Food Elections at Lacey Green
Lesson: Understanding the World
Over the past couple of weeks, the children have been asking us more and more confusing questions ranging from "Why does my mummy have to vote for a new priest?" to "How much longer is David Beckham going to be our Prime Minister for?" To combat this we set up our food election which the children took part in so they understand the mechanics of election without going into party beliefs and policies.
We gathered Year Two together and went through a power point that introduced David Cameron (not Beckham) as our PM and explained that there were several other party leaders looking to become the next Prime Minister. We talked through these faces and explained that they needed to be voted in by the adults of the UK. We spoke about registering to vote, ballot paper, voting booths and how to cast your vote. We explained that this is done in secrecy and, once your vote is cast, no one else is allowed to see it.
After this we set out how we would run our own election. We decided upon five different meals which they children enjoy and added these to a ballot paper:
- Roast dinner
- Spaghetti bolognese
- Cheese and tomato pizza
- Fish and chips
- Chicken Korma
We explained to the children that they had to cross their favourite choice, not tick as this would be a spoiled paper! Once back in class, voting was underway with the children deciding which their favourite meal was, crossing it and posting in the ballot box before informing a friend that it was their turn to vote.
After break, we gathered together once more as a year group and counted the votes. As if to mirror real life, we ended up with a minority winner in the Pizza party. However after a brief talk with each other, they decided to enter a coalition with the Chippy Tea party!
The children really enjoyed themselves, asked a lot of insightful questions and had a greater understanding of why we vote and what it is for. Although the children asked us of our voting persuasion, we opted to remain neutral, not telling them our preferences or discussing any policies.
Photographs for 2O taken by Elliot W.
