Today is rung 1 of 4 on this topic
How government works and what citizens do
Can do: Names the branches of government, what each does, and how an ordinary person can influence a decision.
Why it matters
Civics is at its most concrete when it's local. Understanding that decisions are made by identifiable people is genuinely empowering.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Government is a vague single blob, and there's no sense that anybody can affect it.
⏱️ Two-minute check
"Who makes the laws, who enforces them, and who decides what they mean?"
Solid looks like: The three functions correctly separated.
The full activity for this topic · 30 minutes
Write a Real Letter
- 1Find something they'd genuinely change locally — a crossing, a park, a bin.
- 2Work out which level of government is responsible. That research is the lesson.
- 3Write a short letter: what, why it matters, what they want done.
- 4Send it for real. A real reply changes how a child sees the whole system.
- 5Talk about what else citizens can do: vote, petition, attend a meeting, campaign.
If it's too hard
Draft the letter verbally and you write it.
If it's too easy
Research how a bill actually becomes law and map their issue onto that process.
Say this
"Who actually decides that — the council, the state, or the country? Let's find out before we write."