Throughout homecoming week cheerleaders can serve as judges for a variety of spirit contests, and they can give away prizes at the homecoming pep rally. Have clubs decorate spirit banners; have teachers and students dress in a variety of themes to vie for the title of "most spirited"; have the student body vote on the cheerleader with the most spirit at the pep rally. Have students decorate their lockers, and give awards for the locker front with the greatest school spirit. These contests get the whole campus involved.
Cheerleaders can either make and distribute spirit bracelets or ribbons, or sponsors can order the accessories. By selling the items for a nominal fee -- even $1 -- the cheerleaders can give each student on campus the same spirit item, building unity while raising money for a charitable cause. Getting behind school spirit and helping a charity are two great reasons to carry out this idea.
If you have shortening, cornstarch and food coloring, you can make face paint. Just mix the shortening and cornstarch in a 1 to 2 ratio, and add coloring until you get the desired shade. Cheerleaders can then paint their own faces, paint the players' faces for the pep rally and paint the faces of the participants in games at the pep rally.
Writing a poem or skit for the cheerleaders and football players to act out during the pep rally is a great way to build spirit for the game while keeping your audience entertained. Depending on the script you write, you can have all of the cheerleaders and football players choreographed to carry out movements while a narrator reads the text to the audience.