Children can’t vote in the presidential election, but it is still a great time for Savvy Aunties to celebrate democracy with our nieces and nephews!   After all, it’s the right to vote that is so important and exciting for our future US voters! And making election night fun can have a great impact in their interest in our democratic process.

Our only caveat? Unless the family agrees on who the grown-ups are voting for, try to be bipartisan with your party theme decor, treats and activities. And as Election Night progresses  always respecting both nominees is a valuable lesson for kids.

First, you'll want the room to look festive. Here are some decorating tips:

•    Instead of filling vases with flowers, fill them with blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries.  This is both yummy and festive looking. Guests can scoop the berries out and add whipped cream.  Alternatively, you can fill the vases with colorful and patriotic M&M candies. 

•    Use different shapes of vases to hold dips and chips as well. These make great centerpieces, as well as unique serving dishes.

•    Mix and match your paper ware with red, white, and blue solid colors. Napkins in the same colors add an elegant touch.

•    Roll out butcher paper on to your party table. Scatter red, white, and blue crayons across the table for the kids to color with while eating.

•    Fill balloons with red, white and blue crinkled paper. Have the kids pop them for festive explosions of color.

•    Sprinkle red, white, and blue confetti and candies around the table.

Of course, it wouldn't be a fun party for kids without some tasty treats:

•    Freeze blueberries and raspberries with water in ice cube trays to make Star Spangled Cubes.

•    Make a Rocket Pop Drink.  Fill a glass with ice cubes and be sure to carefully pour each drink directly on to the ice cubes to maintain the patriotic colors.  First, pour in cranberry juice, then blue Gatorade, and, finally, 7-Up.

•    Using blackberries, cut up-halved strawberries and bananas, have the kids create a fruit flag using the fruit pieces.  They can place this on a cookie tray that can be laid out for serving to the rest of the guests.  Kids can also make mini flags for themselves as well.  You can also provide lollipop sticks to the kids and they can skewer these fruits to make a Patriotic Fruit Kabob.

•    Using a star cookie cutter, make up a batch of patriotic Jell-O Jigglers, Star sugar cookies, Star cheese slices, and Star sandwiches filled with cream cheese and blackberry jam.

•    Make a batch of favorite cupcakes and have the kids frost them and add red, white, and blue sprinkles and candies to decorate.

•    Serve Baskin Robbins election flavors Straight Talk Crunch and Whirl of Change for added fun!

Finally, having some activity ideas will keep the kids interested in the Election Night process:

•    Hold a mock vote with your nieces and nephews and see how they would vote if they could in this election. Ask them why they voted for their chosen candidates.

•    Another interesting conversation to have is around the commercials that have recently been seen on TV. Did these advertisements help inform their mock vote? If so, how?

•    Have your nieces and nephews create their own commercial for their preferred candidate.  Record it and replay during the evening.

•    Conduct a Red, White, and Blue Taste Test with the kids.  Put out all sorts of food and spices in a series of small dishes for the kids to taste and guess what it is, make sure to blindfold the kids as they taste.  Ideas for tasting include: Salt, Ketchup, Blueberries, Strawberries, French Salad Dressing, Mayonnaise, Sponge Cake, Strawberry Jam, Pepper Jack Cheese, Beets, Tomatoes, Garlic, Bananas, Cherries, etc

•    Play a series of trivia games with your nieces and nephews, both educational and fun.  Ask the children to list as many US Presidents as they can.  Whoever lists the most correctly, wins! 

•    Play Charades.  Provide the kids with different historical moments that they must act out and the others must guess what the moment is and who was President.  (Challenging and good for tweens!)

•    At the beginning of election evening, place a large US map on your wall and have your nieces and nephews decide which state will be won by which candidate.  As results come in, have them compare and contrast their predictions with the actual results.

Have a tremendous evening of fun, trivia, and patriotic festivity with your nieces and nephews during this monumental election evening!