Election 2012 Resources for Kids

Election 2012 comes to a close next week and Americans are gearing up to hit the polls on Tuesday. With that, our youngest Americans have been hearing about the election in home and in the classroom for months. It’s never too early for kids to learn about the US election process.

To help get kids informed and excited about the election, PBS has a slew of offerings for home and classroom:

· The Democracy Project:
PBS KIDS has redesigned The Democracy Project, a free interactive mobile and online community, to provide fun, interactive election-themed activities for early-elementary age kids (ages 6-9) to learn about the candidates and the election process, online, offline and on tablets. The Democracy Project includes campaign posters, presidential trade cards and more:

· Election 2012 Collection:
PBS LearningMedia, a *FREE* online media-on-demand service for K-12 teachers, has launched the Election 2012 Collection, an online resource featuring an Elections 2012 newscast, which includes highlights from the campaign trail, as well as a multimedia glossary, an interactive digital game called “Road Trip to the White House,” and lesson plans geared towards high school students and teachers.

· On-Air: DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD Election-themed Episodes:
PBS KIDS’ newest series, DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD, will have special election-themed episodes to help expose kids to the voting process. Parents can check local listings for air-times:

“The Class Votes”
At school, Daniel and his classmates get to choose their new class pet! Teacher Harriet explains that they can either get a bunny or a turtle. The kids learn what it means to ‘vote’ and that sometimes it doesn’t always turn out your way. Luckily, ALL of the kids find something to love about their new pet, ‘Snowball’!

“The Neighborhood Votes”
The Tiger family is going to Clock Factory Park today to hear a big announcement from King Friday. Daniel has to make several choices throughout the day, culminating in one BIG group decision: King Friday announces that the kids can choose one new piece of playground equipment and everyone gets to speak up for what they want by voting!



Disclosure: I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post. All content for this post (in italics) was provided by PBS Kids.