Spirit Week Theme Day Ideas

Having worked at a middle/high school for a few years now I’ve experienced a bunch of Spirit Weeks and they can be pretty fun! I thought I’d share a list of some of the favorite Theme Days I’ve seen or have heard about from others - some are quite creative and ridiculous. I will continue to add to this list as I come across more fun ideas. Disclaimer: always make sure you check with your school/administration for any parameters or rules for Spirit Week Themes as every school will have different expectations as to what’s acceptable or not.
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Class Color Day

This is a classic theme day - every grade or classroom gets assigned a color and kids from that group are encouraged to wear that color. Some people get really into it with head-to-toe color-coordinated outfits and even face paint or temporary hair color!

Wacky Hair Day

For Wacky Hair Day kids are encouraged to wear their hair wacky! Side ponytails, mowhawks, temporary hair paint/color, crazy wigs, etc - and some kids even go all out with a crazy hair cut (with parents' permission/help of course).

Halloween in (Whatever Month You’re In) / Costume Day

This is a chance to bust out those Halloween costumes, dress up, and have Halloween in March (or whatever month you’re doing Spirit Week). Giving out some candy/trick or treating in the school might be a fun addition too. Just make sure those costumes are school appropriate!

Superhero Day

Dress up as your favorite Superhero! Kids can wear store bought costumes or easily make their own with some paper emblems taped to their shirts or homemade masks/capes.

Circle of Life Day

For this day each class is assigned a period of life… for example Freshman dress as babies, Sophomores as college years, Juniors as midlife crisis, and Seniors as senior citizens - of course.

Beach Day

For this one wear your beach-inspired items - think floral print shirts/outfits, shorts, tank tops, sandals, sun hats. Throw a towel over your shoulder or grab a beach ball to complete the look. Adding a flower lei necklace is an easy way to achieve Beach Day status.

Tourist Day

Tourist Day attire is usually very similar to Beach Day attire, but usually with the addition of a map, cameras or binoculars, and tall socks with sandals.

Anything But a Backpack Day

This one is always a favorite in our school - the idea is instead of bringing a backpack to carry your stuff, you bring just about anything else (a laundry basket, a microwave, a shopping cart, etc). Check out our dedicated blog post on Anything But a Backpack Day for more ideas!

Career Day

Career Day is a chance for kids to dress up as what they might want to be in a future career. Doctors, teachers, lawyers, electrician, plumber, race car driver, business owner, etc. This can be an easy one to put together from home with either nice or work clothes and a few accessories (a clipboard, a small toolbox, etc.).

Historical Figures Day

This can be a chance make a spirit day a bit educational as well as fun if kids need to provide a fact about their historical figure in addition to dressing up. Kids could pick figures from world history long ago (Julius Caesar, for example), our national history (ex. George Washington or Betsy Ross), or more recent history (ex. Steve Jobs or Sally Ride).

Little White Lie Day

For this day you write a school-appropriate “little white lie” on a white t-shirt (or a white piece of paper taped to your shirt). They’re typically sarcastic ones like “I’ve never been late to class” or “I always do my homework.” And if you’re not into poking a little fun at yourself you could do something easy and neutral such as “This shirt is blue” (but it’s actually a green shirt), etc.

Ugly Sweater Day / Festive Sweater Day

This is always such a fun one, especially around the holidays! Everyone is encouraged to make or wear an ugly/tacky sweater or a festive sweater. If you make your own sweater it's a chance to get creative and repurpose an old sweatshirt or sweater and add your own fun twist to it - think rickrack, pom poms, old ornaments (just make sure they aren't breakable!), etc. - Don't forget to use a glue gun to make decorating your sweater easy!

There are also tons of options available online if you want to buy a tacky sweater - just make sure it's school appropriate and not offensive.

BBQ Dads & Soccer Moms

On this day it’s encouraged to dress up as the stereotypical “BBQ Dad” or “Soccer Mom” - kids had a lot of fun with this one and some girls dressed up as BBQ Dads and some boys dressed up as Soccer Moms (you can do whichever you prefer - or a combo of the two!).

For the BBQ Dad ensemble think: aprons, spatulas, white sneakers, khaki shorts, baseball caps.
For the Soccer Mom ensemble think: oversized sunglasses, leggings, an oversized waterbottle (Stanleys optional), oversized sweatshirt, and of course a cross body belt bag.

Adam Sandler Day

This one is pretty easy for most middle/high school kids to pull off - the goal here is to dress in “iconic Adam Sandler style” which pretty much consists of things like baggy basketball shorts, oversized t-shirts and flannels, and dark sunglasses. This is easily doable for most kids/staff and a lot of fun. (It’s also particularly a favorite here because Adam Sandler is a NH native!)

Meme Day

I feel like this is a hard one for me - I guess I’m just too old, haha. But for this day you’re supposed to dress up as or reference a meme. A few that I saw - that I understood - were the “‘I’ll allow it’ guy” (wear a sombrero and carry a piece of paper that says “I’ll allow it”) and the one where Kermit the frog is drinking tea (bring a mug of tea and add a green felt zig-zaggy collar like Kermit has). A few other people just printed out a meme and taped it to their shirt and we let it count - such as a picture of Grumpy Cat saying “this is my happy face.”

Disclaimer: always make sure you check with your school/administration for any parameters or rules for Spirit Week Themes as every school will have different expectations as to what’s acceptable or not.

DIY Dry Erase Activity Book for Toddlers + Preschoolers (+ Older Kids Too!)

I was just refreshing the little books and toys we keep in our car, when I realized I had never shared about this Dry Erase Activity Book I made for our first kid years ago (and now our youngest uses it). It was incredibly easy to make and tailor to each child with what stage they were at/needed to work on. Here’s the super easy how-to, hopefully it will inspire you to make one yourself! | This post contains affiliate links |

Materials

• Mini 3-Ring Binder (5 1/2" x 8 1/2" Binder)
• Mini Sheet Protectors
• Mini Binder Pouch
• Low Odor Dry Erase Markers
• Computer Paper

How-To:

Really the how-to could not be easier! All you have to do is cut the computer paper in half to make it the correct size to fit in the sheet protectors, and then create your worksheets however you would like. I used dots for the kids to trace as well as made some free-draw pages and pages for them to practice writing out their whole names. In the pocket we keep a dry erase marker and some folded up paper towels to wipe the pages when they’re done.

We love this as a car toy and activity to do while the oldest is doing soccer practice, etc. And as your child grows you can update the pages with anything - math problems, maps to label, spelling practice, etc. Have fun tailoring it your kids and their age groups - we love that this can grow with our kids.

Page Ideas (for both young kids and older kids):

• tracing shapes

• tracing letters (uppercase and lowercase)

• tracing numbers

• writing name (all uppercase as well as with lowercase)

• free draw pages

• matching

• math problems

• spelling practice

• labeling maps

• labeling planets

• draw features (eyes, hair, etc) on a blank face

• draw details on a landscape photo

• come up with your own - the possibilities are endless!

This Car Seat Organizer where our DIY Dry Erase Activity Book lives (along with other various car toys/books).

Remote Learning + Homeschooling: Tips and Supplies

With the Covid-19 Pandemic still persisting and school in our state cancelled for the rest of the school year (and maybe longer), average parents have been thrown into the role of becoming teachers too and most of us weren’t prepared at all. While I have a degree in Art Education, I went a different career route after graduation and my teaching/classroom management skills are now quite rusty. So I pulled from my own classroom and remote teaching experiences - as well as polling many teacher friends, homeschooling parents, and regular now-remote-teaching-parents for ideas on what’s working for them and what supplies have been lifesavers as they navigate this new remote learning world. | This post contains affiliate links |

Give Yourself Grace

This is probably the biggest takeaway from everyone I’ve talked to…. remote learning during a Pandemic is definitely uncharted territory and everyone is trying to figure things out - readjusting roles, schedules, expectations, everything. Most of us weren’t cut out to be teachers, and it can be incredibly hard to motivate and focus your own kids as well as their teachers are able to. Ultimately, it’s a matter of doing the best that you can in the circumstance you’re currently in… and don’t beat yourself up if everything isn’t perfect.

Communicate with Teachers and Administrators

If you have a lot going on at home (working from home yourself, several kids schedules to juggle, other personal hurdles to deal with, etc) or if the teacher’s expectations for remote learning are just unrealistic, definitely reach out to them to voice your concerns and come up with a plan. Maybe deadlines can be extended, or the workload can be reduced to the essential assignments. Maybe the big group Zoom meetings are too overwhelming and frustrating for your young child and they need a one-on-one meeting instead. Maybe the schedule the teacher came up with won’t work for your family with your own work and other school schedules.
The point is - if you or your kids are feeling overwhelmed and stressed about about the whole remote learning process, it’s worth discussing with their teachers and administrators so that you can come up with something that works for everyone and still meets all the learning requirements.

Come up With a Schedule that Works for Your Family

This will take some trial-and-error. And if you have older students with a heavier workload, their home school day might just look very similar to a regular school day schedule-wise and time-wise - especially if they can work pretty independently. But for us with younger kids, mom or dad needs to be there to walk them through each assignment, activity, and online meeting.

If you’re also working from home or juggling other kids schedules too this can be particularly challenging and exhausting... if you need something to buy periods of occupation from your kids (maybe so you can do an uninterupted confrence call, or you can concentrate helping one child with an assignment while keeping the other kids busy), consider giving them something they will enjoy doing and keep them safely occupied (but always under some parent supervision of course). Maybe it's educational games on the Kindle, or perhaps low-mess craft projects, or an hour of TV time, or reading a book series on their own that they enjoy, etc. Or maybe you find school work or office work done in fragments at unusual times is what works best for your family.

For us personally with younger kids, we’ve fallen into a good rhythm and schedule over the last two months of remote learning. For our family we’ve found it best to buckle down in the mornings and get the work done first thing when attention spans are at their best and everyone is well rested. So our daughter works through her assignments one-by-one every morning with breaks for snack and classroom meetings. Our goal is to have all her work completed for the day by lunchtime, and while some days that doesn’t happen and things need to be finished after lunch, most of the time she’s done by noon which leaves the afternoons for “free choice fun.” Typically, spending the whole afternoon outside if the weather is nice or inside playing legos or watching a movie if it’s raining (and while the kids are playing I can chip away at whatever work I need to get done too). Our days have consistent expectations and a nice rhythm to them now which helps a lot.

Set Snack and Meal Times

As anyone with kids home 24/7 can tell you, they can and WILL eat you out of house and home if you let them. By having set snack and mealtimes it will help your pantry and wallet by not blowing through all your quarantine snacks in 2 days flat. I’ve seen some parents even pack their kids lunch box every morning, just like they would for school, so the kids have a finite amount of snacks and lunch food for the day.

Designate a School Space and Stay Organized

Having a designated “school space” that has all the supplies your kids will need to complete their assignments at their fingertips can be crucial to success. Ideally having a desk or separate workspace would be ideal, but any designated space can work. For us, we set up one end of our kitchen island - it has a laptop where our daughter completes most of her assignments online and a small basket where we store paper, workbooks, flashcards, and a few ziplock bags containing different supplies that she uses often (markers, counting chips, etc). By having everything ready to go each day, there's no excuse when it's time to get to work.

I polled many friends, both teachers and regular parents who are now remote teaching, and compiled a list of things they have needed or found to be extremely helpful during this time. Younger kids definitely tend to need more learning aides so the list has many items geared to younger students but there are also some items that can be useful for older grade levels listed too. Click the button below to browse our picks, which I will be periodically adding to as I get more suggestions:

Is there anything you’ve found to be helpful during this time? Please comment below or send me a message.

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