As we get older we understand the importance of collecting data about the people in the world. We can use this information to learn about people’s living situations, population numbers and diversity, voting engagement, and so many other useful things! Learning how to see the big picture can help us better take care of our communities, have a say in where funds are allocated, and play a part in public services including education.
Here we provide some kid-friendly information along with 10 age-appropriate activities you can use to teach your kids the value of census taking.
1. Census Storytime
The U.S. Census Bureau created some teachable materials (like this storybook) for kids to learn about the census, how it works, and what it influences. Its slogan is “Everyone Counts!” which is a positive message about equality and lets students of all grade levels know their voice is important.
Learn more: United States Census Bureau
2. Community and Jobs
This is an amazing source to incorporate into your classroom activities to inform students about all the possibilities to contribute to their community. What resources and professions are found in every city that is affected by the census? Hospitals, banks, social work, education, mental health services, and more!
Get them excited and engaged with follow-up study and discussions as well.
Learn more: United States Census Bureau
3. Diversity Learning
Time to help your students understand how the U.S. census determines what languages people speak inside and outside of the home, how this diversity varies on a geographic level, and what this means for education and public resources.
Learn more: EdSurge
4. Survey Making and Taking
Surveys ask a variety of questions about an individual, such as their age, where they were born, their gender, their living situation, their relationship status, number of people in a household, health information, and more!
Go over this knowledge with your students and make a class survey in a similar style.
Learn more: Population Education
5. Animal Census
Here is a fun one maybe you didn’t even know about! There is a census taken of animals in different parts of the country to determine if any are becoming at-risk, are growing too large in number, or need extra protection and restrictions (such as livestock).
Alternative activities include learning the names and sounds of zoo animals from your area.
Learn more: Head Start California
6. Class Census
Time for your students to be in charge of creating their own census for their classroom and see how they differ from other classes in your elementary school. They can collaborate to determine what questions make it on the survey and what information they need for the entire study.
Learn more: United States Census Bureau
7. Online Resources for U.S. Census
There are so many online resources available for you to show your students so they can learn more about their community and national statistics. You can play a fun facts game as a daily activity to see what your students know about different states!
Learn more: 7 Generation Games
8. Sing-along Time!
For younger grade levels, music is a great way to talk about challenging subjects such as government and census taking. This simple song has the important message that every person matters.
You can prepare an activity in response to the song to see what information your students can recall from the song.
Learn more: US Census Bureau
9. Trivia Time!
Here is a 2020 census challenge you can use with your elementary students to learn about the previous studies and statistics taken in the U.S. census.
Learn more: US Census Bureau
10. Finding Franklin Time Machine
This creative and elaborate activity is a great way to review or overview the entire time series census has been in use in the U.S. Follow the description to see how students can go through the decade learning about the people who lived in that time and analyze resources such as passports, census records, and other government documents.
Learn more: Family Locket
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