All Activities
History

Who Was in Charge?

Overview

Children explore how different societies in the past were led and what powers their leaders had.

Learning Objective
Children understand that societies have always had leaders and can compare different types of leadership in history.

Resources needed

  • None

Lesson stages

0 / 7 done
  1. 1 Ask: who is in charge of your school? Your community? Your country?
  2. 2 Ask: was it always the same person or type of person in charge?
  3. 3 Introduce different types of historical leadership: kings and queens, chiefs, councils, emperors.
  4. 4 Describe how one historical leader came to power — birth, election, conquest, or appointment.
  5. 5 Ask: was it fair that they were in charge? How was it decided?
  6. 6 Compare: how is leadership decided today versus in the past?
  7. 7 Ask: what makes a leader good or bad? Can you give a historical example?

Tap a step to mark it as done.

Variations

  • Focus on a locally relevant historical leader.
  • Compare a historical king with a modern elected leader.
  • Hot seat: a child plays a historical leader and others ask questions.
More information

Teach: ruler, leader, king, queen, chief, emperor, power, govern, decision. A simple who/how/why framework: who was in charge, how did they get power, why did people follow them?

Focus on the concept of leadership rather than specific historical figures if local knowledge is limited.

Can children name two different types of historical leader? Can they explain one way past leadership differed from today?

No resources needed. Entirely discussion-based using teacher knowledge and children's own experience of authority.

Children often think kings and queens were universal — introduce the idea that many societies were led very differently, including through councils and community decisions.

Understanding different forms of historical governance builds political literacy and challenges the assumption that current democratic systems are the only or inevitable form of organisation.

Activity details
Primary Easy 20 minutes no prep Whole Class, Small Group Indoor & Outdoor
Topics
Leadership Rulers Government