One of the most exciting experiences for an elementary school kid is participating in his or her first campaign. In some schools, campaigns for class president, vice president, and treasurer begin as early as third grade! What makes these experiences extra special for the kids is when the adults treat them as “real” as possible.
And if we’re writing about it here on The Button Blog, you know that can only mean one thing: it’s time to talk campaign buttons! And this time, we’re talking about them for the kiddos, not the adults.
So what kinds of things should you keep in mind when it comes to creating campaign buttons for elementary school campaigns? There are three pretty basic ones, and we discuss them in this post.
1. Have fun
This, without question, should be the #1 goal.
Yes, you want to take the campaign seriously and show the kids that it is being taken seriously, but as we all know kids will have plenty of time to loathe campaign season when they get older! While they are still young, bright-eyed, and innocent, the campaigning process should be a fun and engaging one, which will lead to it being more educational. The creation of campaign buttons should fall right in line with this “keep it fun” principle.
One way to have fun with campaign buttons is to get creative with slogans. Challenge the kids to think creatively to come up with their own, perhaps helping to guide them in a certain direction if they are struggling. Just like in real campaigns, a fun and catchy slogan can serve as a rallying cry that keeps everyone engaged and excited.
2. Keep costs down
Taking the campaign seriously does not mean that dollars need to be spent hand over fist to create the campaign promotional materials. Look for great long-term values like our campaign button maker kits.
Once you own the machine, especially individually as a teacher or as a school, your costs go down incrementally each year because all you have to do is buy replacement supplies. This is much, much more efficient than buying new kits each year or ordering the buttons and then having to pay a premium for labor and shipping.
In addition, don’t spend valuable time (remember, time = money!) trying to create graphics for the buttons. Our Political Designs CD (which comes included in our kits!) has every campaign button template you could want, and then some! We’ve already done the work of putting these together for you; save time by just picking out one you like and then moving on to the fun stuff.
3. Make it memorable
Not only do you want kids to learn something from the elementary school campaign process, you also want them to create lasting memories from it. One way to do this is by creating buttons that are more than just a slogan; why not go the extra mile and use photo buttons!? Our 2.25 inch campaign button maker kit is equipped to produce photo buttons, and they can be a great way to make sure that your little candidates button stands out.
On this same point, don’t be afraid to use fun fonts and bright colors. The same rules apply in elementary school campaign buttons as they do in “real” campaigns: buttons, signs, and slogans all need to stand out and create a lasting impression.
If you can help kids have fun while keeping costs down and still making memorable buttons, you should consider the button making part of the campaign a success!
Brighid Brown – Director of Blogging and All Things Cool at ABM