How to Organize Team Spirit Activities

All coaches, teachers and principals want their schools to have team spirit. But talking about it at games and rallies is only a part of the inspiration. Planning fun and interesting activities in which everyone can join inspires not just sports spirit, but true school spirit. Organize some "spirited" projects and conquer apathy.

Instructions

1. Organize dress-up days. Start with school colors or patriotic day and go on to more elaborate themes like '60s day (or '70s, '80s or '90s day) comic book hero or villain day or space alien day. To encourage participation, judge outfits and give out prizes.

2. Enlist artistic students to help with a face-painting day (best done the day of a game or event). Set up booths around the building or campus where people can go to get their faces painted with school colors, the school mascot or other spirit-themed pictures. Have participants choose from a predetermined list that the painters have practiced and can do quickly.

3. Hold unusual contests. Classes compete to write and perform the best spirit-themed skit or song, paint the best mural (on butcher paper), arrange the best human picture (a tableau in costume) or decorate a door or hallway.

4. Have hallway races during lunch period. Use scooters, tricycles, chairs with wheels or shopping carts (borrowed with permission from a local market) with one student pushing and one riding (switch places on the way back). Try funny relay races--for example, an orange held under the chin, a spoon stuck to the nose or other ideas from students.

5. Sponsor a lunch period fashion show at the beginning of the school year, before the prom or near graduation, featuring students wearing a number of attractive styles. The idea is to demonstrate what is appropriate dress, but done in a positive way. There are plenty of options within the bounds of the dress code.

6. Ask students for their team spirit ideas. Choose the best ones and help the students who thought up the idea to organize it.

Tips & Warnings

• A good time for team spirit activities is on regularly scheduled "spirit" days. This will give you maximum exposure and participation.

• Engage as much help from as many sources as you can. This way you don't have to do as much and someone who would not ordinarily help organize activities gets to join in.

• Supervise all team spirit activities carefully to make sure everyone has fun, no one gets hurt and everything is done by school rules.