Updated November 2025
While the upcoming general election doesn’t involve a vote for president, the stakes are nonetheless high, with many states holding contests for crucial offices including governor, mayor, state supreme court justices, and school boards. Upcoming ballot referendums cover important issues from election law to school funding. It’s an ideal time to teach about the nuts and bolts of elections as well as the underlying civic and government issues.
The following free lessons and activities explore topics highly relevant to the current election cycle. For extra fun and student engagement, check out the games and interactives!
Best 2025 Election Sites and Apps for Education
Your Cheat Sheet to the 2025 General Elections
If all politics is local, then knowing the details of local elections truly matters. In fact, widely varying ballots for the House, Senate, and judiciary this year mean that elections stakes also vary greatly depending on locale. The not-for-profit online magazine Bolts identifies more than 190 key election battles and dives into the nitty gritty for each one. To find the most consequential elections, search by state or local government offices or referendums, covering everything from election law to education funding.
Election Central Educational Guide to U.S. elections
A robust set of civic resources for teaching U.S. elections from PBS. Topics include Election Basics, How Voting Works, Voting Rights, News & Current Issues, Media in elections and much more. Within each topic category, standards-aligned, grade-appropriate lessons offer videos, background reading, questions for discussion, teaching tips and more. Shareable via Google Classroom, link or social media.
When Are the 2026 Midterm Elections? And What is Their Purpose?
The 2026 midterm elections are only one year away, so it’s not too soon to start thinking about the meaning and importance of midterm elections. This article summarizes key information about midterms and invites readers to create their own “Voter Journey Map,” which includes links to their local election dates and deadlines; voting eligibility rules; I.D. requirements; location of polls and much more. Great exercise for students and other first time voters.
Are Government Shutdowns Good or Bad?
Why have government shutdowns become almost routine? What, if any, benefits accrue, and to which parties or people? This timely multi-media lesson from C-Span Classroom Deliberations examines the history of the now-familiar shutdown and poses questions for consideration and debate. Includes lesson plan, vocabulary, background reading, video and activities. Most resources are sharable via Google account.
Is the Use of Tariffs Overall Good or Bad for America?
Having a long history in U.S. economic policy, tariffs have see-sawed over the centuries between enthusiastic adoption and skeptical disfavor. Now that tariffs are once again favored by the party in power, it’s an ideal time to dive deeper to understand their history and effects, both positive and negative. Lesson plan, vocabulary, background reading, video and activities are all included in this program from C-Span’s Classroom Deliberations. Share via Google or download.
Open Secrets
Open Secrets isn’t the usual fact-checking site. Rather, it’s dedicated to tracking, documenting, and revealing the sources of money in American politics and the effect on elections and policy. The site’s research tools include national and local donor lookup as well as selected datasets about campaigns and donors. Great for PBL and advanced students.
Center for Civic Education Voting Lessons
A selection of lessons for elementary, middle, and high school looking at the timeline of U.S. voting history, what it means to be an informed voter, U.S. Presidential elections, and more. Each lesson includes objectives, vocabulary, and classroom activities.
Facing History and Ourselves - Teaching Resources for the U.S. Elections
Facing History's U.S. election-season resources are designed to guide teachers and students in examining the history of voting rights, media literacy, and how young people today can participate in the democratic process.
Best Free Constitution Day Lessons and Activities
Our democracy stems from the Constitution. No discussion of voting and elections is complete without an analysis of the document that, to this day, governs U.S election law.
iCivics - Election Headquarters
From the highly respected iCivics.org site comes a complete look at state, local, and midterm elections, from the Voting Matters Activity to lesson plans to games and infographics. Bonus: “Students Power Elections,” an election guide written by and for students.
Learning for Justice Future Voter Project
Learning for Justice’s Future Voter Project provides resources to educate kids about voting rights and voter suppression, and more importantly, a guide for registering all eligible students by the time they graduate high school. To examine controversial topics, visit the Civil Discourse in the Classroom page. Free account registration required.
Best 2025 Election Games And Interactives
GerryMander Voting District Puzzle Game
Have you ever wondered what it takes to “gerrymander” a state or district? This voting district puzzle game gives students a chance to try their hand at creating uneven districts in evenly-matched political populations. Along the way, amusing sound effects, comments and images of real-world gerrymandered districts add to the fun and knowledge.
NYT Lesson of the Day: A Gerrymandering Game
What is gerrymandering and how does it affect the outcome of elections? This New York Times lesson includes vocabulary, the gerrymandering interactive, questions for deeper discussions, and links to relevant articles. A winner in any race.
iCivic Election Games
From iCivics, the champion of nonpartisan civics education, Cast Your Vote, Branches of Power, and NewsFeed Defenders are perfect for teaching about U.S. elections. Each game is also available in iOS and Android format.
