Dole Institute Hosts Family Activities at Watkins Museum’s Tails and Traditions Holiday Festival
December 19, 2025 - Features
by Julie Clover | Public Education Manager
Kids color and complete Dole Institute activities at event hosted by the Watkins Museum of History. Photo by Julie Clover.
December 6, the Dole Institute of Politics hosted an activity table at the Watkins Museum of History’s 12th annual Tails and Traditions Holiday Festival. This annual family-oriented event brings together other KU organizations, including the Spencer Museum of Art, KU Museum Studies, KU Center for East Asian Studies, and the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies. Public Education Director Julie Clover and three Dole Institute Student Advisory Board members – Alexandra Reiland, Cami Chaffin, and Solomon Geoffrey – represented at the Dole Institute table, promoting its mission among young visitors.
The Dole Institute of Politics promotes a new era of leadership that uses politics to bring people together through opportunities that emphasize bipartisan cooperation, public service, and civic education and engagement.
Family voting in historic election while holding their Watkins hobby horses. Photo by Julie Clover.
Senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole were very fond of their rescue miniature schnauzer pup named Leader, a DC rescue animal celebrating Senator Dole’s Majority Leader status. To teach civic engagement, mimicking the 1996 presidential election, families participated in a very important democratic election – using a plastic egg to cast their ballot for their favorite political pet between Leader the dog (Senator Dole’s dog) or Socks the cat (President Clinton’s cat). Echoing the actual 1996 election outcome, President Clinton “emerged victorious again” as Socks the cat secured the popular vote over Leader.
A child colors a Gingerbread Leader Ornament offered by the Dole Institute. Photo by Julie Clover.
After their ballots were cast, children were encouraged to step up to the table and color in a brown cardstock cutout of a holiday themed Leader the dog. Kids ranging from preschool to middle school created their Dole Institute keepsake ornaments. Colored pencils were provided to beautify the ornament. Artists could even finish the craft with a hole punch and tying off a piece of yarn to fully complete their ornament! This “make and take craft” was popular along with other activities available throughout each floor of the Watkins Museum of History.
Dole Institute Student Advisory Board members explain activity options to event attendees. Photo by Julie Clover.
A large floor puzzle of the American flag was also available and kids of all ages put together the flag. Several families were already familiar with the Dole Institute, saying they had previously attended community events such as the Easter Egg Roll or Girl Scout programs. Dole Institute literature was also available to interested adults, including how to honor a veteran with a Kansas connection via the online portal for the Kansas Veterans Virtual Memory Wall.
About the Dole Institute
Inspired by the leadership legacies of Senators Bob and Elizabeth Dole, and the enduring civic contributions of the Greatest Generation, the Dole Institute of Politics strives to promote a new era of leadership that uses politics to bring people together through opportunities that emphasize bipartisan cooperation, public service, and civic education and engagement.
The Dole Institute is committed to universal accessibility in all programs and resources. We are in the process of making all of our web projects fully accessible. An accessible version of the material represented on this site will be made available upon request. Please contact us at doleinstitute@ku.edu to request the material be made available in an accessible format, or for general assistance.