School spirit week is a fun time for everyone to come together and show off their pride. Themed dress-up spirit days are popular favorites, but they’re really just the start. The whole idea behind spirit week is to help students feel closer to one another and part of a larger whole. These spirit week ideas really help create a sense of camaraderie and community between students and staff. Find spirit day ideas for schools and students of every age.
Plus be sure to grab our free, editable spirit week flyers by filling out the form on this page.
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First, a word of caution:
Some themes that we grew up with may have felt fun and silly, but chances are there were students who just didn’t appreciate them. And though these themes felt harmless enough, when we look at them through the lens of today’s world, many of them were actually inappropriate and/or exclusionary. Spirit week is all about promoting a sense of belonging, so make sure you are sensitive to this issue and look for more appropriate examples and better choices. Below are some great ideas. Plus check out this list of theme days to avoid.
High School Spirit Week Ideas
Some teens love dressing up for spirit days, while others don’t really get into it. That’s why it’s important to include a wide variety of options in your high school spirit days. Try some of these unique community-building ideas to get everyone involved.
School History Day
Try this one for part of your school’s homecoming spirit week ideas. Take a look back through old yearbooks and other memorabilia to find inspiring moments from your school’s history. Invite alumni to come talk to students, make a slideshow of old homecoming games or other events to show during morning announcements, and dig up any old school apparel you can find. This is a really neat way to show students that their time in your school is part of a long continuum of learning.
Day Without Hate
Teacher Christine D. works in Jeffco, Colorado, home of Columbine HS. She shared this special Day Without Hate idea: “Every student and staff member was given a bag of pieces of yarn, long enough to tie on a wrist. As you tied it on [to a fellow student or staff member], you said something nice to let them know why you were honoring them. Some kids would wear them for weeks. We encouraged kids to think beyond their normal circle of friends, and as staff members, we looked for kids who didn’t have many and made sure we got them some as well.”
Rival School Surprise
Spread kindness and positivity to your rival school. Surprise them by decorating their sidewalks or hanging posters with positive messages during the evening or over a weekend. This is also fun to do as an intra-district activity—high schoolers can decorate a feeder elementary school, for example.
Photo Booths
These are popular for back-to-school and the last day of school, but bring them out during spirit week too. Encourage different classes to design their own booth celebrating school spirit, then have an hour or two when everyone can visit, take photos, and post to social media (with permission, of course).
Community Service Day
Service to others is an important part of learning, so take one day during your spirit week to go out into the community and do some good. Clean up a local park, visit a nursing home, spend some time at a food pantry—the opportunities are endless.
Staff Thank-You Notes
Spend some time recognizing the staff, teachers, and admin at your school. Encourage every student to write at least one letter, and don’t forget the unsung heroes like custodians and cafeteria staff!
Recycled Fashion Show
Inspire future fashion designers in your school to show their stuff. Challenge students to create school spirit outfits using only recycled materials, either brought in from home or collected around school. Hold a fashion show on the Friday of spirit week.
Art Show
Put together a curated collection of your students’ artwork, whether it’s been created at school or at home. Give everyone time during the school day to visit the “exhibits,” and let the artists stand by to answer questions about their work. (Consider adding a section for teacher-created artwork too.)
Picnic Lunch
For one day only, have everyone eat lunch outside—at the same time! It will be crazy chaos, but students can mix and mingle, getting to know one another outside of the classroom. This is especially important for kids who don’t get to participate in after-school activities on a regular basis.
Book Club
Encourage every student and teacher to read the same book, then host discussions and activities in various classes relating to the title. This is cross-curriculum learning in the best of ways!
Diversity Day
School pride brings you all together, but each student has their own family and culture. Share traditions, celebrations, music, and other ways that demonstrate your school’s exciting diversity.
Restaurant Fundraiser Day
Since everyone’s already dressed in their spirit wear anyway, this is the perfect time to show it off at a local restaurant fundraiser day. Here are 50+ chain restaurants that are happy to partner with schools for these events.
Outdoor Learning Day
Today’s kids spend less time in the great outdoors than ever before. So, set aside a day that’s all about outside learning! Give teachers plenty of advance notice so they can plan activities that take advantage of time outside. (Be sure to set a rain date in case the weather doesn’t cooperate, and have plenty of sunscreen on hand if it does.)
Unity Wall or School Mural
Whatever design you choose, make sure every single student gets to paint at least a few strokes. Give them a sense of ownership and pride, along with an inspiring message to read when they walk by. Get lots of terrific school mural ideas here.
Social Media Blitz
Older students will enjoy this one. Create a hashtag and encourage students to use it to share their pride on social media. It’s such a fun way to get the community to see the positive side of your school and students.
Pep Rally
Pep rallies, or any whole-school event that aims to build school spirit, are all about the way you engage students and staff. It’s not just about football players and cheerleaders like it used to be. It’s about everyone in the school coming together to celebrate being part of an inclusive, supportive school environment. To help you brainstorm ideas, check out our roundup of 51 Pep Rally Activities.
Charity Spirit Day
Urge each grade to choose a charity they’d like to raise money for. On the designated day, students dress to support their cause and plan informative activities. Then, students and staff donate money to the cause (or causes) they prefer.
Senior Spirit Week Ideas
Celebrate graduating seniors with some of these fun senior spirit ideas.
- Kindergarten Fashion Day: Fashions change in 12 years! Have seniors dress in the clothing that was in fashion when they started school. Bonus points if they can replicate their own first-day-of-school outfit.
- Walking Yearbook Day: Dress in a white shirt that other senior friends can sign using fabric markers or Sharpies.
- Autograph Wall Day: Choose a wall in a central location and paint it white. Give kids permanent markers or paint pens and let them sign and decorate their own portion of the wall. Leave it up for the entire next school year (or longer, if you have the space).
- School Pride Day: Gather up all your school gear and see who can show off the most school spirit.
- Class Colors Day: Many graduating classes choose their own colors, so take a day to show them off.
- Cap and Gown Day: Don’t limit these clothes to one moment on a stage! Wear them to school for a day too. (This can also be a fun day to have a cap-decorating contest.)
- Role Model Day: Dress as the person who has most inspired you throughout your school days.
- Dress Up Your Locker Day: Let seniors dress up their locker doors. Turn it into a contest with fun prizes.
- Early Release or Sleep In Day: Let all seniors sleep late and miss first period, or leave 20 minutes early at the end of the day.
- Deck the Halls: Give seniors a class period to make posters and banners, then decorate the school halls any way they like.
Middle School Spirit Week Ideas
Middle school can be a rough time for kids as they adjust to all sorts of changes. This is an important time to encourage kids to be kind (to themselves and one another) and remember they’re all part of a bigger community. These ideas are terrific for spirit days for tweens.
Collaborative Art Project
Create a piece of art that represents your entire school. We’ve got a whole roundup of collaborative art projects to try here.
Dance Party
Make this day all about music, movement, and fun. Play music during class change time, so kids can dance their way down the hallways. Pop into each classroom randomly and play a song for students to dance to. (Record a clip from each and share them with everyone at the end of the day.) Or just get everyone together for a big old dance jam to kick off the day or end it with a smile.
STEM Day
Make this day’s learning all about STEM. Hold a science fair, conduct school-wide STEM challenges, learn about important STEM contributors, and more.
Random Acts of Kindness Day
Of course you want kids to be kind to each other every day. But set aside one day and encourage them to rack up as many acts of kindness as they can, especially for those they might not usually think of. Document the acts when you can, and share photos to your school’s social media or website.
Spirit Bracelets
Make or buy school spirit bracelets and give one to every student. This can be a fun craft project for middle school classrooms—there are tons of terrific beaded and woven designs out there to try.
Spirit Tees
Fresh swag can help build community and pride. Check out our roundup of 10 of the most popular vendors that sell spirit shirts for schools.
Hobby Day
Give students a chance to learn a new hobby. Ask for staff or parent volunteers to lead sessions on their favorite hobby, and let students sign up for the ones that interest them.
Lunchroom Karaoke
Celebrate spirit week with some feel-good kid-powered music. Set up a karaoke stage in your lunchroom and, if possible, load your school’s fight song and other songs with positive, pump-up-the-jam messages.
Sidewalk Chalk Display
Set aside part of the sidewalk for every class, and let them chalk up their own colorful displays of pride.
Favorite Subject Day
Dress to represent the subject you most enjoy. And yes, PE counts!
Talent Show
This is a fun way to wrap up a successful spirit week. Put together a school talent show, and encourage both students and faculty to participate. Be sure to hold it during school hours so all students are able to take part.
No-Screens Day
Plan a whole day of learning with no laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, or other devices. Remind students that the world is full of unique ways to learn. (Be sure to get teacher buy-in before you try this one, and offer assistance in planning as needed.)
Career Day
Tap into your students’ hopes and dreams and invite them to come to school dressed as what they’d like to be in the future. Keep it real and ask students to think along the lines of doctor, teacher, engineer, etc., not superhero, movie character, etc.
Elementary School Spirit Week Ideas
At this age, kids are eager to dress up and embrace something new. Take advantage of it with lots of exciting dress-up spirit days, as well as these other fun ideas.
High-Five Friyay
Staff members greet kids in the morning (at car line, buses, and in the hallways) with foam hands. Kids can give high fives if they choose. They also spotlight different staff members (or groups) with “high five” social media posts.
School Paper Chain
Give each student a strip of paper to decorate, including their name. Then, have each one attach theirs to the chain in turn. Hang the results in a hallway where kids can see it daily and be reminded that they’re all connected.
Light It Up Day
Pass out glow sticks and jewelry, decorate the hallways and classrooms with string lights, and give your school a general glow-up! Get more cool glow-up day ideas here.
Camp Day
Inside or out, set up tents and invite students to gather ’round for campfire songs and stories. Play some of these old-school recess games, and enjoy camping treats like hot dogs and s’mores.
School Birthday Party
Hold a birthday party to celebrate your school’s founding. Decorate the halls or classrooms, give out balloons or party hats, and hand out cake (or healthy snacks). Gather everyone together to sing “Happy Birthday,” then share a video of your celebration on social media.
Kindness Rocks
This is one of our favorite school spirit week ideas, and it makes a terrific collaborative art project too. Each student decorates their own painted rock to add to the pile, sharing their school spirit or a message of hope and kindness for others. Learn more about the Kindness Rocks Project here.
Wear a Mask Day
Give kids blank masks (paper plates work well too) and have them decorate them however they like. Then, choose a day for everyone to wear their masks to school. This can be a surprisingly empowering activity.
Words of Kindness Day
It’s always cool to be kind, but make one day a true celebration of kindness. Have kids write compliments or kind words on sticky notes and put them on other kids’ desks, lockers, and backpacks throughout the day. They can do this anonymously or sign their names. Encourage them to especially seek out students outside their own friend groups.
Family Community Picnic Day
Have a big picnic lunch outdoors, with music and games. Students can invite their families or other people who are important to them to join in the fun.
Spirit Stick
Craft your own special school spirit stick, then award it regularly to a student, teacher, or class that shows off their pride in special ways. Switch it up each day during spirit week, then give it to a new recipient each week after that.
Preschool Spirit Week Ideas
Show the littlest learners what school pride is all about. These spirit days are perfect for the pre-K crowd.
Favorite Animal Day
Have kids dress up as their favorite animal and spend the day acting like it too. Have each child share some of their favorite facts about their animal with the rest of the class.
Trike-a-Thon (or any “athon”)
Raise money for charity by participating in St. Jude’s Trike-a-Thon event. Or choose any activity (try to make sure it’s inclusive) students can do for a sustained period of time, and raise money for a local organization. Examples: read-athon, sing-athon, rhyme-athon (talk only in rhymes), dance-athon, etc.
Dr. Seuss Day
Dress up like a Dr. Seuss character, and spend the day reading everyone’s favorite books by this popular author. If you can, have green eggs and ham for lunch!
Stuffed Animal Day
Every kid has a favorite stuffie. On this day, have students bring them to school and let them “participate” in all your daily activities.
Letter Spirit Days
As you learn the letters of the alphabet, dedicate one day to each. For instance, on “A” day, kids might wear aqua or animal prints. Serve apples for a snack, and color pictures of alligators and airplanes. This is a neat way to foster spirit while kids learn.
Baby Picture Day
Ask each student to bring in a baby picture. Gather your students on the rug, and one by one, show a picture and give students three chances to guess who it is. This is such a fun activity! Even though preschoolers are barely out of the baby stage, this activity reminds them how much they can change in just a short time. As a follow-up, ask students to draw a picture of what they think they’ll look like when they’re in high school.
Spirit Week Competition Ideas
A little friendly competition can really motivate students to show their spirit. Be sure to recognize all contributions, no matter who the winner may be.
School or Class Cheer
Hold a contest for the best school or class cheer so that years from now, it will still pop into the heads of alumni and remind them of the good times they had at your school.
Door or Hallway Decorating Contest
These are always popular! For middle or high school, assign each graduating class a hallway to decorate to show off their school pride. For elementary, focus on classroom doors instead.
Students vs. Faculty
It’s always fun to watch students try to beat faculty at pretty much anything. Make it a kickball game, relay race, or even a trivia contest.
School T-Shirt
Have students submit their designs on paper. Hang them on a bulletin board in the hallway where kids can vote for their favorite designs. Then turn the winner (or winners) into shirts you can sell at a fundraiser.
Entrance Song
Hold a contest to choose a song to play any time your school’s team enters the room or field. It’s also fun to do these by grade for pep rallies and assemblies.
School Pride Poster Contest
Create posters to encourage school spirit and a sense of community. Hang them in the hallways, and award prizes to the best.
Spirit Fashion Show
Dress up and show off your moves on the catwalk. Students and teachers can vote for their favorite displays of school pride.
Scavenger Hunt
Create an epic scavenger hunt around your school and its grounds. Let students compete in teams to find all the spots, and offer prizes to the first finishers. (Or place all finishers’ names into a drawing, and pull randomly to award prizes instead.)
Design-a-Mask
Challenge students to come up with a design for a mask that celebrates school spirit. If you have the funds, work with a local print shop to get the winning masks made, and sell them to raise money for your school.
Essay Contest
Set a topic like “Why I Love My School” or “My School Makes Me Proud Because …” and hold a contest. Read the winners out loud at an assembly or send them home in a newsletter.
Color War
This is really more about having fun than getting competitive, but kids relish the chance to run around flinging colored powder at each other! If you want a more competitive version, try adding colored powder to a traditional game of Capture the Flag.
Field Day
Get the whole school together for a day of friendly competitions. Check out our list of inclusive field day games and activities for all ages here.
Music Video
Challenge students to create a video for your school song, or any song that expresses their pride in being part of your learning community. Share the videos school-wide, and have kids vote for their favorites.
Class Dance
Hold a contest to find the best dance moves for each class to perform during pep rallies and assemblies. These could be to the school song or another tune that students choose.
School Trivia Contest
Create your own school trivia quiz on Kahoot, then hold a school-wide trivia competition to see who really knows their school.
Battle of the Classes
Award points to each grade or class based on their participation in each spirit event. Give one point for every student who participates in an activity and extra points for those who really step up their game. At the end of the week, recognize the winners as school champions!
50+ Spirit Day Dress-Up Themes
For some, this is the best part of spirit week. Just remember that not all kids feel comfortable participating or have parents at home to help them out, so choose your themes carefully.
- Adam Sandler Spirit Day (dress like a character from your favorite Adam Sandler movie)
- Anything But a Backpack Day
- Beach Day
- Blackout or Whiteout Day (dress in all black or all white)
- Blast From the Past Day (wear clothes from a historical era)
- Book Character Day
- Career Spirit Day
- Celebrity Spirit Day
- College Wear Day
- Comic Book Day
- Crazy Weather Day (dress for blizzards, hurricanes, etc.)
- Decade Spirit Day (’50s Day, ’70s Day, ’90s Day, etc.)
- Disney Character Spirit Day
- Duo Day (famous duos like Bert and Ernie, ketchup and mustard, etc.)
- Fandom Day (celebrate whatever you’re a fan of)
- Favorite Animal Day
- Favorite Color Day
- Formal Day
- Future Me Day
- Game Day (dress to represent your favorite board or video game)
- Grade Level Day (assign a color to each grade)
- Hat Day
- Historical Figure Day
- Holiday Day (wear clothes that represent your favorite holiday)
- Mascot Day (dress as your school’s mascot)
- Medieval Day
- Meme Spirit Day
- Mismatch or Inside-Out Day
- Music Day (wear gear from your favorite band/performer)
- Mythology Day
- Paint Your Face Day
- Rainbow Day
- Robot Day
- Pajama Day
- Patriotic Day
- School Colors Day
- Sports Fan Day
- Surfer Spirit Day
- Superheroes and Villains Day
- Sunglasses Day
- Team Jersey Day
- Throwback Spirit Day
- Tie-Dye Day
- Tourist Spirit Day
- TV/Movie Character Spirit Day
- Ugly Sweater Day
- Under the Sea Day
- Wacky Socks Day
- Western Day
- Zoom Day (business on top, casual on the bottom!)
Get These Spirit Week Editable Flyers!
Once you select your spirit week ideas, check out our free editable templates by filling out the form on this page. All you need to do is customize them with your own text and download them. Then you can print, email, or post on social media to promote your events.