Mock election free printables for young kids

Children want to be included in ALL conversations (especially my 6 year old), but sometimes it is just too difficult to explain such an abstract concept to them such at the Presidential election process: voting, the electoral college, etc.

Here is what I did for my very curious daughter who wanted to learn more of the election process and why mommy and daddy are glued to the tv watching the polls change.

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Why we held a mock-election

My 6 year old had a deep interest about the Presidential election, she has heard myself and my husband talking about it a lot recently, and now she is watching us constantly check our phones to look at the electoral college map.

So, that made me think “why not have our own ‘kid-friendly’ mock election?” because the best way young children learn is through play-based activities. I asked my daughter her thoughts on the “mock-election” and she was totally down.

That was the green light I need to start working on some printables with her.

Instead of having just a mock election play area in our home, we decided to have our own mock election for our little tight-knit neighborhood. My daughter and I collaborated on what to have created on all the printables and then my daughter had a blast coloring them. After she finished coloring in all the little details, we laminated it and hung everything outside.

How to start your own mock-election

First, decide what you want your child to know and what they are capable of processing, do you want them to know about registering/ voting, the electoral college, etc. What is age-appropriate for them and can they digest it?

Ideals for your mock election

If you are a parent, you can get real creative and set up a play area like a polling precinct to get your littles inspired. For elementary teachers, feel free to use this in your classrooms after a small unit on for preschool aged kid created a play area complete with a ballot box, after reading a book about voting during story time.

These mock election template printables are perfect for introducing the election process to your youngest learners.

Tools we used:

All you need to create your mock election is a printer! But, if you want to get real fancy and hang them outside, or keep grime off of them you can use a laminator to make these printables more durable, don’t forget to pick up the laminating sheets Once we printed out the printables, we needed to use our laminator, a hand held hole puncher, and some duct-tape to tape the signs up and to prevent the ballots and ballot box from blowing away.

I also used some left over ribbon I had to make the “vote” banner.

More ideas for teaching the election process to your child.

Whether you are a homeschooling parent, virtual schooling, or a classroom teacher its great to expand your child knowledge with age-appropriate information about the election process. I recommend these activities for children between the ages of 4-8 years old or grades prek-2nd grade or ages

Read books

Reading books can help children learn about the election process in a more concrete way and it can help reinforce their new found knowledge. We’ve read two of the books below using our “Kindle Unlimited”, it’s a subscription that allows us to download as many “kindle unlimited” books to my phone via the kindle app. Its $10 a month, but if you’re curious you can grab it through the link below for a huge discount! You can get it for 2 months for only $0.99 cents!

Have a debate

This can be as simple as your child debating with their siblings or with you on a kid-friendly subject matter. You can begin this lesson by explaining what a debate is and have them listen to the podcast “Boom Smash Best”. My daughter and I started listening to kid-friendly podcasts on our way to her school last year and this one is great for young children! It is a debate show for kids! episode titles include: Snakes vs Spiders, Unicorns vs Dragons, Flowers vs Rainbows, and so much more. Smash Boom best teaches young listeners how to defend their own opinions along the way.