Read books that teach the students about U.S. presidents and the presidential election process during story time. Selections include "I Want to Be President," by Michaela Muntean, which depicts a Sesame Street character running for president; "If I Ran for President," by Catherine Stier, about a little boy who dreams of what he would do if he were running for president and "Grace for President," by Kelly DiPucchio, about a little girl who can't believe that a woman has never been president.
After teaching the children about Abraham Lincoln, have them recreate his log cabin using wooden craft sticks. Have the children line up about eight craft sticks so that they form a solid square. Help them glue the craft sticks together on a piece of construction paper. Have them cut out a triangle roof from whatever color construction paper they would like and glue it above the craft sticks. Have the students also cut a rectangle for a door and square for a window, and glue them on top of the craft sticks. Finally, have the students glue a penny with the President Lincoln side face up on top of the window square. Allow the students to decorate around the cabin with trees, grass or whatever they would like.
Tell the students the legend of George Washington and the cherry tree that he chopped down. Afterward, hide several paper cherries around the room. Tell the kids that we need to find the cherries from the cherry tree to fill up the basket. Have the kids run around looking for the "cherries" and have them return to the circle with a cherry behind their back. Stand in the center of the circle and sing with the children, to the tune of Farmer in the Dell, "Who found a cherry? Who found a cherry? Who found a cherry from Georgie's tree, oh who found a cherry?" Then say a child's name in the circle with his hands behind his back. That child then chants back, "I cannot tell a lie, I cannot tell a lie, I found a cherry from the tree, I cannot tell a lie."
To teach kindergartners about voting in a basic and easy way, ask the kids about their favorite toppings of pizza. Write down the two biggest ones on the board. For instance, put up cheese and pepperoni if most of the kids like those two types of pizza. Select one student who really loves cheese pizza to stand up and say why she loves cheese and why she wants everyone else to vote cheese. Do the same for a child who really loves pepperoni. Create ballots with a picture of a cheese slice and a pepperoni slice, and have the children put a check next to the one they want and put it in a ballot box. Tally the votes and declare a winner. If it is possible at your school, order that type of pizza the next day. However, to be on the safe side for children who can't eat certain foods, include a basic cheese pizza even if it didn't win.