How to Make a Cheerleading Spirit Stick

Cheerleading spirit sticks are a rousing way to get the crowd involved during a pep rally or athletic event. While professionally made spirit sticks are available in most cheerleading supply catalogs, they can be expensive. Creating a disposable spirit stick, which can be thrown into the crowd or presented to a winning spectator, is not only easy but also inexpensive and a fun activity for the cheerleading team. Cheerleading spirit sticks are so simple to make, even youth cheerleading squads can partake in this creative cheerleading activity.

Things You'll Need

  • Paper towel rolls
  • Poster paint in team colors
  • Paintbrushes, sponge brushes or small craft brushes (recommended)
  • Plastic or trash bags
  • Embellishments such as glitter, stickers and streamers (optional)
  • Craft glue
  • Permanent markers (optional)
  • Tissue paper in team colors if possible
  • Scissors
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Instructions

  1. How to Make a Cheerleading Spirit Stick

    • 1

      Paint the paper towel roll with a base coat of poster paint. Stand the paper towel roll on a paper towel on a paper or trash bag.

    • 2

      Allow the paint to dry for at least an hour. Do not use spray paint on the paper towel roll; it will cause the cardboard material to degrade.

    • 3

      Add a second coat of paint to the paper towel roll if desired. The design of the cheerleading spirit stick is entirely up to the creativity of the creator. The stick can be multiple colors, similar in style to a candy cane, or divided by color into halves or thirds. Allow the paint to dry thoroughly after each coat of paint before proceeding with more coats of paint or embellishments.

    • 4

      Draw cheerleading designs, team names or the school mascot on the spirit stick with permanent markers or by using glue. Squeeze glue gently onto the spirit stick to create a design or write team names, and sprinkle with glitter. Stickers can also be applied to the spirit stick for increased visual interest. Plastic or paper streams can be added to the spirit stick by gluing them to the paper towel roll near the ends.

    • 5

      Push tissue paper inside the paper towel roll until it is filled. Trace the outline of the paper towel ends on tissue paper. Trace another circle one finger-width wider than the first circle around the outline. The circle does not need to be exact. Cut the widest circle with a pair of scissors. Glue a tissue paper circle onto each end of the cheerleading spirit stick. Glue a streamer strip around the rim of the tissue paper if desired.