Election folders

I was raised in a very patriotic family.  It rubbed off on me and I not only love this country but I love everything government and politics!  

Well, I guess it would be more accurate to say that I have a passion for government and politics but it isn't always lovable.  

Because this is one of my passions, I thought I would take advantage of the current elections and all of the events and information to get my children involved and educated about American politics and government.

So, we put together election folders for each child (even Sethy who is 2 as he LOVES to do what the older kids are doing).  And, you know that if I am making folders for all of my kids, they will be color coded...haha!  Here is a picture of the color coded folders that we put together.

We created a page for each candidate in the primary.  On each page is a picture of the candidate, room to take notes, and a list of the issues that are important to our family.  Here are the pages that I made.

*These are in alphabetical order...no preference was given to listing order (my attorney husband made me put that in...haha.) 

As the primaries and debates take place, we will watch clips of debates or town halls (entire debates are too long for my kids).  The kids mark the issues each time a candidate says something that they agree with (check) or disagree with (X).   They can also take any other notes they want about the candidate.

Next, we printed off several blank USA maps and placed them in the folder. Here is a link to a USA map.  

We labeled them "primary" and "general election".  I gave each candidate a different color..I even color coded the candidates...haha!  After each primary, we fill in the state with the winning candidate's color.  For the "general election" map, we will color states blue and red for the two parties.  


Until the general election, we will continue to add to these folders with information or pictures that pertain to the elections.   

Here are a few pictures of the kids working with their election folders.

Coloring in states by candidate...

 Learning about the different candidates...

 

Watching a few debate clips...

 

 Yes, we have our laptop on a cooling rack as it has been overheating...haha.  It's time for a new computer!

 And, here is Wesley proudly showing off his election folder.

((If you missed my previous posts on ways to get your kids involved in government/politics, you can see them by clicking on the "learning through the elections" link at the right of this post.))