Every year in the Pre-K Class during election season we invite the children to learn about the voting process. Throughout circle and story time we read books and discuss election day to lay the foundation for understanding about such an important & impactful day.
After the children can somewhat grasp the process, they nominate a bunch of class names, and they narrow down the list to four candidates. Once the children have narrowed it down to four options, we create visual ballots, set up a polling booth with a ballot box and invite them to vote! The children color or circle the name they would like to cast their vote for, receive an I VOTED Sticker, and then we count/graph the votes to see who one.
This year the winner is the Rainbow Kitties!
Children learn about themselves and the world they live in through experiences such as these. An election in the classroom or even at home is a great opportunity to not only talk with children about civic responsibility but an optimal way to lay the foundation in the early years of the power to make decisions that can bring about change. They are learning to vocalize their likes and dislikes, their interests, and their abilities through communicating what they want their class name to be all while learning about math too. This role play is developing important complex thinking skills, by projecting what they desire. They are experiencing first hand what is going on currently in our society but on terms that they can grasp. Hopefully we are laying down the foundation of voting at a young age that will instill the importance of voting throughout the rest of their lives!
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