We all believe spirit weeks (and the dress-up day themes that come with them) should create a shared positive experience for students and nurture a sense of community at school. However, many popular themes that seem benign on the surface can have the opposite effect on some students, especially those who are on the margins. And those students are the ones we are most hoping to reach!

As a high school student council advisor, I have the role of facilitating my students' brainstorm session and selection process of the themes we decide for the whole school. It's a fantastic lesson in democratic idea sharing and consensus, but it is not without nudging students back to our agreed-upon mission statement to ask if each theme upholds our vision.

By making my students confirm that each of their ideas carries our vision of positivity, respect, and inclusion, I foster deeper buy-in and commitment from the start. Plus, it makes our overall goal for having dress-up days so much more than just to "have fun."

If you don't have a mission statement already established with your students, don't worry! Open this brainstorming session with a conversation about your overall wishes for the upcoming Spirit Week and use those as your qualifiers.

Encourage your students to be creative with their themes, but to choose them with empathy and deliberation because on the surface most do seem like fun ideas. These 5 themes below are perfect examples of ones that have problems, despite being pretty commonplace.

Some just need a tweak, but others need to be retired. I hope you consider this list when brainstorming your next dress-up week.

Also, scroll down to the bottom for a list of 75 better theme ideas that avoid these pitfalls.

1. Twin, Dynamic Duo, or Group Costume Day

Two teen girls dressed alike

I cringe whenever I see this one. Even worse, I feel like this is the one that teachers and students alike end up posting the most on social media exactly because of its inherent problem. It's true, we as humans crave the feeling of belonging. Coordinating with a friend for Twin Day and sharing a photo allows us to show others that we belong. But what about those who already are feeling like they don't?

If your students ask to have Twin Day, ask them to imagine the student who is new to the school and has no idea who his group is yet. The student who just got into a fight with her best friends, or the student who already is feeling alone, uncertain, or isolated in life. Or simply the student who is the odd friend out of a mustard-ketchup-relish threesome. How many classmates at your school might that be?

Now, ask your students to imagine what Twin Day means to them. This is a great lesson in perspective since your student council leaders likely aren't these students.

Instead, try a day where each grade is challenged with a different aspect of a broad theme, like the different seasons of the year or different decades. That way belonging to the group is automatic for everyone.

2. Crazy Hair Day

There's nothing wrong with this one, per se, but it does require students to go all out or… not participate at all. Same with Crazy Hat Day. It's a tough one to get a lot of participation, so I encourage my student leaders to pick something that has a lower entry for participation.

Instead, simply Hat Day with a prize for who has the craziest (grandpa's pith helmet or mom's Kentucky Derby-sized fascinator) would be a great fix.

Some other favorites we do at our school because they are accessible to most students: Flannel Day, PJ Day, and Color War Day, where each grade wears an assigned color.

3. Hawaiian Day

Collection of fabric leis

Or any other theme that involves dressing as a cultural or ethnic group, or any stereotype of a group of people. Nerd Day, Fiesta Day, Around the World Day are other common examples. It's a no-brainer for certain groups—we wouldn't dream of having a Cowboys and Indians themed day, for example. But for some reason, these others slip by us. I think Hawaiian Day, especially, does because we are also thinking of beach attire and Hawaiian shirts. However, plastic hula skirts and leis have the same effect as construction paper feather headpieces of making throwaway costumes out of culturally important objects.

While probably no student wears their Hawaiian outfit with an intention of disrespect, let's set the standard that no cultural group should be subject to theme day costuming.

Instead, an easy swap can be simply changing the name of the theme to Tacky Tourist or Beach Vacation Day. This subtle change should eliminate the unintended insensitivity mishap and the students probably won't even notice.

4. Toga Day

Actually, this one is a great one to do, as is Tie Dye Day or Reuse Day (mentioned below), but it needs a small tweak to fit our mission. We do Senior Toga Day as a tradition every homecoming week, but we always include a workshop with it.

We advertise for seniors to stop by my room before school on the day-of to get a quick tutorial on how to properly tie a toga with their bed sheet or one from my stash. We keep a tub of sheets, from plain white to silly prints, in our supply closet for students to borrow. Again, we want to eliminate any barrier that may exist! The seniors look so good once they're tied right. And, best of all, they are properly covered without constantly adjusting themselves throughout the day. Win-win!

Likewise, in the past, for Tie Dye Day, we have held an after-school session the day prior for students to create their tie-dye masterpiece (white socks were available for a couple of dollars if needed). We have also provided rolls of tape and assistance in making neckties and headbands the afternoon before Duct Tape Day. Our program provided the supplies and our student leaders provided the fellowship for creating these silly items—all the exact things a spirit week is supposed to accomplish.

5. Wacky Sock Day

Pink socks with banana print

This includes any other dress-up day that potentially requires students to go out and buy something for this one-time event. Other themes could have this issue too, like Pirate Day. We try to avoid these as a way to be more environmentally friendly in our fun, in addition to maintaining our mission to not have money be a barrier to participation.

A theme that encourages using what you already own is a great way to avoid this. Mismatch Day would inherently do this. Or, literally, Back of the Closet Day, where the objective is to pull out the weirdest thing you own to wear.

Once we held Reuse Day, where students created an article of clothing from some sort of unusual material. Lots of students made scarves, vests, and skirts out of plastic grocery bags, but some more creative ones made duct tape ties and cardboard hats.

But I can't leave you just yet! I want to share our starter list of 75 ideas with you as well. I hope you find the perfect dress up themes to make a great spirit week at your school!

75 Awesome Dress Up Ideas for Your Next Spirit Week

Here is our go-to list we start with during our brainstorm session. Since we do three spirit weeks throughout the school year, I also list our favorites that are specific to winter and spring seasons.

We aim to include at least one easy one, one that's more creative, one that allows us to hold a workshop, one connected directly to the week's theme, one that's season-specific, and, of course, a school color day on Friday!

10 Wear What You Have Days

Try to include at least one of these days during the week so that all students can participate.

  • Back of the Closet
  • College T-shirt
  • Denim
  • Flannel
  • Hat
  • Monochromatic
  • Pajama
  • School or Class Colors
  • Sports Team or Jersey
  • Throwback to Middle/Elementary School

10 Workshop Days

Hold a workshop the afternoon before or before school on the morning of to help students create their costume. Provide basic craft and art supplies plus anything specific to the theme, and a few samples and directions have ready to go. Snacks are always a bonus!

  • Duct Tape
  • Emoji
  • Gift Wrapped
  • Idioms
  • Masterpiece
  • Reuse
  • Super Hero
  • Tie-Dye
  • Toga
  • Ugly Sweater

10 Winter Spirit Days

  • Bundle Up (Stocking hats, scarves, etc.)
  • Candy Cane (Red and white)
  • Holiday Character
  • Holiday Colors (Red and green, blue and silver)
  • Holiday Pajama
  • Jingle Bells
  • Tree Topper (Santa hat, antler or elf ears, etc.)
  • Ugly Holiday Sweater
  • Under the Tree (Bows, gift wrap, ornaments)
  • Winter Sport

10 Spring Spirit Days

  • Armed Services or Patriot
  • Earth Day
  • College T-Shirt
  • Ice Cream Flavor
  • Gone Camping
  • Music Festival
  • Pool Party
  • Spring Break or Beach Vacation
  • Spring or Summer Athlete

35 Dress Like A… Days

  • American
  • Athlete
  • Beach Vacation
  • Book (or Movie) Character
  • Camo
  • Celebrity
  • Country
  • Decades
  • Fandom (Movie Trilogy, Music Band, Video Game, etc.)
  • Favorite Subject (Scientist, artist, writer, etc.)
  • Fire & Ice
  • Food
  • Formal Attire
  • Future Career
  • Game (Video, board)
  • Goals (Career or personal)
  • Historical Figure
  • Ice Cream Flavor
  • Jungle
  • Music Genre
  • Music Video or Album Cover
  • Neon
  • Out of this World
  • Out in the Woods (Forest animals, lumberjack, etc.)
  • Preppy
  • Rainbow
  • Safari
  • Seasons
  • Senior Citizen
  • Teacher
  • Tourist
  • Under the Sea
  • Weather

Image credits: Eric Rothermel, Felipe Bustillo, Depositphotos, Fresh Connection