Leadership Activities for Students: Building Real-World Skills

Leadership activities for students can be a powerful way to help young people develop leadership skills. Leaders take charge, make sound decisions, and stay cool under pressure—all while maintaining a positive attitude that inspires their team. Leadership is important—but students may not always see its value. As leaders are often charismatic, confident, and in positions of authority, students may believe only certain people can develop leadership skills (or even believe they can’t develop them at all). The reality is: they can! Leadership takes practice, perseverance, and support—which is why it’s so important for teachers to nurture these skills in the classroom through leadership activities.

Helping students unlock their leadership potential can be simple—and fun! Using interactive activities, educators can proactively nurture leadership in their students so they can move forward with confidence at school, home, and life.

In this article, you’ll find six leadership activities for students—all available for free use. But before we dive in, let’s break down what true leadership means and why it’s so important for student success (to jump to the leadership class activities, click here!).

Qualities of Great Leadership

Anyone can be a leader. We can all develop leadership qualities—especially those with a growth mindset. The key is knowing that everyone leads differently, and leadership doesn’t have to exist in traditional ways (you don’t have to even be in a leadership position!). Instead, true leadership is about influence—how someone supports, uplifts, and drives other people.

Here are just a few qualities that many great leaders possess—and that students can develop, whatever their style may be.

• Communication: Communication is an essential skill for leadership. This includes effectively explaining your ideas to others, writing and speaking clearly, and practicing active listening in conversation. Developing this skill can help students build trust and honesty in their relationships. 
• Respect: Respecting others builds up a culture of positivity, no matter where you are. Students can demonstrate this by showing an interest in and including others, whether in the classroom, at lunch, or after school.
• Confidence: Confidence doesn’t have to be brash, arrogant, or cocky. Confidence is simply having faith in your abilities to overcome challenges. If a student believes in themselves, others can believe in them too.
• Resilience: Perseverance is key for leadership. Showing reliance and seeing a project through to the end sets great leaders apart and inspires others around them. Students can exhibit this by persevering to the end of a goal—whether it be a group presentation, sports game, or personal project. 
• Creativity and Innovation: Leaders are visionaries, which is why creativity and innovation are essential. Coming up with unique ideas and solutions is often imperative for success, and is even one of the top qualities employers¹ look for in new hires. Students can develop their creativity and innovation skills by thinking outside the box and following through on their ideas.

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader. —President John Quincy Adams

Leadership Quiz

To help students better identify the unique way they lead, here’s a free quiz that can be used in the classroom. It’s important for students to recognize that anyone can be a leader—regardless of position, personality, or communication style. By identifying their style early, students can start building their leadership skills now, not when they enter the workforce. 

To distribute to students, download our free printable PDF! 

When you’re in a group project, you tend to:

1. take charge and assign everyone tasks.
2. focus on getting to know your group first.
3. figure out the best strategy to get things done.
4. encourage your peers when things get stressful.

Someone disagrees with your idea. How do you react?

1. Explain your point clearly and try to win them over.
2. Listen and try to find common ground.
3. Consider whether their idea could improve the plan.
4. Make sure the disagreement doesn’t cause drama.

You would describe yourself as:

1. bold.
2. social.
3. logical.
4. empathetic.

What does your dream job look like?

1. Entrepreneur, lawyer, or CEO of a company
2. Healthcare, event planning, or construction
3. Scientist, mathematician, or software developer
4. Teacher, counselor, or social worker

How do you make decisions?

1. By following your instincts
2. By listening to advice
3. By following facts and logic
4. By considering how the decision will affect others

What motivates you as a leader?

1. Achieving success and being respected
2. Building strong relationships
3. Solving problems and making things better
4. Helping others grow and improve

Results

Tally up your score and see what leadership style reflects you the most! Remember: you don’t need a title to be a great leader. True leadership is about character, perseverance, and using your unique abilities to make a positive impact.

Mostly A Answers: The Driver

You’re focused, determined, and like to get things done. Inwardly motivated, you lead with confidence and strength that inspires others to stay on track. 

Career Style: You’d thrive in a career that gives you the freedom to make and follow your own rules. Leadership positions, entrepreneurial ventures, sales, and project management positions would be a natural match.

Work Environment: You shine in settings that give you independence, flexibility, and the authority to make decisions. Working in an environment where you’re micromanaged or overcontrolled could leave you feeling stifled and frustrated.

Mostly B Answers: The Collaborator

You’re open-minded, adaptable, and value teamwork to accomplish a goal. A great listener, you lead by making sure everyone feels seen and heard. 

Career Style: You’d likely enjoy working closely with other people or in a place that supports long-lasting relationships. Healthcare, human resources, communications, or customer service jobs are great career options for sociability and collaboration.

Work Environment: Getting to work in a team or one-on-one in people-driven careers will bring out the best in you. Isolating jobs where social interaction is limited will likely make you feel drained and unfulfilled.

Mostly C Answers: The Thinker

You’re strategic, practical, and quick to come up with efficient solutions. Analytical at heart, you lead by guiding your team towards the most logical outcome. 

Career Style: You’d likely enjoy a position where you can break things down, synthesize, and problem-solve. Roles that let you anticipate obstacles and chart clear strategies might include data analysis, software engineering, game design, business strategy, or operations planning.

Work Environment: Being strategy driven, you’d likely thrive in a work culture that is structured, results-oriented, and allows room for personal analysis. A disorganized or unfocused environment could leave you feeling unproductive and frustrated. 

Mostly D Answers: The Motivator

You’re compassionate, understanding, and have a positive energy that inspires other people. Naturally empathetic, you lead by bringing out the best in others and reminding them of the common goal. 

Career Style: You’d likely flourish in a job where you can make a difference in someone’s life. Teaching, nonprofit work, counseling, or nursing are great career options that would highlight your best strengths.

Work Environment: A purpose-driven career where you’re changing the world for the better will push you to be your best. If your job’s mission doesn’t align with your own values, it may leave you feeling lost or unmotivated.

What are the Benefits of Developing Leadership Skills in the Classroom?

There are a multitude of benefits for developing leadership skills in the classroom. Below are just a few of the ways leadership activities help inspire students and unlock their potential: 

• Improved Academic Performance: Giving students leadership positions, in primary school especially, can enhance academic performance and learning autonomy in the classroom.  
• Increased Self-Esteem:  As students take on and fulfill more leadership roles, their self-confidence is likely to increase.² High self-esteem has benefits that lead to long-term success, like improved mental health,³ social relationships,⁴ and academic engagement.⁵
• Promote Teamwork: Knowing how to collaborate with others is a skill that’s essential for success. Not only do group projects help students develop communication skills, but they’re easy to implement in the classroom through projects and activities.
• Psychological Benefits: Leadership activities can improve students’ social skills and attitudes on issues like bullying.⁶ Not only that, but students introduced to leadership concepts were found to have an increased desire to learn more.
• Problem-Solving Skills: Especially with hands-on learning projects, leadership activities have the potential to help students sharpen their problem-solving abilities, an essential skill for those in leadership positions.
• Increased Communication Skills: Leadership activities that involve group projects, presentations, and even written exams all work towards improving communication. 
• Conflict Resolution Skills: Students engage their conflict resolution skills if challenges arise in collaborative leadership activities. Knowing how to manage disagreements and deescalate situations is not only imperative for leadership, but life.

Ways to Nurture Leadership in the Classroom

You don’t have to conduct activities to foster leadership in students. Here are some intentional tips for developing leadership in the classroom every day: 

• Assign Roles: Assigning different responsibilities can help foster a sense of responsibility and ownership in students. This could exist in many ways, like daily group discussion leaders, classroom facilitators, or materials managers.
• Implement Project Based Learning (PBL): Using project based learning in the classroom is an excellent way to foster leadership. PBL gives students the opportunity to collaborate, communicate, and take initiative—all qualities of effective leadership.
• Goal Setting: By setting goals, students effectively develop qualities of leadership within themselves. For example, if a student wants to get better at public speaking, their goal can be to join the debate club. If a student wants to become more confident, they can try and say one positive affirmation to themselves every day. Building up these qualities can take time and practice, but with effective goals in place, these traits can become second nature to students. (Check out our free downloadable checklist to set SMART goals that stick!)
• Encourage Extracurriculars: Studies have shown that students involved in extracurricular activities in school had higher leadership qualities than those who didn’t.⁷ Whether it be cross country, chess club, or student council, encourage students to get involved.
• Teach Growth Mindsets: Growth mindsets push us to go further. For example, if a student is terrified of giving presentations, remind them that with hard work and determination, their brain can be wired to learn and improve at anything. With this mindset, intrinsic motivation can be instilled—so students can tackle their weaknesses and develop their strengths on their own terms.

6 Leadership Activities to Conduct in the Classroom

Though these qualities can be developed every day, activities can directly target leadership skills. Either through hands-on activities, self-reflective exercises, or fun challenges, use these are a resource for classrooms to tackle leadership skills head on.

We’ve compiled six leadership activities for students, each targeting different critical leadership skills. Many of the activities can be modified for different grades and require few to no materials. See the table below for an overview of each activity—and click on its name to jump directly to its detailed instructions!

Activity Name	Grade Range	Time Required	Materials Needed	Skills Targeted
Who’s Your Favorite Leader?	6th-12th grade	20 minutes	Minimal	Self reflection, public speaking, confidence building
Tallest Tower	3rd-12th grade	15-30 minutes	Moderate	Conflict resolution, communication, teamwork
Debate Practice	6th-12th grade	15-50 minutes	None	Self reflection, communication, confidence building
Human Knot	3rd-10th grade	15-20 minutes	None	Conflict resolution, communication, critical thinking
Chatty Cathy	3rd-12th grade	10-30 minutes	None	Communication, active listening, critical thinking
Drawing Blind	6th-12th grade	20-50 minutes	Minimal	Trust building, creative thinking, communication

Leadership Activity 1: Who’s Your Favorite Leader?

For this activity, students use self-reflection to discover leaders they admire. With these findings, students find their leadership role model, which can inspire their own goals and aspirations. At the end of the activity, encourage students to reflect on how they want to be more like their favorite leader. Setting SMART goals, adopting a growth mindset, and stepping outside their comfort zone are all great ways to begin.

• Grade Range: 6th-12th grade
• Group Size: Any
• Time: 20 minutes-as needed
• Materials: Paper, pen, laptop/books for research
• Skills Practiced: Self reflection, public speaking, confidence building

Part 1: Self Reflection

First, ask students to get out a piece of paper and reflect on various leadership prompts. Some questions to guide this free write can be:

• Do you consider yourself to be a leader? Why or why not?
• What traits make up a great leader? 
• Do you believe leaders are born or made? Explain your reasoning.
• Can you be a leader, even if you’re not in a leadership position? Why or why not?

After students have been given time to reflect, let them share their thoughts with the class. Guide this discussion and allow students to state their case and compare their answers with others. 

Part 2: Research

After students have been given time to reflect, let them research what leader inspires them. By putting the learning in their hands, not only does this increase engagement in the classroom, but it allows students to pick leaders that closely align with their own values and personalities. Remind students that this can be anyone—a family member, friend, or famous person—whoever it is they look up to in life and showed what they consider to be great leadership. To help students get started in their project, ask them to consider some questions to guide their research. Some prompts to get started can be:

• Who are your role models? 
• What qualities make them so impactful to me?
• Is there a way I can implement/imitate those qualities in my life?

Part 3: Present (Optional)

Once students have had enough time to research, allow them to present their findings to the class. To drive this presentation, students can share their favorite leader, why they’ve picked this person, and the qualities they believe make them great. 

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Leadership Activity 2: Tallest Tower

Life Discovery Activity: The Tallest Tower activity is included in ERA’s Life Discovery curriculum!

For this exercise, students learn the importance of communication and collaboration to achieve a goal. Not only that, but students can see in real time which roles they take on during high stakes situations, giving them insight on their strengths, and what they can improve on.

• Grade Range: 3rd-12th grade
• Group Size: Any
• Time: 15-20 minutes
• Materials: Uncooked spaghetti, large marshmallows, tape, string, rulers
• Skills Practiced: Conflict resolution, communication, teamwork

Step 1: Explain Instructions

Organize the room into even groups of 3-4. Explain that each group has five minutes to plan and ten minutes to build the tallest, freestanding tower using only the given materials. 

Step 2: Build

Put on a timer and let students work together to build their towers. To do so effectively, students must practice effective communication, teamwork, and flexibility. 

Optional: To test a student’s adaptability, take away a group’s tape or string half way through the challenge!

Step 3: Measure

After the timer is up, measure the towers with a ruler and compare heights. Whoever has the highest, most stable tower, wins!

Step 4: Discuss

After the activity is complete, let students talk about their experience during the exercise. Here are some prompts to get started:

• What strategies helped your team succeed?
• What role did you naturally gravitate towards in the group? Did you take charge or follow orders? 
• How did problem solving and creativity play a role?
• In what ways are teamwork and adaptability needed in real life situations?

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Leadership Activity 3: Debate Practice

For this activity, students practice critical thinking skills and public speaking through debating various topics with their peers. This not only engages the classroom, but gives students the space to develop public speaking skills that are necessary for impactful leadership.

• Grade Range: 6th-12th grade
• Group Size: Any
• Time: 15-50 minutes
• Materials: None
• Skills Practiced: Self reflection, communication, confidence building

Step 1: Explain Instructions

Assign each corner of the room into stances—agree and strongly agree, disagree and strongly disagree. 

Step 2: Present Topics 

Write or announce a statement to the class. Once the statement has been made, students go to whichever corner matches their opinion. Here’s some discussion points to get started:

For younger students:

• Summer is the best season.
• Waffles are better than pancakes.
• Uniforms should be required at all schools.

For older students:

• Social media does more harm than good.
• Homework should be suggestions, not requirements.
• Mental health isn’t talked about enough.

Step 3: Debate

After they’ve gone to their corner of the room, call on students to defend their thoughts on the topic. To make sure things run smoothly, give students a time limit to defend their argument. 

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Leadership Activity 4: Human Knot

This is a classic leadership game that helps with communication and conflict resolution skills. Fun and engaging, students must strategize with others and attempt to get themselves untangled. 

• Grade Range: 3rd-10th grade
• Group Size: Best in groups of 6 to 10
• Time: 15-20 minutes
• Materials: None
• Skills Practiced: Conflict resolution, communication, critical thinking

Step 1: Circle Up

Instruct students to get in a circle, shoulder to shoulder. For larger class sizes, you’ll likely need to move desks to the side. Or if it’s a nice day, consider going outside!

Step 2: Lock Hands

Instruct students to hold their left hand with another student across from them that’s not their immediate neighbor. The circle should be small enough that everyone can reach their hands to the center. If it’s not possible, break up the class into groups of smaller circles.

Next, have the students place their right hand in the center and grab a different student’s hand. 

Step 3: Unravel

Without letting go, students must work together to break free from the knot. To do so successfully, students must strategize together and only use verbal communication. Once everyone is free from the human knot, the game is over!

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Leadership Exercise 5: Chatty Cathy

For this exercise, students target their active listening and communication skills. A great leadership warmup that doesn’t take up too much time, students can use these skills to grow their leadership capabilities and get to learn more about their classmates.

• Grade Range: 3rd-12th grade
• Group Size: 2-any (works best in pairs)
• Time: 10-30 minutes
• Materials: None
• Skills Practiced: Communication, active listening

Step 1: Pair Up

Instruct students to get into pairs and face each other. If there’s an odd number of students, one can pair up with a teacher.

Step 2: Talk and Listen

For two minutes straight, one student must talk nonstop. It can be about anything they want–what’s on their mind, their favorite band, what they had for lunch. The only catch: they can’t take any pauses and have to keep talking, no matter what. This challenge is harder than it looks! The other student isn’t allowed to respond or talk back—they can only listen. 

Once the two minutes is up, have students swap roles and do the exercise again. 

Step 3: Summarize

After everyone has taken a turn to talk and listen, students must summarize to the class what they learned about the other person. This can be funny when given the task to talk nonstop, with our brains often latching onto random, unexpected things under the pressure. Not only are students engaging in active listening, but they’re able to break the ice with their classmates.

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Leadership Exercise 6: Drawing Blind

For this game, students have to put their faith in their partner to draw a picture. This exercise not only helps with communication skills, but builds up trust among peers.

• Grade Range: 6th-12th grade
• Group Size: 2-any (works best in pairs)
• Time: 20-50 minutes
• Materials: Paper, drawing utensil, blindfolds
• Skills Practiced: Trust building, creative thinking, communication

Step 1: Pair Up

Instruct students to pair up into groups of two. If there’s an odd number of students, a group of three also works (one student might not be able to draw, unless the game is played through several times). One student is given a piece of paper and something to draw with. Then, have this student put on their blindfold and turn their back away from the board. 

Step 2: Prompt

Write a prompt on the board for students to draw. Make sure no one says the prompt out loud so the person turned away can’t hear. Here’s some options to get you started: 

• Baseball, smiley face, balloon (easy)
• Fish, house, tree (medium)
• Cat, umbrella, giraffe (hard)

The job of the unblindfolded student is to guide their partner into drawing the correct image, based on their instructions alone. The catch is the unblinded student is not allowed to say things that would give away what the image is (ex: Saying, “Draw a paw” if the prompt was cat). Instead, this student must try to only give instructions through lines, shapes, and curves of the pencil. This game kicks critical thinking and communication skills into gear as students must try and figure out the best way to explain—often leading to fun, twisted images.

After everyone has completed their drawing, students can switch roles and start on a new prompt. At the end of the game, teachers can talk to students about their experience and ask why they believe the exercise is important for leadership skills.

People aren’t just born leaders—it takes perseverance, effort, and practice to develop qualities of leadership within ourselves. 

Leadership Final Takeaways

People aren’t just born leaders—it takes perseverance, effort, and practice to develop qualities of leadership within ourselves. With this knowledge, students can take control of their future and push themselves to be their best, going beyond what they believe they’re capable of achieving.

By intentionally incorporating leadership activities for students in the classroom, educators can empower young people to develop the confidence, skills, and mindset they need to thrive both in school and beyond. In our experience, sometimes the classroom is the only place students can develop themselves—which is why it’s more important than ever to bring life skills to education. When equipped with these resources, we’re preparing students for life beyond the classroom—so they can thrive in whatever path they choose.

To learn more, contact us or read our other Insights articles to find out why life skills in education are necessary to help students succeed.

To start students on their leadership journey, remember to print off our free leadership style quiz to use for the classroom!

References

1. Wells, R. (2024a, June 3). 70% of employers say creative thinking is most in-demand skill in 2024. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelwells/2024/01/28/70-of-employers-say-creative-thinking-is-most-in-demand-skill-in-2024/ ↩︎
2. Haynes-Tross, E. (2015). The Importance of Developing Leadership Skills in Grades 6-8 Middle School Students From the Perspective of Administrators, Teachers, and Students. St. John Fisher College. https://doi.org/https://1library.net/document/zk10124q-importance-developing-leadership-students-perspective-administrators-teachers-students.html ↩︎
3. Guo, J., Huang, X., Zheng, A., Chen, W., Lei, Z., Tang, C., Chen, H., Ma, H., & Li, X. (2022). The influence of self-esteem and psychological flexibility on medical college students’ mental health: A cross-sectional study. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.836956 ↩︎
4. Shang, A., Feng, L., Yan, G., & Sun, L. (2025). The relationship between self-esteem and social avoidance among university students: Chain mediating effects of resilience and social distress. BMC Psychology, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-025-02444-2 ↩︎
5. Acosta-Gonzaga, E. (2023). The effects of self-esteem and academic engagement on university students’ performance. Behavioral Sciences, 13(4), 348. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13040348 ↩︎
6. Wade, L., Leahy, A. A., Babic, M. J., Beauchamp, M. R., Smith, J. J., Kennedy, S. G., Boyer, J., Nathan, N., Robinson, K., & Lubans, D. R. (2022). A systematic review and meta-analysis of the benefits of school-based, peer-led interventions for leaders. Scientific Reports, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-25662-9 ↩︎
7. Khan, M. R., Khan, P., Ali, M., Khan, T., Rahman, M. U., & Ali Naqvi, S. M. (2025). Role of extracurricular activities in the development of leadership skills among the undergraduate doctor of physical therapy students of Khyber Medical University and its affiliated institutes in Peshawar: A cross-sectional study. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 75(02), 255–258. https://doi.org/10.47391/jpma.20125 ↩︎