, lay out the ballots and count them. Explain to your child how the most votes win, and ask him or her to announce the winner. For older children, you can set up an actual ballot box and, after explaining a bit about each candidate, ask them to cast their own vote for President.
Take Advantage of Online Resources
Type “free election day printables” into your search bar, and whammo! Tons of resources are right at your fingertips! There are coloring pages, voting cards, Bingo cards, mock election ballots, and so much more! Homeschool websites are another great resource. Try homeschoolgiveaways.com and ihomeschoolnetwork.com. There you’ll find links to crash course videos on YouTube, election unit studies, free printables, and more.
Get Crafty
Make your own future voter badge! I found this fun craft at kidsactivitiesblog.com. You’ll need red, white, and blue crepe paper, a black permanent marker, scissors, tape, blank paper, a plastic lid, and star stickers. Cut 6-inch streams of crepe paper of each color and tape them together. Tape the crepe paper to the back of a plastic lid. Cut a circle from the blank paper that fits the lid and tape onto the front of the lid. Write “future voter.” Decorate with star stickers and attach the button to your child’s shirt!
Practice Counting and Sorting Games
Your child will need a basic understanding of counting and sorting to understand how voting works. Start by having your child match concrete objects first, like buttons or blocks of the same color. When that has been mastered, you can move on to sorting shapes then to matching puzzle pieces. Explain how, during an election, everyone gets one vote, and those votes are all sorted and counted at the end to determine the winner. Then try these activities:
Sort the silverware: I love this idea because it addresses family contributions as well as teaching sorting skills. Have your child sort the silverware into the correct spaces in your drawer.
Putting away toys: This is another helpful activity that will teach your child appropriate clean-up habits while strengthening sorting skills.
Pony bead sort: For a bit more fun, try laying out a pile of pony beads and a muffin tin. Ask your child to sort all the beads by color.
Button counting: On a sheet of paper, draw 10 squares and number them 1 through 10. Ask your child to place the correct amount of buttons into each square, one button on the number one block, two buttons in the number two block, and so on.
Online games: If your child enjoys working on the computer, you can visit education.com or ABCya.com for free online preschool sorting and counting games!
Books About Voting
Reading picture books is a great way to introduce voting and elections to your child and strengthen their love of reading. Here are five picture books to check out.
- One Vote, Two Votes, I Vote, You Vote by Dr. Seuss and friends.
- V is for Voting by Kate Farrell
- Vote for our Future by Margaret McNamara
- Go Vote, Baby by Nancy Lambert and Annie Passchier
- Equality’s Call by Deborah Diesen
Happy voting!