Bright t-shirts go a long way. The brighter the shirt, the easier it is to see in a crowd, especially if they all match. Students can make their own shirts with easy-to-use, dark-colored fabric paint. Take a regular cotton shirt, with any bright color of the class's choice place the names of the school and the student's first name on the back and front of the shirt. The front can have a simplified emblem of either the school's crest or name in large letters. On the back near the neck, the student can paint his own name. Make sure a piece of cardboard is put inside the shirt before applying fabric paint on the material.
Students can rally behind a united symbol if they get to choose it. The symbol can have a theme shared with the school's mascot to show off school spirit in public or something with a more personal design. Use fabric paint (in a much darker color than the brightly colored shirt) to apply the chosen symbol with a piece of cardboard in the shirt to make sure it does not seep through.
There are different tie dye patterns that can be done with regular cotton shirts, including stripes, circular and overall patterns. The effect requires water, liquid fabric dye, rubber bands, cords, plastic containers for each dye, rubber gloves, scissors and wax paper. Bunch the fabric into different knots using rubber bands and cords. Then, dip it into dye and let it dry flat (with the knots undone) on wax paper.
Many schools that can find space in their budget used a company called Classroom Faces, which has a turn-around time of two weeks. The company creates field trip, graduation and regular class shirts. It sends a template wherein students draw their facial features and name underneath. The names and faces are then put on the shirt like a grid.