How to Lead Recreational Activities

Youth and adult leaders alike are able to lead recreational activities in club settings, project meetings, or other group activities. Recreational activities help in a lot of ways, including helping participants get to know each other, getting youth thinking creatively, helping youth focus their attention and get the wiggles out, and easing transitions. If you want to learn new skills or improve on what you already know about leading activities, this page is for you.

Choose the Right Recreational Activity

The first step to success in leading an activity is to choose one that is a good fit for your group and needs. A few things to consider:

Fit

Think about the group you’re planning for.

What are they interested in?
What are their grade levels? Experience levels with the topic? Ability levels?

Fun

4-H activities should be fun. Always. But they should also to go beyond the DO. Activities should involve:

Time to REFLECT about the activity
Thinking about how the life skills learned may APPLY to other settings

Safe

Is the activity safe? What would be needed to make it safe for your group?

Physically
Psychologically

For All

Is the activity equitable and inclusive for all?
How can older youth be involved in helping to keep younger youth engaged?
What activity choices or adaptations might help you make sure all youth are included?

Check out the Choose the Right Activity handout for more details.

How to Lead an Activity

When leading an activity, it’s important for all participants to understand the instructions. By going through a few simple steps, leaders can make sure everyone enjoys the game:

D—Describe the activity: Provide a short, clear description of the instructions, the goal, the boundaries, and any safety rules the participants need to know about.

D—Demonstrate the activity: Some participants learn by seeing or doing an activity, so showing them what it looks like to do the activity helps them understand.

A—Ask questions (you ask them; they ask you): If you want to check if they understood the instructions, you can ask them questions about how the activity works. Then, ask if they have questions.

D—Do the Activity: Now it’s time to do the activity. Have fun! As the leader, watch what’s happening so you can change a rule if needed. Make sure to stop before the participants get bored, so they will want to play again next time.

A—Ask reflection questions or Adapt (optional): If the participants want to keep playing, you can adapt the game to make it more challenging or to make sure everyone gets to participate equally. If it’s time to stop, ask reflection questions about the participants’ experience, what they learned, and how they can use what they learned in other settings.

Tips for Leading Activities

Lead with enthusiasm—If you’re not excited or having fun, it’s unlikely that the participants will either.
Plan for the setting you’ll be in—Think about things like space, the number of people, how much time you’ll have, etc.
Speak loudly and clearly so everyone can hear—If you have participants with hearing difficulties, think about how to make sure you will be heard.
Practice ahead of time—Even if you know the game or activity well, it can help to practice how you will explain it so others understand.
Mistakes happen—Remind participants that recreational activities are for fun, and that sometimes people make mistakes. Ignore small mistakes and correct bigger mistakes kindly. Then, move on.

Recreational Activity Resources

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