I’m sure many of you have been watching the presidential debates on television and following the election very closely. In our home, it has definitely been a hot topic of conversation and my sons are also very curious about it and have been asking a lot of questions. Although they are not old enough to vote, my husband and I think that it is important for them to get involved. The Peanuts Rocks The Vote initiative is an interactive website designed to allow kids to have fun and to learn about the election process!
We love the Peanuts Rocks The Vote site because kids can learn about the different “candidates” and to read up on the issues that matter to each one. Also, the website teaches kids a lot of academic vocabulary that has to do with the election. As a Literacy Specialist, I’m all for expanding kids’ vocabularies and increasing their knowledge about current events.
Many celebrities including Nikki DeLoach have partnered with the Peanuts gang to Rock The Vote. Nikki stars in one of the awesome celebrity YouTube PSAs endorsing the Peanuts Rocks the Vote campaign! As a Peanuts Ambassador, I was extremely fortunate to take part in a phone interview with her. This is our interview:
Tell us about the Peanuts Rock the Vote campaign.
This is a partnership between Peanuts and Rock the Vote, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that’s been encouraging and helping young people to register to vote since 1990.
When you go to Peanuts Rocks the Vote dot com, you’ll find a mock presidential election going on among the Peanuts characters: Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy, Sally, and Franklin. You can read their bios and their platforms, and then you can vote for your favorite.
Then, right there on the website, there’s a button that says “Register,” and when you click on that, Rock the Vote will help you register to vote in your location.
And why is Peanuts doing this?
Politics has been a recurring theme in the Peanuts comic strip for decades—Charles Schulz often had the characters running for president during actual presidential election years. He even had Lucy talking about wanting to be the first female president!
So Schulz believed in our democratic system, and Peanuts wanted to play their part by helping people register to vote. But of course, they do it with a unique Peanuts flair!
Are you a Peanuts fan?
Of course! Who isn’t?!
I know a lot of celebrities—including yourself!—have taped fun PSAs promoting the Peanuts election and the Peanuts Rocks the Vote campaign. What made you want to do one?
I just feel that it’s such a privilege to be a citizen of this country, and part of the deal is that we participate in the election process. I know sometimes people, especially young people, feel that their vote doesn’t count or doesn’t matter, but of course that’s absolutely not true! It’s so important that everyone use their voice and their vote. And this was such a fun way to get that message out!
Who are some of the other celebrities who have taped PSAs?
There are so many great ones, from both the 2008 and 2016 elections, including:
My Awkward co-star, Jillian Rose Reed
John Oliver
Whoopi Goldberg and Candace Cameron Bure from The View
George Lopez
Eden Sher from The Middle
Vanessa Marano from Switched at Birth
Deborah Norville from Inside Edition
You can see all of them when you go to Peanuts Rocks the Vote dot com and click on “Celeb Endorsements.”
In addition, there are educational materials for teachers and activities for kids grades K through 8. Can you describe in more detail?
Yes, there are materials that provide a fun way to get children involved with the issues of elections, campaign promises, polling, and candidate platforms.
The curriculum specialists at Young Minds Inspired created three lesson-planning guides for grades Kindergarten through 2nd grade; three through five, and six through eight. Copies are going out to thousands of schools nationwide. There’s also a DVD of the Peanuts television special, You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown that parents and teachers can use as a fun teaching tool about elections.
And finally, I know the Schulz Museum has two special election-themed exhibits on display right now. Can you talk about those?
Yes, and they sound so great!
One is called Snoopy Presents: Lucky Dogs and Presidential Pets, and it features photos and fun facts about presidential pets. The exhibit goes all the way back to George Washington’s hunting hounds and Thomas Jefferson’s riding horses, and it also includes presidential pets you probably never heard about, like President John Quincy Adams’ pet alligator, who lived in the White House in an unfinished East Room bathtub!
There’s a great display on John F. Kennedy’s dog, Pushinka, who was a gift from Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschev. The dog’s mother, Strelka, flew aboard Sputnik 5 and landed safely back on Earth.
The other exhibition is called Mr. Schulz Goes to Washington, which focuses on the intersection of politics with Charles Schulz and Peanuts. You can see some of Schulz’s correspondence with several American presidents, including a 1980 letter from Ronald Reagan, who was then in the middle of his own presidential campaign. Reagan jokingly wrote, “Anything you can do to talk Snoopy out of running will be appreciated. How would he feel about a cabinet post?”
Let’s Discuss: How are you teaching your kids about the upcoming presidential election?
GIVEAWAY:
Enter to win a Peanuts Rocks the Vote Prize Pack using the form below. The prize pack includes:
One of four different styles of an official “Peanuts Rocks the Vote” t-shirt
(sizes 2T for kids to adults X-Large)
Winner can choose shirt, subject to availability.
Snoopy for President book
& You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown DVDa Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure: This post is part of a blogging campaign as a Peanuts Brand Ambassador. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
© 2016, Tough Cookie Mommy. All rights reserved.
My kids are really intrigued with the election. It makes me happy to see that they are interested in making their futures better!
This presidential election I feel is a joke and it’s really hard to want to share it with my children.
What a fabulous giveaway. The Peanuts shirts are so cute. I love that they have election themed shirts.
What a fun way to teach children by including the Peanuts characters! That’s a very fun concept!
I don’t have any kids so I obviously can’t teach them about the election. But my husband and I will most likely be voting for Evan Mcmullan because I can’t vote for the main party candidates with a good conscience.
It’s good that you’re letting the kids be involved because they are the future voters after all. This is an awesome campaign from Peanuts and it will definitely help encourage people to go out and exercise their right to vote!
I’m teaching them that how we treat others is much more important than the outcomes of elections.
Haha Snoopy would make a better president than Hilary or Trump. Can’t we just keep Obama in power he is the best and noone can compare!
We talk about the candidates, the issues and watch the debates together
I am teaching my kids that you have to listen to all sides and to make your best judgement on what they stand on!
My son is far too young for election talk at 2, but I plan to teach him about it when he is older. I love that politics can be taught my parents and educators!
We watched the debates together and discussed the many topics that came out of them We also share headlines,
I am teaching my kids that voting is an important task that we all must do. However I admit with this crazy election this year, I’m not as vocal about the fact. I think I spend more time shaking my head and going “what?” but NEXT election I will be more on it. 😉
I don’t have children to discuss the election with, but my neighbors are pretty much making sure that they don’t look at Facebook or watch the debates, and stay off Twitter.
I do not have children of my own, but I assist with the event organization for our students at the medical school where I work. They are in their twenties, but they will also become the doctors whom will be impacted by the outcome of the election.
I’m teaching my daughter how voting works by teaching her by voting What to eat by dinner time. By having her choose from one of three food choices, it sort of introduces choosing from a candidate that’s important to you.
It has been interesting because my kids are actually old enough to begin understanding what is happening. They are full of question which has provided me an ease to teach them.
We do teach them about the politics and always have them come and vote with us. He is always excited to get his I Voted sticker each year!
Oh wow, what a cool campaign for kids to get them educated about the voting system!! Totally love this!! It’s so important to teach them these things and what a great way to do it!
Aw… what a great way to introduce this process to kids. This year its been pretty crazy, so its nice to see ways to keep it positive for everyone – especially kiddos!
My children are older so they already understand about the upcoming presidential election. But when they were young I did explain it to them and I tried to take them with me to vote.
I love when brands and companies support and encourage voting. Good chance they’re getting the attention of some that might not otherwise care to vote.
My kids are 9 and 13, so I’ve let them watch some of the debates and we have discussed a lot of the issues that we find important. Additionally, we’ve spent some time discussing how politics work, and also how the media plays a role in people’s perceptions.
Great article! This election is crazy but definitely something to discuss with our children in a fun way!
We talk about candidates and what they are to do if elected. Watch some things on tv and at school have mock elections.
Very cool! I always love when an organization is working to get young people involved in politics! They are our future for goodness sake!
I think it is a brilliant way to introduce the kids to the idea of voting!
I will be honest at this point I wish I could vote Snoopy for president. The shirts are cute!
It is about teaching your kids that as American citizens it is your obligation to vote. So many people around the world do not have this freedom and this opportunity. Kids need to remember that is an honor and you should exercise your right to vote.
I am kind of a news junkie, so my kids probably know a whole lot more than I would like them to know at their young ages! We are going through US History right now for school, and have been talking about George Washington and how he became president.
This seems like a really good way to teach kids about elections and interest them in it. These characters are so relateable!
Great informative post. I don’t have kids neither do I live in the US but this election is super important so this is really helpful!
We have been watching the debates on tv and discussing the outcome of it all.
I’m actually keeping the kids away from news about the election this year.
We talk about not being a bully instead.
This is such a cute way to get kids involved with the voting process. It is so important to learn when they are younger. PS I really love Snoopy 😉
That’s a great way to get young people to register to vote. A lot of them don’t realize the importance of voting. It’s our Constitutional right, and we should use it wisely.
I love this! Unfortunately my kids are probably getting most of their info about the election on social media. I love the Peanuts and this is just too cool!
We have watched the debates on tv and talk about the pros and cons of each candidate.
We usually watch the news together an discuss it, but the news lately has been so filled with disgusting words and concepts that I feel like NONE of us are old enough to watch it. 🙂
This looks great! I always take my kids to vote with me so they see the process. I will share your post with them as well 🙂
I don’t have any children of my own. But, I try and keep myself very informed about all the goings on in the world.
I talk to my kids about the election in simple terms so they can understand. I try to explain what each presidential candidate wants to do to help our country.
This is such a complicated election going on, but I’m making sure to teach my son how important it is to vote and make a difference!
I say, “It’s your civic duty to vote. It’s also a privilege. I am grateful to live in a free country where I have a voice!”
Take your kids to vote with you and when they get excited about going, they’ll be excited when they are able to vote and will do their civic duty and vote. Don’t complain about who gets elected if you don’t vote.
We have talked about the candidates and their differences on opinions as the kids are older.
I try to talk to my children about things that come up on the news with the election. There is so much nonsense that goes on during the election so I try to keep that stuff out of the conversations when I talk to my kids about the voting.
Well, my daughter is 31 and we do discuss politics. My grandbaby is 22 months old, so we will wait for those type of conversations.
We talk about the candidates and also talk about what they have heard at school. It is good to have an open communication.
I talk to them about the issues and how it’s not about saying bad things about the other candidates. I also tell them it is very important that they vote when they are old enough.
Yes he has been watching the debates some of the time and is very curious. I think its a good time to teach them what happens in the world and why we all vote.
I don’t have kids but I would want to share with them the importance of their actions. They never know when they will be under scrutiny.
I don’t have any kids but I think that if I did I would teach them about how the electoral college works.
My son is only one year old, but as I watch these elections I think of him. I hope that one day I can teach him how to vote and get involved. The politicians shape our country, and we all need to be involved in electing them!
Honestly we don’t really discuss it much. I’m not sure it is helpful to them at this point in their lives, they are still very young.
We talk about the candidates and their particular views, as well as their parties agendas. Unfortunately, my eldest kids are registered with a different party than my husband and I, and our opinions differ greatly.
We just moved to a new state, so I have to re-register to vote (in a state that only accepts mailed in registrations). My teen and I are going through the whole process together and talking about the election.
I think it’s important to teach our kids about politics and the important role they play in our country. We have taught our kids to listen to both sides, but to also be aware that a lot of times things can be one sided. The biggest lesson both us adults and our kids have learned this election is how biased and one sided the media can be and so we have taught our kids to really educate themselves by looking at other areas than just the media to get information.
My kids and I have discussed it and watched part of the debates together. My teenager has a lot of her own opinions. My youngest, we are just teaching him, how a president is elected, and the importance of voting. This is a great prize! Thanks so much for the opportunity!
No kids (I’m glad about this this year). I have been registering people to vote.