Students must face real life challenges one day, when they venture out of their protected life. Therefore, it is essential that they are prepared for it in student life. They are our future leaders in various fields of human endeavor. Leadership activities are ways of creating simulated conditions, similar to real world, where students are given a chance to develop their skills. These activities should be designed to develop each and every quality, that makes a good leader. They need to be wide-ranging and equally challenging, to bring out that one thing which is most important, that is 'Character'. Leadership Activity Ideas If we are trying to simulate conditions of the real world outside, through activities, they need to be well-designed. Essentially, most problems that students will face, when they venture out, are going to be people problems. Being a leader is all about understanding the people around you and bringing out the best in your team. So, the activities mentioned here are focused on developing communication skills, team building skills, time management skills and finally, skills of planning and executing strategy. For Middle School Students Here are some activities for students in middle school, focused on molding their personalities and letting them have a lot of fun in the process. Essay Contest Firstly, have a discussion about what leadership means in class and ask students to research on American or world leaders. Hold an essay contest about 'My Favorite Leader' or 'My Role Model'. Make it compulsory that they must justify their choice. Let the best essay be read in the class. Extempore Speech Hold an extempore speech contest, wherein, various topics that deal with contemporary issues are talked about. Let children be given sufficient time to prepare themselves. After every speech, let there be a question and answer session about the topic, where the student who's speaking, justifies his take on the issue. Grade students on the basis of how well they articulate their thoughts and how well are they able to answer questions hurled at them. Projects Hold a project exhibition contest on a given theme of your choice. The projects should be research-based and presented in the form of charts. Create groups of three or two students and ask them to present one topic, related to the theme. For High School Students Here are some activities, which are a bit more advanced. Debate Hold a debate contest in the class. Divide the whole class in teams of four, out of which, two argue for, and two argue against an idea. Give them adequate time for research and preparation. Let the topics be contentious issues of national importance, which will force them to read, research, and think. Enterprise Create small groups in class and ask them to come up with ideas to sell a product of their own. In short, ask each team to come up with a business plan. Ask them to make a presentation of their complete business plan in class. Grade them on the basis of originality and planning. Then, let them actually run the business for some days, in the school itself. After an adequate time of enterprise, let them share their experiences about the business in class. Theater Activity Make groups of students in class and give every group a situation, to enact in the form of a play, through improvisation. Let the topics be such, that they leave sufficient room for imagination. Let them enact the plays in class, without using props. Have a discussion about the experiences of the plays later. For College Students Students in college are at the apex of their educational journey. The activities for them, need to be more reflective of real world and challenging enough. Here are some ideas. Fundraiser/Awareness Campaign Ask the students to organize a fundraising campaign for a worthy cause and create awareness regarding the same, in their college and town. Ask the students to create posters and slogans related to the same. They could even enact street plays for creating awareness about these issues. Run a Campus Newspaper/Periodical Select students to run a campus paper. Choose editors and reporters for the same, through a contest. Let the periodical cover all the happenings in and around the college. Provide them with the requisite publishing and research facilities. Organize a Cultural/Sports Event Give the students an opportunity to organize and manage a whole cultural or sports event on their own. Let them plan and execute the whole thing for themselves. This way, they will get a real taste of managing events and people. Teachers need to take up the roles of facilitators, who learn along with the students through these activities. With every experience that you have from these activities, you can improve them for the future batches that come under your instruction.