Here are some simple activities that you can try in your classroom or at home to develop their innate leadership abilities.
1. Lead the gang
This activity involves setting up small obstacles throughout a room and having one student guide another student who is blindfolded through the course.
The leader has to use clear and respectful instructions, and the follower has to trust and listen to the leader.
This activity helps develop communication, cooperation, and trust.
2. Friend for sale
A student must make short video or skit that advertises a friend’s qualities and skills.
Each student has to choose a friend and highlight their strengths, achievements, and personality in a positive and fun way.
Students show their commercials to the class or upload them for later viewing.
This is an engaging, creative activity that develop appreciation, confidence, and presentation skills.
3. Improve a product
In small groups students choose a product or service that they use frequently and think of ways to make it better, cheaper, faster, or more eco-friendly.
They then have to pitch their idea to the class or a panel of judges.
This activity helps develop critical thinking, creativity, and presentation skills.
4. From letter to sentence
Each student writes a letter on a piece of paper and then pass it to another student.
The next student has to write a word that starts with that letter and pass it on.
The process continues until each letter becomes a word, and then each word becomes a sentence. The sentences are then read aloud to the class.
This activity helps develop vocabulary, grammar, and collaboration.
5. Silent Leadership
Students need to lead without speaking.
In groups of four or five, students choose a leader who has to communicate with the rest of the group using only gestures, facial expressions, or body language.
The leader has to guide the group through a task or a challenge, such as building a tower, solving a puzzle, or performing a dance.
This activity helps develop non-verbal communication, observation, and coordination.
6. Tying and Untying
Each group of students has to choose a leader who has to tie a knot using a rope or a string.
The leader then has to teach the rest of the group how to tie the same knot using verbal instructions only. The group then has to untie the knot using verbal instructions from another leader.
This activity helps develop listening, patience, and problem-solving.
7. Make a leader Tree
This activity involves creating a visual representation of leadership behaviours using a tree diagram.
Each student has to draw a tree with seven parts: roots, trunk, branches, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds.
Each part represents being a good leader. In small groups students discuss and decide on the behaviours that they believe make great leaders. This activity can begin with brainstorming, listing and then choosing the seven behaviours that the students will represent.
These are some of the simple leadership activities that you can do with primary school students to help them develop their leadership potential. Try them out and see the difference they can make!
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More fun leadership games.
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