Election Day & Voting with Your Kids in Des Moines

Election Day is Tuesday, November 8^th, 2016. THANK GOODNESS!!! With the Iowa Caucuses happening clear back in February, it feels like this thing has dragged on forever! First off, I want to let you know that I am NOT going to tell you who I think you should vote for. While I do have my own personal opinions, this article is about encouraging you to include your kids in the voting process.

As a parent, I believe it is very important to teach our kids about how our government works and what role our law makers have in it. They need to understand what the President’s job is and why it is so important to make informed decisions when we cast our votes.

With this year’s particularly divisive election, it is has been hard to know what truth is and what mudslinging is and being able to describe the difference. I recently heard a particularly good analogy for kids, “It’s like choosing between Darth Vader and Jabba the Hut. Neither option is good, you just have to figure out who is going to be the least amount of bad.”

Take Your Kids with You to Vote

One way to teach your kids about voting, is to actually take them along with you when you head to the polls. Or, if you’re voting absentee, you can share the ballot with them and explain the process. According to the Iowa Secretary of State, minor children are allowed into the voting booth when accompanied by a parent.

Taking your kids with you to vote may not be easy. Lines can be long. So you will have to decide if it is age appropriate to expect them to wait or bring things along to keep them busy and entertained while you’re waiting. The benefit, especially for older kids, is that they get to see how democracy works first hand and they can see what is required for us to elect officials of our own choosing. Be prepared for a lot of questions, and some of them could get a little tricky.

Fun Ways to Teach Kids about the Election Process

Even if you don’t take your kids with you to the polls, it’s still a great time to teach them about our system of government and the election process.

Learn the Lingo

With little ones, you can teach them the vocabulary. What’s a candidate? What’s a ballot? Elementary kids can understand political parties, popular vote vs. electoral vote, terms etc. You can also discuss the different kinds of elected officials and the different levels of government. Ask your kiddos what issues they think are most important. What would they do first if they were elected? Here is a great writing exercise: “If I were president”.

Create a Campaign Poster

My son has been participating in a campaign exercise at school and he had to make campaign posters for himself. It was a fun educational exercise for him. Kids can make campaign posters either for themselves or for the current candidates. This activity can be as simple as getting out some construction paper and markers or visit http://pbskids.org/youchoose/campaign-poster where they have a template that you can print out and the kids can then complete.

Celebrate the Election

On the night before the election (November 7^th), have your kids vote for what will be served for dinner on election night. Including a fun dessert! Then gather around the TV and watch as the election results roll in. To add to the fun, you could print this blank map of the United States and then have the kids color each state either red or blue. The one with the most correctly picked (colored) states wins.

Dealing with Outside Interference

Please be prepared for people around you to possibly put in their two cents and sway your kids to their view point. Politics tends to be a very emotional topic for a lot of people. This is a great time to talk to kids about how we all have the same rights. We all have the right to our own thoughts and opinions. We may not always agree on everything or all issues and that is OK! That is one of many things that makes our country great! The right to share our thoughts and opinions without the fear of being persecuted for it!