Now that winter is finally over, you can start thinking outside the walls of your school for fun spirit projects and activities to do with your Student Council and Leadership students.
Set aside a class or meeting time for a brainstorming session with your student leaders early in the season. Start by creating a “no-idea’s-too-crazy” list, then work to narrow it down.
If you need some good group brainstorming and decision-making protocols, grab my popular teambuilding flip deck,which is perfect for days like these!
After your students decide on the activities they want to do (making sure they don’t overcommit themselves!), create committees and assign project leads. Then hand each group a project planning kit and let them do the rest!
These are 25 of my favorite spring student council ideas, both school-wide projects and activities for just your students, to fill your March, April, and May calendars. This works great as a starter list for your brainstorming session.
Unplug for a Day
The first Friday in March is National Day of Unplugging.
Challenge your students to stop by before school to drop off their phones and lock them away. Create a short reflection form for them to fill out before getting them back at the end of the day. Debrief with them on Monday about how it went.
Hold an Art Gallery Show
Partner with your art department to display students’ best work from the year along your high-traffic hallways. Conduct a schoolwide vote, with ribbons to award for categories like best from each grade, best from each art medium, and a giant one for “Best in Show.”
Create Spring Bulletin Boards
Make oversized paper flowers to decorate a bulletin board about mindfulness and “stopping to smell the flowers.” Or four-leaf clover cutouts for students to write down and post what they feel thankful for under a giant rainbow and the headline “I’m So Lucky.”
Hand out “Catch Ya” Coins
For the month of March, give teachers each a handful of chocolate gold coins to hand out to students whenever they catch them doing something that exhibits your school’s core values.
Start a Kindness Rocks Campaign
Grab some acrylic paint, permanent markers, sealant, and smooth river rocks, and let your students paint positive messages. Then hide the rocks around campus or in your local community. Check out the Kindness Rocks Project website for inspiration.
Make Up Your Own Holiday
March 26th is National Make Up Your Own Holiday. Challenge your students to brainstorm and decide as a group a new holiday to celebrate, and then do it!
Senior Spotlight
Give a brief survey to your seniors about their future plans, favorite high school memories, and teachers and school programs that impacted them. Then start a Senior Spotlight series on your school’s social media account, where you highlight one of your seniors every few days or so. Work with your yearbook advisor to get copies of their photos.
Host an Outdoor Spirit Assembly
Take your spring recognition and spirit assembly to the football field! Plan outdoor games and think outside the gym for ways to make this assembly different from the rest. Use this assembly planning kit to make it a success!
Have a Spring Dress-Up Week
Use this week to hold your other spring events, like Activity Night or your spring spirit assembly. If you need some spring-specific ideas, check out my blog post of 75 dress-up theme ideas, which includes spring-specific ideas too!
Host an Activity Night
Pick warm-weather-themed movie to show out on the football field one night. Or plan a fun class competition tournament with a bunch of field-day-type games. Check out this list of field day game ideas for inspiration.
Make the admission a non-perishable food item to donate and offer clubs the chance to sell concessions as a fundraiser.
Sell Spring-Themed Candy-Grams
Sell gold coin chocolates around Saint Patrick’s Day, spring-themed candies, or single-stem carnations with the option for students to write messages.
Use this as a class fundraiser or donate the money to a local charity, like a community garden.
Grow Seeds of Love
Get some flower seeds and small pots and start a windowsill garden. If you get going early enough, you’ll have blooming pots to give out during Teacher Appreciation Week.
Zinnias, marigolds, pansies, and sweet peas grow well from seed.
Hand Out Testing Snacks
On state or end-of-course testing days, deliver snacks with positive messages to the classrooms to help students refuel.
Create “No Regrets” Lists
At the start of 4th quarter, reflect on the year so far and decide three things there’s still time to accomplish before the school year is over. Call it a “no regrets” list—think of it as a last-chance bucket list. Challenge students to create a whole-group list and individual ones with personal goals.
Do Some Spring Cleaning
Set aside a few days to tackle that supply closet, shared Google Drive, or paper files. Remove, clean, toss, and sort through everything before putting things back. Rebuild using a more organized system—get clear tubs to organize assembly props, mark drawers and shelves where supplies go, and label divider tabs and file folders.
If you space needs major spring cleaning, grab these Clean Up Crew task cards to make it go smoothly.
Picnic-fy Lunch
Turn a normally off-limits outside area into an inviting lunch spot for the day. Pull tables outside if possible, bring blankets to sit on, and enjoy the sun.
Host Spring-Themed Games at Lunch
Here are some fun Saint Patrick’s Day and spring-themed Minute to Win It games, or have your students come up with their own. These are perfect for lunchtime or a spirit assembly.
Or celebrate National Sibling Day, which is on April 10th each year, with teams of siblings competing.
Help Your School Librarian
In honor of National School Librarian Day on April 4, ask your librarian if there’s a project you can do for them. It could be anything from a one-time cataloging project they’ve been putting off to creating a bulletin board with book recommendations using the headline “Spring into a Good Book.”
Celebrate Your Assistant Principals
The first week of April is National Assistant Principals Week. If your assistant principals’ duties include lunchroom or sports supervision, plan a surprise shoutout to recognize them for all they do to keep your school running smoothly.
Make Some Sidewalk Sunshine
Grab a bucket or two of sidewalk chalk and pick a day with all sun in the 5-day forecast. Head outside to the main walkways around campus and let students write uplifting messages and draw cheerful pictures.
Create an Earth Day Project
Earth Day is April 22nd. Honor it by finding ways to make your school a little more earth friendly. Look into reducing waste created at lunch. Organize a carpool to an away sporting event. Offer an easy conservation tip in the daily announcements for the week.
Thank Your Office Staff
The Wednesday of the last full week in April is National Administrative Professionals Day. Grab some silk flowers, floral tape, and small pots or mason jars, and make them flower pen bouquets. Or get creative and find other pen toppers themes you know they’d appreciate.
Recognize Your School Principal
May 1st is National School Principal Day. If your spring spirit assembly falls around then, show your appreciation for all your principal does by performing a funny skit about all the hats they wear in the course of a day.
Celebrate School Lunch Hero Day
The first Friday in May is School Lunch Hero Day. Make superhero-styled decorations to post around the cafeteria honoring your food service staff.
Go All Out for Teacher Appreciation Week
The first full week in May is Teacher (and Nurse!) Appreciation Week each year. Since so many other staff appreciation days are also right around this time, plan a week-long event celebrating everyone.
Coordinate with your Boosters, PTA group, and local business to offer something special each day for staff: a snack cart, a coffee bar, lunchtime chair massages.
Hopefully, this list gives you and your students more than enough ideas to try this spring. Be sure to grab my Project Planning Kit, a total lifesaver that allows your student leaders to take the lead in brainstorming, planning, and carrying out any project, big or small. The best part is that these universal templates and forms become a how-to guide for next year’s group!
Image credit: Justin Ha
