Think Like an Entrepreneur

Pupils spot a real problem and turn it into a simple idea — the enterprise mindset, in 40 minutes.

✓ No prep — read it and go ⏱ 40 minutes 🎒 Just paper & pencils 👧 Y1–Y6 📅 Global Entrepreneurship Week · 16–22 Nov

Curriculum links

Now Current curriculum

PSHE · economic wellbeing & aspirations Enterprise education Oracy · speaking & listening

2028 Ready for the reformed curriculum

Primary oracy framework Applied life skills · financial & transferable Core enrichment entitlement · wider life skills Primary citizenship · civic engagement

Aligned to the reformed National Curriculum (first teaching September 2028), per the Curriculum & Assessment Review final report, Nov 2025.

Before you start — 1 minute

Put pupils in pairs or threes. Each group needs one sheet of paper and something to draw with. Nothing to print, nothing to prepare.

The lesson

5 min

Hook — what bugs us?

As a class, list things that are a bit annoying in school or at home — the lid that won't stay on, the wobbly peg, the boring walk to school.

Every business in the world started because someone noticed a problem and thought, “I could fix that.” Today, that someone is you.

20 min

Invent it

Each group picks one problem and designs something to solve it — a gadget, an app, a service. On their sheet they draw it, give it a name, and decide what it would cost.

Three prompts on the board: What is it? Who is it for? Why is it better?

You don't need a perfect idea — you need a good-enough idea you can explain. Make it real on the page.

10 min

Pitch it — mini Dragons' Den

Each group has 20 seconds to pitch: name, what it does, the price. After each one, the class gives a silent thumbs-up if they'd “buy” it.

A great idea is no use if you can't tell people about it. Sell it to us in one breath.

5 min

Reflect & send home

Quick close: “Entrepreneurs aren't born — they practise noticing problems.” Ask pupils to spot one problem at home tonight and bring back an idea tomorrow.

Make it fit your class

Younger (Y1–2): skip the price — just “draw the thing that fixes it” and name it. Older (Y5–6): add a 30-second advert or a quick “would you invest?” class vote with reasons.

Where this leads — the Skills Passport

This free lesson is the taster. In the Skills Passport, “Think Like an Entrepreneur” grows every year — pupils build on it, they never just repeat it:

Business ideas · costs & profit

Market research · Dragons' Den

Business plans · social enterprise

Start-up simulation · scaling (built & live)

Explore the Skills Passport → Today's lesson plants the idea · the Passport carries it across Y3–Y6 · the Think Like an Entrepreneur workshop brings it to life.

Take it further

🏠 Send home to familiesA matching at-home idea for parents to try over the week. 🎟 Want the full day?Our Think Like an Entrepreneur workshop — book your GEW slot online.