Encouraging Foundational Leadership Skills in Early Childhood Classrooms

Early leadership skills emerge from a child’s developing sense of self and experiences interacting with peers. When children have opportunities to practice these interpersonal skills at a young age, it sets the stage for continued social-emotional and leadership growth during elementary school and beyond. As early learning professionals, we are in a unique position to introduce and encourage young children to tap into their abilities so they are equipped to become strong, contributing community members. 

What Leadership Skills are Young Children Capable of Learning?

While young children might not have a full understanding of what it means to be a leader, they are developing basic leadership foundations through the important social-emotional skills that early care & learning providers help them practice every day! 

• Self-awareness and self-regulation. Becoming a leader involves the development of a sense of self, and the understanding of ourselves as individuals who have an impact on others. For young children, this begins when they become aware that they are unique individuals with identifiable feelings. Educators can help children start to build a foundation for self-awareness and self-regulation by introducing meaningful conversations about feelings, needs, preferences, and more. Once they are able to identify their feelings, young children can begin learning how to navigate and regulate feelings and emotions.
• Collaboration. The ability to work cooperatively with others is a key element of successful leadership. Young children get to practice collaboration skills everyday as they share toys, work together on an art project, or engage in dramatic play with their peers. Each of these play scenarios offers children the opportunity to practice managing conflicts, listening to their peers, and making decisions as a group. 
• Empathy. Skilled leaders have empathy for those around them, and do their best to make others feel seen and valued. Young children begin to develop a sense of empathy through early experiences that encourage them to connect with and relate to others. Educators can help children expand their circles of empathy by reading them stories from a variety of cultures or playing music from diverse populations. It can also be beneficial to invite families to bring in a favorite food from their culture to share with the class. These experiences help children gain exposure to the world outside of themselves, which makes them more open and empathetic to all kinds of people. 
• Communication. An effective leader can communicate well with others and express ideas effectively. Young children are learning communication skills everyday, as they discover new words to express themselves and learn from listening to others. We can support children by engaging them in back-and-forth conversations and using words and descriptive terms that are new to them. 

Benefits of Leadership Skill-development in Young Children

Play-based activities that introduce leadership skills during early childhood are both fun and beneficial for young children. An article from NAEYC’s Young Children (YC) Magazine explains, “The development of leadership skills can have a lasting impact on children. In the short term, children gain communication and collaboration skills. They can also develop relationships with other children and feel that they are a part of the classroom community. Over time, children have opportunities to think of other people’s needs and perspectives as they make decisions and as they advocate for themselves and others…Later in life, these same leadership skills can help children with a range of strengths and needs develop into adults who are empathetic and self-determined. They can become adults who listen to other’s opinions, use their voices to gather and empower others, and consider the impact of decisions on their communities.” 

Early learning programs that incorporate foundational leadership skill development have benefits for children… and for their teachers! As children become more confident in their leadership skills, educators can invite them to participate in classroom responsibilities, such as cleaning up and putting things away. This sense of shared responsibility creates a more joyful and harmonious learning space by building on children’s natural desire to express autonomy and contribute to classroom activities and routines. 

Promoting Leadership Skills in Early Learning Programs

All children have the potential to learn and practice leadership skills. Below are some suggestions for creating an early learning space that invites children to explore, discuss, and develop qualities that build leadership foundations. 

Share books about strong leaders during story time. 

Incorporating stories about influential leaders during your classroom’s story time is a simple and effective way to introduce conversations about leadership and the qualities of good leaders with the children in your care. 

To help you select stories and books to share, you might enjoy this book list from Start Early, which includes a variety of books with leadership themes that young children will enjoy. The list includes popular titles, such as Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss and My First Biography: Martin Luther King, Jr. by Marion Dane Bauer, among others. As you read these stories, talk with children about the different ways the people in the books demonstrate leadership skills like compassion, confidence, and resilience.

Model being a leader.

Young children are social beings who learn from observing and mimicking the grown-ups in their lives. This is why it is important that parents, educators, and care providers model the skills and behaviors that we want our children to develop. We can demonstrate and describe some of the ways that children are becoming classroom leaders through observations such as “I see a piece of trash on the ground and I’m going to throw it away to do my part and keep our classroom clean,” or “I’m going to go around the circle so everyone has a chance to share, because it’s really important to me that no one is left out.” 

Through these experiences, children get to see how strong leaders care for their communities and the people in them. Children will notice and copy these behaviors as they learn to be leaders too! 

Encourage children to participate in classroom decision-making.

Give children opportunities to practice taking on responsibility and leadership roles by inviting them to be part of classroom decisions. For example, you might invite children to vote on which book they would like to read that day, or to make suggestions for classroom rules and expectations. You might also bring up a small problem in the classroom (for example, the markers keep drying out or the toys are not being put away in the right places) and invite children to share ideas about a system or routine to fix the problem. 

These experiences help children practice important leadership skills like negotiating, listening, problem-solving, respecting different opinions, and coming to a shared conclusion. It also gives children a sense of responsibility and a feeling of confidence when they know that their opinion is valued.

Invite children to take responsibility in classroom routines.

Being responsible is an essential quality in a leader. In early learning classrooms, educators and care providers can give children opportunities to practice taking responsibility by inviting them to participate in classroom routines like putting away their nap mats after nap time or hanging up their jackets when they come inside. ​​

When educators encourage children to be independent and take initiative, they communicate the message that the children are capable, which in turn builds their self-confidence and encourages them to take on more responsibilities around the classroom!