Spirit Raising – Pep Rallies

Here are some fresh pep rally ideas for the football season from your friends at Varsity.com! Hope you have a blast!

1. WE’RE GONNA CREAM THE OTHER TEAM 
Make signs that say “We’re going to cream the other team” and “Cream the (Rival Mascot).” Have a “whip cream pie” eating contest. Fill pie pans with whip cream, and have a class competition to see who finishes their whip cream pie first. Make cans or jugs with the faculty members’ names on them and have students deposit money in the cans all week. The teacher, coach, or principal with the most money gets a pie in the face at the pep rally!

2. WHO YA ROOTIN’ FOR? 
Have a “root beer chugging” contest. Get one member from each class to “chug” a 2 liter bottle of root beer. The first one to finish wins. Make up a chant with “Who Ya Rootin’ For?” to get the crowd to yell. Make signs that say “We’re rootin’ for you!”

3. (Your Mascot) ARE ON FIRE
Have a clothes relay race using borrowed fireman equipment such as hats, boots, and jackets. In teams of three, have students race to a point, dress up, race back, undress, and hand off to another team member, then repeat. Throw Atomic Fireballs candy into the stands to get their mouths on fire. Make signs that say “(Your Mascot) are on fire” and “Get Fired Up.” Chant, “We’re Fired Up and Ready.” If possible, the team could arrive on fire trucks. You can also play “Red Hots.” Smear shaving cream all over a person’s face and have them lay on the ground. Have another team member on a chair above them and drop Red Hots on their faces. The team that has the most in one minute wins.

4. CRUSH THE(Rival Mascots)
Make signs that say, “Crush the (Rival Mascot).” Have a Orange Crush chugging contest. Get one member from each class to chug a bottle of Orange Crush. The first one to finish wins.

5. ICE THE (Rival Mascots) 
Use the “Ice the (Rival Mascots)” theme. Signs could include “CHILL OUT”, “PUT THE (Rival Mascots) ON ICE.” You can have a Vanilla Ice Look Alike Contest or have one member from each class sit on a block of ice or with their feet in a bucket of ice. The class (member) that sits the longest wins. Play “Ice, Ice, Baby” and “You’re as cold as ice…” Have a toboggan, scarf, and gloves dress-up day.

6. KISS THE (Rival Mascots) GOOD BYE
Have a “kiss the pig” contest. Make cans with all of the teachers’ names on them and have students deposit money in the cans all week. The teacher with the most money has to kiss a pig at the pep rally. Hand out chocolate kisses to the fans, make a big silver kiss out of foil, and have your mascot jump out of it. Decorate the gym with cut-out lips or signs that have been “kissed.”

7. ROPE THE (Rival Mascots) 

Encourage students to dress-up like cowboys for this western-themed pep rally! Have a clothes relay race, with a cowboy hat, big jeans, cowboy boots and shirt as the dress-up items. Use rope lights and hats for decorations. Play “Mamas Don’t Let Your Boys Grow up to be Cowboys.” Have stick horse races and hat contests.

8. BEACH THE(Rival Mascots) 
Decorate the gym with beach items. Toss beach balls into the crowd for spirit. Play music by The Beach Boys and Jimmy Buffet. Don’t forget to play the classic song, “Itsy Bitsy, Teenie Weenie, Polka Dot Bikini.” Advertise all week that you will be having a bikini contest. Have four cheerleaders run off stage like they are dressing in their bikinis. Instead of the cheerleaders coming out, have four little girls dressed in their bikinis come out or football players dressed in towel bottoms and bikini tops. You can also have a best legs contest throughout the week and use the football coach or players’ legs, and see who can match the person to the legs. Encourage students to wear sunglasses, Hawaiian shirts, etc.

9. DRIVING TOWARD THE CHAMPIONSHIPS! 
Bring your mascot into the gym or football field on a Harley Davidson. Have a relay race on tricycles. Play the theme song from Rocky and “Heading down the Highway.”

10. BLACK OUT THE(Rival Mascots) 
Completely black out the gym or auditorium. The cheerleaders can sell glow necklaces and bracelets. Use black lights and have the cheerleaders dress in white uniforms or all black with white gloves and shoes. Have the students wear black to school on the pep rally day.

11. (Your Mascot) GO BANANAS
Teach the student body the “Go Bananas” chant. Have a Banana Eating Contest. Or have a banana split contest: one team member lies down on the ground, holds a bowl, and other team members stand on chairs and drop banana split food items into the bowl. The first team to make a banana split wins!

12. WE’RE YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE
Have a pajama theme pep rally. Encourage the student body to wear their pajamas to school on pep rally day. Have a relay race with six class members being pulled on a sheet by two class members. Make signs that say, “Night, Night (Rival Mascots),” “We’re Your WORST Nightmare,” and “Put the sleeper hold on the (Rival Mascots).”

13. ROCK THE (Rival Mascots) 
Decorate the halls with locker tags shaped like records. Play classic rock songs. Hang records on the walls of the gym with the players’ names on them. Bring a guitar for your mascot to “play” during the pep rally. Play “Name that tune.” Play a small part of a song and let class representatives guess the song. The class that racks up the most points wins!

14. CAGE THE(Rival Mascots, preferablythe Eagles, Hawks, etc.) 
Make signs that say, “Cage the (Rival Mascots).” Have your mascot tape feathers to his suit and mouth. Play the Chicken Dance Song and teach the student body the chicken dance. Decorate the gym with feathers, etc.

15. ROLL UP THE (Rival Mascots) 
Blind fold six football players and six cheerleaders, and lead them to the center of the court. Put the cheerleaders in two rows of three back to back. Place a football player in front of each one. Tell them that they are going to have one end of a long fruit roll up in their mouth and the cheerleader in front of them will have the other end. The couple that eats the fruit roll up fastest wins. Take the cheerleaders out and give the other end to the football player that was now across from them. The guys all think they are going to kiss a cheerleader so they eat as fast as they can.

Here are a few more ideas to get you planning. Have your cheerleaders “brainstorm” using these themes as a starting point: 

• Red, White, and Blue, USA theme
• Spook the (Rival Mascots) on Halloween, and have the kids dress up in their Halloween costumes for the pep rally. Play “spooky” music, Munster theme. Combine this “spooky” theme with a black light theme for extra drama.
• Make the (Rival Mascots) see stars, star decorations, Walk of Fame like in Hollywood
• Twin Day…Find your twin, have students dress like someone else or as a teacher.
• Swat the (Rival Mascots, preferably yellow jackets, hornets)…Swat Piñatas filled with candy and wearing a Yellow Jackets…Your mascot can dress like an exterminator. Decorate with Raid cans and giant fly swatters.
• Bikini Contest…have guys dress up, wearing towels and “stuffed bikini tops”
• Spirit Sticks
• Grease theme, 50’s retro pep rally.
• Crunch the (Rival Mascots). Hand out Crunch miniature candy bars.
• Blow up the (Rival Mascots). Have a bubble gum “bubble” contest.
• Wear the (Rival Mascots) out. Wear your clothes backwards all day.
• Fishin’ for a Win! Have a gummy worm or fish eating contest.
• Whip the (Rival Mascots). Have a whip cream eating contest, using canned whip cream, have a person from each class, lay on the floor and put a person with the can above them on a chair and try to hit their mouth, first one with their mouth full wins. You can also tell everyone that they are having a whipped cream pie contest and the first finished wins, blindfold them and then tell the other contestants not to eat theirs and watch the one that doesn’t know eat theirs like crazy.
• Cruising to a Victory…bring the team or mascot in on motorcycles.