Yesterday I worked voter registration with the League of Women Voters here in Virginia, in the morning at a senior center, and in the afternoon/evening at a public library.
My experience doing voter registration is that we don't get many new people, most people are already registered. Yesterday I had two people fill out the form to change their address, and a lot of people picking up the application to get absentee ballots.
I printed out some election related coloring pages for kids as I've done before because I know that most of the people coming in to the library have kids. I printed about 50 pages and then my toner cartridge gave up the ghost!
Even though I had printed out the coloring pages for my late in the day shift at the public library, I set some out at the senior center, and many of the older people took pages for their grandchildren. Two of the ladies said they were going to color the pages themselves. One told me that she'd read that coloring is good for depression. Maybe she has something there. I colored one of Asterkitty's pages for older children in the afternoon and I was in a pretty good mood by the time I finished!
I gave out about 50 coloring pages yesterday, and I'm sure more would have been taken but I ran out about an hour before my shift was over. I'll print out more for next time!
asterkitty, an artist on Daily Kos designed some coloring pages for us to use. Here is a link to her home page: http://www.alexandrialevin.com/ Go to the bottom of the page for Coloring Pages for Future Voters.
I brought two boxes of crayons because sometimes the kids like to color the pages while they're at the library. I also use them myself for my Asterkitty stars page. I brought Crayola crayons. I've found the colors are more vibrant than off brands, though I have been thinking of ordering Sargent and Prang because they get good reviews.
I'd like to encourage everyone involved in voter registration, or working with children to take a look at asterkitty's page and print out some coloring pages to share. Take a look at her pages for older children and if you have some spare time, color one of the pages yourself!
Here are some other links to election related coloring pages:
You can't go wrong with the U.S. flag:
http://www.colormegood.com/...
Every vote counts! http://www.colormegood.com/...
A poll worker http://www.colormegood.com/...
A simple "Vote" with stars around it. Surprisingly popular with kids. If you print it out, the first page will be blank, so just print out the second page: http://www.sheknows.com/...
Crayola pages, The Flag: http://www.crayola.com/...
More flags: http://www.crayola.com/...
Signing of the Constitution: http://www.crayola.com/...
Flag and map of U.S.: http://www.crayola.com/...
Here's an information coloring page about Virginia: http://www.crayola.com/...
if you want to find one for another state or country: http://www.crayola.com/...
Simple ballot box: http://www.preschoolcoloringbook.com/...
Election Day at the polls: http://www.superkidstees.com/...
For dogs who like to vote: http://www.angrysquirrelstudio.com/...
This map of the United States was popular with kids but even more so with their parents: http://www.coloringcastle.com/...