The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is taking its message into classrooms, child-care programs and school boards, urging organizers to approach child care “from a socialist perspective” through initiatives such as Socialist Sprouts, and its been an initiative for years, a parental-rights watchdog warns.
In New York City, the DSA’s “Red Sprouts” program held a training session in October 2026 to equip organizers to provide “resistance-driven childcare” at demonstrations, meetings and community events.
The training encouraged participants to incorporate political themes into childcare through “radical storytelling”, “cooperative games” and age-appropriate discussions.
“There’s been a real influx in enthusiasm and their ability and desire to recruit and grow their movement,” American Parents Coalition leader Alleigh Marré told Fox News Digital. “What’s particularly concerning and insidious, is their direct efforts to apply that to not just adults, but to youth.”
Marré said the American Parents Coalition is working to equip parents with resources to identify and question political activism in schools, including through its “Lookout” initiative.
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The New York City DSA chapter also established Comrades With Kids, a family-focused organizing group that seeks to be a “political and social home base for working-class families.” The group posted photos of DSA-themed coloring pages for children provided at a Zohran for Parents event in September 2025.
The New York initiatives are part of a larger effort by the DSA to incorporate childcare and political education into its organizing activities.
For years, the DSA’s National Political Education Committee has offered training on approaching childcare for activists “from a socialist perspective”, including activities for children at organizing events. In 2025, the committee outlined plans to develop a “Socialist Sprouts” curriculum geared for children, parents and caregivers involved in the movement.
The organization’s efforts to introduce socialist ideas to children date back at least a decade.
In 2016, New York City DSA members launched a Socialist Sunday School for children ages 2 to 6. The program used political songs such as “Union Maid” and “Solidarity Forever,” alongside children’s books, including “The Lorax,” to introduce discussions about corporate greed, environmentalism and organizing against unfairness.
In Ohio, the Cleveland DSA chapter created a children’s coloring book to “help kids learn what we work on at DSA.” Its illustrations include a version of “The Three Little Pigs” tied to the chapter’s housing agenda.
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The DSA’s online store has also sold children’s clothing promoting a “Green New Deal for Public Schools.”
The DSA describes much of its childcare programming as a way to make political organizing more accessible to working-class families. Marré, however, argued that introducing socialist ideas to young children raises
