Pep rallies, or any whole-school event that aims to build school spirit, are all about the way you engage students and staff. They bring students together to have fun. Include traditional activities like having a cheer-o-meter, quick Minute To Win It activities, and ongoing competitions to increase participation. Here are our favorite pep rally games and ideas for your next whole-school spirit event.
Pep Rally Traditions
These activities aren’t games, per se, but they are great ways to get students and staff jazzed about an upcoming pep rally.
Cheer-o-Meter
To create a cheer-o-meter, divide students into sections and assign point values to different levels of cheering. Encourage each section to cheer as loudly as they can. Have one teacher record who cheered the loudest, or if you have it, use a decibel reader to get the official numbers. Start the cheer-o-meter at the beginning of the year and incorporate it into every pep rally.
Photo Booth
Have your school mascot stand in a photo booth or in front of a school flag, ready for selfies. Have each class stop and take their photo as they enter the pep rally, or leave the photo area up for the day.
School Decoration Challenge
Get students fired up for the pep rally by creating a class float or class wall. Students can change their decorations based on the theme. Then the school itself will feel like a warm-up to the pep rally.
Class Floats
Kick off the year or season with a float from each class. As students enter the gym or pep rally space, they can bring their float along. Challenge students to create floats that align with the school values, mascot, or another theme.
Day of Service
Participating in a school-wide day of service before the pep rally can be an awesome way to raise school spirit while doing some good at the same time. Students can start a painting project, clean up around the school, or even help teachers clean out their classrooms.
“Minute To Win It” Pep Rally Games
These timed challenges are just so fun and a great way to include every student in a fun and engaging way. Kick off a pep rally with a few Minute To Win It pep rally games and keep tally of which classes win so you have a Minute To Win It champion at the end of the year.
Balloon Pop
Put letters that spell out your school’s cheer or song into balloons. Students have a minute to pop the balloons and use the letters to spell out the phrase. Students can work individually or in teams.
Head, Shoulders, Knees, Cup
Perform the command called out by touching the appropriate body part, but be ready to grab the cup before your opponent when “Cup!” is yelled.
Toilet Paper Mummy
This game works especially well around Halloween, but it can be played anytime (make it a winter game by adding a carrot and top hat and the mummy becomes a snowman). Students work as a team to mummify a classmate with TP. You can include the audience during this activity by having them vote on the best mummy.
Make a Snake
Have students form single lines while reaching their right hand through their legs for the person behind them to grab. Then, the front student walks backward, and the other students follow, creating a snake effect. The students then go the other way, and the team with all members standing the fastest wins.
Blindfolded Stack the Cups
Provide each student or team with the same number of plastic cups. Students stack cups in a pyramid, and then unstack them into a tower. The fastest team wins. For an extra team-building challenge, blindfold one student on each team while playing.
Tic Tac Tweezer
Each player has two bins in front of them. One bin is filled with Tic Tac candies (or something else that’s small) and the other bin is empty. Using tweezers, the student that moves the most Tic Tacs from the full bin to the empty one in 60 seconds wins.
Elephant March
Put a tennis ball in the leg of a pair of pantyhose. Students put the pantyhose over their head and have to use the tennis ball to knock down a water bottle or a line of water bottles in a minute or less.
Musical Chairs
Musical chairs isn’t just for little kids’ birthday parties, so why not give it a go at your next pep rally? We especially love the idea of playing with both staff and students.
Learn more: 50 Minute-to-Win-It Games
Relay Pep Rally Games
Include some relay race games at your next pep rally for students to engage in a little friendly competition.
Sweep the Potato
Students use a broom to sweep a potato from one side of the gym to the other. The student who gets the potato the farthest wins. It’s harder than it sounds!
Relay Race Limbo
Limbo isn’t just for parties. Create teams of students from a grade or class, and have them compete in a relay and limbo. The team that goes the lowest wins. (Note: Let students know about this activity ahead of time so they can dress in limbo-appropriate clothing.)
Dizzy Bat Race
Students take turns spinning around a baseball bat and running to and from a cone in this traditional relay race. Make sure you have someone at the start to count the number of times each participant runs around the bat so it’s fair.
Sack Race
Sack races are a classic for a reason since they are both fun and hilarious. Break into teams and see which team can get all their teammates down and back the fastest. But be careful not to wipe out!
Toilet Plunger Relay Race
Who knew toilet plungers could be so entertaining? Students use two plungers and a scooter to make it to the finish line in this relay-style game.
Obstacle Course
Set up an obstacle course relay race for students from each grade to participate in. The crowd will undoubtedly be cheering their friends on!
Tricycle Races
Set up a tricycle obstacle course with cones and painter’s tape. Then, have teachers and school leaders compete to complete the obstacle course on tricycles. Decorate the tricycles ahead of time with streamers and banners for more school spirit.
Balloon Relay
In this pep rally game, students run with a balloon between their knees. If the balloon pops, they have to go back to the start.
Hands and Feet Hopscotch
This awesome take on hopscotch is reminiscent of Twister. You can create your own board pieces and rearrange the tiles for a fun and engaging pep rally game. Have students go through the hopscotch one at a time. If they fall, they start over. The first team to move everyone through wins.
School Spirit Pep Rally Activities
Pep rallies are all about amping up the energy. Use these games to get students riled up, in a good way.
Foam Noodles Entrance
Teachers hold pool noodles above their heads so students can run through a tunnel of foam noodles. Classmates cheer on each arriving class. Make sure you have upbeat music playing!
“Pie Your Teacher” Raffle
Students can earn the opportunity to pie a teacher. It’s all in good fun and a great incentive to build excitement in advance of the rally.
Glow Party
Set up a black light and tons of glow-in-the-dark items for a fun and glowy pep rally. You can even have students wear different-colored neon shirts to enhance the glow effect.
Lip-Synch Battle
Pick a theme for the pep rally, such as “Circus,” and have different grades compete in a theme-related lip-synch battle. This creative idea allows students of all abilities to participate and feel included.
Themed Dance-Off
This is for the students who won’t stop dancing. Have a theme (Disney songs, 1950s music, rock and roll) and have students participate in a dance-off. The dancers with the loudest cheers (see cheer-o-meter, above) win.
Holiday-Themed Rally
Especially if you have a pep rally each quarter or semester, work in a theme, like this Halloween-themed rally.
School Mascot Skit
Involve your school mascot at every opportunity, including having them perform a skit.
Banner Competition
Bring in different school departments by having students design banners that celebrate the school cafeteria staff, the English department, sports, and more.
Bobbleheads
Create bobbleheads of your school leadership team by printing super-enlarged photos of their heads. Cut them out, glue onto foam core board, and attach a stick. Once you have your bobblehead admin, you can use them in dance competitions and games.
Yearbook Reveal
When it’s time to reveal the school yearbook, or any anticipated school product, reveal it during the pep rally with an unboxing, or have the band play while the yearbook is paraded around on a velvet pillow for all to admire.
Team Games
In a pep rally, a team can be comprised of students from a class or grade level. These team pep rally games get kids up and moving, strengthen relationships, and create class memories.
Team Sport Swap
Have the teams of various sports come onto the court or field and then have them swap sports with another team. For example, have the football players try cheerleading, the wrestling team try soccer, etc. If you have a pool, have the synchronized swimmers switch with the water polo team.
Human Hungry Hungry Hippos
This is the life-size version of the popular game Hungry Hungry Hippos. See who can scoop up the most balls in their laundry basket while acting as a hippo!
Keep the Balloon Up
Simple but fun, students keep the balloon in the air without using their hands. Students work in teams to avoid dropping the balloon.
Hula-Hoop Pass
Students stand in a line holding hands. The first student passes a Hula-Hoop to the next student without breaking the chain of hands. The first team to pass the Hula-Hoop from the first to last person is the winner.
Four-Team Tug-of-War
A new take on the classic pep rally game, this tug-of-war game features four teams. After the timer goes off, whichever team is farthest from the middle wins. More players + more directions = more fun!
Seated Basketball Game
This game requires participants to play a version of basketball while sitting in chairs around the room. The “hoops” are two laundry baskets held by students. Watch as the chaos unfolds! This would be great for a small pep rally where everyone can pull their chairs into the center of the room and play.
Human Foosball
All you need for this game is some PVC pipe and a ball. Participants act as the players in a game of foosball and try to score points for their team.
Human Knot
The Human Knot is traditionally an icebreaker game but would also work really well for some school bonding. Participants stand in a circle and reach out, grabbing others’ hands. The challenge is to untangle the knot without letting go of any hands.
Learn more: 20 Active Icebreaker Activities
Team Scavenger Hunt
Pep rally activities that get everyone involved while having different grades and faculty compete against each other are some of the best! Have a representative from each grade and faculty department come to the center of the gym or field, and then yell out something they have to go and find (example: a piece of homemade jewelry). The crowd will have fun being included because they just might be in possession of the treasured item!
Human Battleship
Play Battleship with people instead of ships. Divide the gym into a grid with numbered squares. One student stands on the grid (or more than one student, depending on how much time you have). Hide the space from other students so they can’t see where the student is standing. Students call out coordinates or numbered squares until they “sink” all the “ships.”
Javelin Throw
Create a javelin toss by taping pool noodles into circles and taping the circles together. Hang the pool noodle targets. Then, students stand back and heave a pool noodle javelin through the rings.
Bowling
To turn bowling into a pep rally game, you need to make pep rally–size pins. Turn two-liter bottles into bowling “pins” by painting them in your school colors. Then, students use a kickball to knock down as many pins as they can. Have multiple games going on at one time and staff keeping score so students can cheer their teams on.
Non-Physical Pep Rally Activities and Games
Get students who are artistic, musical, and who know all-the-things involved with these games.
Blindfolded Connect 4
Students will love this new take on a childhood favorite. Have one student guide the blindfolded participants to complete a game of Connect 4.
Themed Bingo
Bingo is such a crowd-pleaser, and you can create boards with fun themes such as school spirit or an upcoming holiday. Students will be engaged and excited to win prizes!
Paper Airplane Toss
Have students create paper airplanes with their names on them and then try to toss them into trash cans in the center of the gym. Fun, inexpensive, and so easy!
Trivia
Challenge students to trivia. Have each grade level or class send a representative and ask them trivia questions. This is a great pep rally activity because you can adjust it for the time of year or theme.
Learn more: 100 Trivia Questions for Kids in All Grade Levels
Guess the Song
Play a short snippet of popular songs and have students guess the titles. Students can earn points for their grade level or class. You can even customize this activity by theme with holiday songs or songs about friendship.
Learn more: 100 Fantastic Songs About Friendship
Art Competition
Choose teams of four people from each grade level. Give each team a box of art materials (make sure each box has the same supplies). Each team has five minutes to create the best spirit display.
Marshmallow Tower Challenge
Provide students with toothpicks and mini marshmallows and challenge them to build the tallest tower they can in a set time limit (e.g., five or seven minutes).