These easy Spirit Week ideas will see you through the days when your kids forget to tell you the day's theme minutes before you run out the door!
Spirit Weeks are great for building community and keeping kids entertained during the weeks leading up to school vacations. But they can be rough on unsuspecting parents. At some point in your kid's school career, you will be forced to buy all the hair accessories at your favorite 24-hour store the night before Crazy Hair Day. It can’t just be me whose kiddo freaked out that her “Anything But a Backpack” wasn’t original enough, can it?
This list of tried and true tips will help you survive even the most last-minute of spirit days. Once they're out the door, take a minute to laugh over these Funny Parenting Memes That Will Make You Feel Seen. And if you had a teacher cool enough to pick easy themes for Spirit Week, you might want to thank them with one of these Teacher Appreciation Gifts They’ll Love.
Spirit Week usually consists of a variety of theme days. These ten are some of the most popular, and I've rounded up my favorite tips from other parents on the easiest ways to tackle these themes without making yourself crazy or spending a ton of money.
1. Crazy Hair Day
The OG of school spirit days, Crazy Hair Day is a classic. Love it or hate it, it seems to be sticking around like a bad perm.
Accessorize!
Simply take every hair accessory in your house and put it in your kid's hair at once. Throw in some extra ribbons or anything else you can stick into hair. (Did you know two Legos work like a crazy barrette?)
Cupcake Buns
If you have cupcake wrappers and elastic bands, you can pull off this easy (yet adorable) hairstyle. See above. So easy, so cute!
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Twist and braid strips of fabric into a million ponytails for Crazy Hair Day.
Crazy Ponytails
What’s sillier than one ponytail? TWO? And you know what’s even crazier? Three! Or four! Or even five ponytails!
Temporary Hair Color
Just mix sidewalk chalk, water, and hair spray for a DIY temporary hair color.
Pipe Cleaners
Weave a few pipe cleaners through a braid or ponytail to add a little fun to even the blandest of hairstyles.
2. Anything But a Backpack Day
As the name suggests, the idea of this theme day is to bring anything but a backpack to transport your gear to and from school. Here are some last-minute ideas to pull off this day with spirit.
Cooler
Any cooler style will do! Better yet, your lunch will stay nice and cool all day.
Toy Dump Truck
Go grab a younger sibs toy truck and fill it with folders and pencil cases.
Stroller
It could be a baby dollstroller or the real thing!
Shoebox
Repurpose an old shoebox for this fun spirit day.
Laundry Basket
Collapsible baskets work best, but any laundry basket will do the trick.
3. Decades Day
Nothing makes me feel older than watching my daughter riffle through my closet to find an outfit for Decades Day. Go find those bell bottoms and Birkenstocks—everything old is new again!
4. Mismatch Day
This is a day to wear all your favorite colors at once. Wear two different socks, two different shoes, and all the different colors, polka dots, and plaids. This might be my favorite easy day.
5. Pajama Day
The laziest (easiest) of all spirit days is Pajama Day. Frankly, you can just roll out of bed into school. So make sure your kids are dressed for the weather. You don't want them overheating or getting cold during the day.
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From Dorothy to Harry Potter, who will you be for Story Book Character Day? Photo by Sara Marentette
6. Book Character Day
Bring your favorite storybook character to life for Book Character Day. Anything from comic books to novels is fair game, so get reading and get creative. These are some characters you probably have everything on hand to dress like.
Nancy Drew
Grab a flashlight, hairband, plaid skirt, and a pair of penny loafers to complete this classic look.
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
Turn a headband into a pair of mouse ears and grab a cookie. Done!
Where’s Waldo
Where’s Waldo? He’s already in your house! You probably have all the items in your closet to complete the look of this classic book character.
Mr. Bump
Wear all blue, and wrap yourself up in bandages. Voila! You are Mr. Bump from the Mr. Men books.
Wednesday Addams
Just wear all black and braid your hair to be our favorite goth girl.
Thing 1 and Thing 2
Grab a red sweatshirt and make your own Thing 1 and Thing 2 signs. Bonus points if you have a blue wig laying around (hey, you never know!), but that's not necessary.
7. School Spirit Day
Celebrate school spirit by dressing up like your school mascot, wearing a school t-shirt, or just wearing your school colors.
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Throw on your favorite school, team, or athlete jersey for Sports Day. Photo by Mommy Poppins
8. Sports Day
You can root for the home team, the high school team, your baseball team, or any sports team that you would like. Just grab a jersey and show off your team pride.
9. Superhero Day
Clark Kent
Stick a Superman logo onto a blue t-shirt, and put it under a white button-down. A pair of glasses will really bring this look to the next level.
Be Your Own Superhero
You are your own hero! Check out these ideas for a little inspiration, then raid your closet and dress-up bin for your own DIY Superhero costume.
Batman
You can wear all black and print out the Batman logo to become the caped crusader.
Incredibles
Put on red pants and a red shirt, and pull over a pair of black gym shorts or bathing suit and you will look Incredible!
10. Inside Out Day
This one is just as easy as it sounds: take whatever you would like to wear and turn it inside out! You can wear one item of clothing or your entire outfit. This is a really easy one to participate in, so the whole school can show its school spirit.
