Education.com Civics and Government Printable Worksheets

Use these civics and government worksheets for kids to get a full picture of how the United States's rules were formed and how they are implemented today.

Ohio Facts, Map, and State Symbols handouts

Ohio was admitted as a state on March 1, 1803, becoming the 17th state in the USA!  "Ohio" derives from the Iroquois Indian word meaning "good river" or "large river." This site offers lists of state facts and printable handouts about Ohio and the United States such as printable map quizzes, "label me" Ohio map worksheet, presidential birthplaces in Ohio, and more!

The Ohio Constitution

"We, the people of the State of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and promote our common welfare, do establish this Constitution."  PDF of the state constitution from the Secretary of State’s office.  

Government in Action

Government in Action: A Content Manual for Teachers with Classroom Applications by Dr. David Naylor and Dr. Bruce Smith of the University of Cincinnati. Content of the manual includes the nature of government, our federal System, Ohio’s history and Constitution, the three branches of Ohio government, and more.

Speaking Out to Strengthen the Guardrails of Democracy

In Partnership with the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, the Divided Community Project has published the new guide, Speaking Out to Strengthen the Guardrails of Democracy. Strengthening democracy requires a multi-pronged approach. This guide focuses on one prong – “speaking out” – as a strategy for strengthening democracy.

Civics Renewal Network

The Civics Renewal Network is a consortium of nonpartisan, nonprofit organizations committed to strengthening civic life in the U.S. by increasing the quality of civics education in our nation's schools and by improving accessibility to high-quality, no-cost learning materials. On the Civics Renewal Network site, teachers can find the best resources of these organizations, searchable by subject, grade, resource type, standards, and teaching strategy.

Creative Learning Factory

The Creative Learning Factory offers programming uniquely suited for professionals, from individual teachers and museum teams looking to expand their knowledge, all the way to administrators interested in offering district and museum-wide professional development for their staff. Through webinars, interactive video conferencing and face-to-face workshops, the Creative Learning Factory provides professional development solutions across the humanities, featuring creative learning activities and more.  

iCivics Lesson Plans and Support Materials

The iCivics project is a web-based education project designed to teach students civics and inspire them to be active participants in our democracy. The project was developed by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to provide students with the information and tools they need for civic participation, and provide better materials and support for civics teachers.

Justice by the People

Lesson plans and games to help teach the Constitution and about trials and juries put together by “Justice by the People” – an education program sponsored by the Foundation of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

The Library of Congress - Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Direct

From the Library of Congress, this online resource enables educators to integrate primary sources into their classrooms by creating customized lesson plans based on documents and artifacts from the Library’s extensive collections. Applicable across grade levels and content areas, this project also allows educators to search the TPS database for content-rich activities.

The Ohio Resource Center

The Ohio Resource Center enhances teaching and learning by promoting standards-based best practices in mathematics, science, English/language arts, and social studies.  ORC serves as a trusted source of easily accesible, peer-reviewed, high quality, and effective resources.  

INFOhio - The Information Network for Ohio Schools

A virtual K-12 library that transforms teaching and learning by connecting education resources with the power of information technology. Information is broken down by grade level and subject on the user guide page. A school library log-in name and password is needed to access this site. 

Most helpful INFOhio links for law and government teachers:

INFOhio User Guide
Resources for Educators
Digital Video Collection
Educator Tools

Ohio State Symbols Game

Interactive games to reinforce knowledge about such Ohio symbols as the state flower, state bird, state motto, and more!  Learning about your state's symbols is a rite of passage for all upper elementary kids. Remembering your state flower, your state bird, your state tree, your state motto and even nickname can be difficult, but learning with online games can make it much easier and much more fun! 

60 Second Civics

Produced by the Center for Civic Education, 60-Second Civics is a daily podcast that provides a quick and convenient way for listeners to learn about our nation’s government, the Constitution, and our history. The podcast explores themes related to civics and government, the constitutional issues behind the headlines, and the people and ideas that formed our nation’s history and government.

Democracy Class

Democracy Class is a fun 45-minute lesson program that uses video, a discussion and a mock election exercise to equip young people with the skills they need to navigate the elections process and participate as active citizens. Rock the Vote launched Democracy Class with the vision of engaging young Americans in elections through a high school civics education program. 

Freedom Summer and the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Available free as an iPad app and on the Web, “Freedom Summer and the Civil Rights Act of 1964” is a game-based interactive learning module from the IU Center on Congress that explores the relationship between the civil rights movement and Congress’s passage of civil rights legislation.  

Interactive Youth Voting Map

This map from CIRCLE, The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, features voting and population data on young people (age 18-29) and older adults in each congressional district, plus statistics from the latest midterm and presidential elections, data on economic, social, and demographic indicators, and more.  Visit the CIRCLE website for more maps and voting data!

NewseumED

Closed since 2019, the Newseum's 250,000-square-foot museum in Washington, D.C. was dedicated to the news and offered visitors a state-of-the-art experience that blended news history with up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits. The Newseum's innovative digital classroom NewseumED features interactive timelines, archival videos and downloadable historic front pages with cross-disciplinary lesson plans for middle, high school and college teachers and students.

The Redistricting Game

The Redistricting Game allows your students to get hands-on experience drawing district lines within towns and cities and learn through practice about gerrymandering and equality in representative government.

Ohio Statehouse

The Ohio Statehouse, located in Columbus, Ohio, houses the Ohio General Assembly and the ceremonial offices of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, and Auditor.  Completed in 1861, the building is one of America's finest examples of Greek Revival architecture and is one of the oldest working statehouses in the United States.  The Statehouse website includes virtual tours, an online museum collection, details on state governors, county flags, and much more!

American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio

The mission of the ACLU of Ohio is to aid in maintaining and extending constitutional and other fundamental rights, liberties, privileges, and immunities, and to take all legitimate action in furtherance of that object without political partisanship.  It engages in education and litigation, grassroots organizing and lobbying activities to promote civil liberties.

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers

Discover Chronicling America, the Library of Congress’s free digital newspaper database. Access millions of American newspaper pages, including 300,000 Ohio pages. Search America's historic newspaper pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.

Court News Ohio

Court News Ohio is a service of the Office of Public Information of the Supreme Court of Ohio - an exclusive source for legal news and case information in Ohio, it is the news bureau of the Ohio Judicial Branch.   Watch and download archived Supreme Court Cases, previews of upcoming cases, features on court programs, profiles of judges and court officials, and other news and information.

Justice Judy

 Supreme Court of Ohio Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger's "Justice Judy" blog offers simple, straightforward explanations of judicial concepts and processes, as well as discussions about current developments in the legal profession and the law. Teachers and students can interact and post questions for Justice Lanzinger, herself a former teacher.

Learning for Justice

Learning for Justice, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, is a place for educators to find thought-provoking news, conversation and support for those who care about diversity, equal opportunity and respect for differences in schools. Order free Learning for Justice film kits, classroom lessons, access professional development materials and more.

National Voter Registration Day

Every year in September there is a National Voter Registration Day. It’s become a national holiday of sorts, with voter registration events in communities across the country. The website offers lots of materials to celebrate the day, including tool kits and links to celebrations around the country.  The League of Women Voters of Ohio also offers assistance with coordinating a school National Voter Registration Day event.

Ohio Government

The State of Ohio's website offers portals to employment information, tax forms, voter information, state agencies and online governement services, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, the state education system, the Ohio State budget, Constitution, laws and legislature, State, city and county government sites, and much more, plus Ohio facts and history, sites for kids, and activity and coloring books.

Ohio Statehouse School Tours

Tens of thousands of school children visit the Statehouse every year. A Statehouse field trip brings lesson plans to life on such subjects as history, civics, architecture, and more. The Ohio Statehouse Museum Education Center provides guided tours geared to a school group's grade level and curriculum.   

Street Law

Street Law is a nonprofit organization that creates classroom and community programs that teach people about law, democracy, and human rights worldwide.  Street Law's online resource library has compiled hundreds of teaching activities and methods, case summaries, mock trials, and articles—many of which are free—and organized them by topic, audience, and type.  Street Law publications and sample lesson plans are also available on the website.

The Center on Representative Government

“What does Congress do?” “How does it affect my life?” “And how can I let Congress know what’s important to me?”  The Center on Representative Government answers these questions—and many others—to help Americans of all ages understand how our representative democracy works and their role in our government. The website has a great collection of lesson plans and classroom resources.

The Ohio History Connection

The Ohio Historical Society is now the Ohio History Connection. The Ohio History Connection champions all Ohio history, including the 50+ historic sites in the Society's network throughout Ohio.  The website offers extensive resources to Explore Ohio history through stories, photos, videos, and events, including online archives, geneology information, and an Ohio archeaology blog.

The Oyez Project

The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is a multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States and its work. It aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. The Project also provides authoritative information on all justices and offers a virtual reality Tour of portions of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of some of the justices.