An Ignoble Experiment: [Parent Hacks] 1 new post in Parent Hacks

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Teach children about the election by staging a kid-friendly vote

Sarah's got a fantastic idea for teaching kids about the decision-making process that goes on before voting:

I was reading some stuff online the other day about schools having kids "vote" in the presidential election. The part that disturbed me the most about having young children vote is that they have no way of comprehending the issues because they're so young. So I thought of having a mock election with issues that the kids can relate to, and showing them that they probably wouldn't agree with every issue and would have to make a choice and compromise.

I came up with what I think will be a fun way for my kids learn about the election.

The candidates:

Mrs. Smith

Allows 2 pieces of candy after every meal
Makes children go to sleep at 7:30 pm every night
Favorite color is pink
Makes you clean your room every day
Takes children to the park every day

Mrs. Clark

Never allows candy in the house
Lets children stay up as late as they want to
Favorite color is blue
Lets children make messes and rarely clean up
Doesn't take children to the park very often at all

The way to participate is simple: have your kids decide on a candidate and vote by tonight. Tally the votes. Talk about the results.

This would be such a great activity for the kids at all the Election Night get-togethers happening around the country tonight.