Hampden - A group of four and five year olds at Highland Preschool in Hampden took a break from playtime on Monday to do something quite grown up.

They voted, but not on a favorite candidate. Instead, they voted on a topic they know a little more about. The race was between Chocolately Chip Teddy Grahams and Cinnamon Teddy Grahams. Like in a real election, it was a secret ballot.

"We told them to make their own decision, so we actually covered up the other votes so that they couldn't see how their classmates had voted," said Kathryn Ravenscraft, a teacher at Highland Preschool.

They were also told to taste both choices and think very carefully about their decision before voting.

"Because they might taste the same or not the same," explained 5-year-old Joshua.

After all the results were tallied, it was a close race. Chocolately chip beat out cinnamon by a single vote.

It was an early lesson about how every vote counts.

Ravenscraft said, "This is really about introducing them to the concept of voting. We use some vocabulary words: candidate, majority, election. It's just about planting the seeds of that mindfulness of their civic duty."

Because someday their votes will affect more than what's on the menu for snack time.

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