Team Themes

Have some fun with your team.  Try out one of these themes this year.

Click on one of these themes to jump there.

Animal | Cartoon | Hawaiian Themes | Hunting, Fishing, Camping | Mardi Gras | Movie | Musical, Dancing, Party, Song | Patriotic | Running | School | TV | Walking | Western

Cartoon Themes:
- Disney theme – see movie themes
- Tarzan! – a team did a Tarzan theme; one team member drew a huge tarzan and a vine and the whole bit, and had the name “Wild Bunch” (thanks to mmouse!)
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Hawaiian Themes
- ALOHA, LIFE! (thanks to Geddy!) – You could use the Hula Theme
- Hula For A Cure – See Musical

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Hunting/Fishing/Camping Themes – see also Western Themes below…
- SWAT - Students With A Target - Cancer! – See “Student themes”
- Hunting for A Cure - Make your campsite look like an African Safari Hunt, everybody dresses up in camouflage, etc. etc. Or dress in Western Wear, and make like your are part of the Wild Wild West…
- “Bye-You To Cancer!”, “Bayou For A Cure” Or “Fishing For A Cure” – see Mardi Gras/Lousiana Themes
- Boating For A Cure – If your site will allow it, bring a boat to your site, and “Fish” off the side… You can even have people come and donate $1 to get a Polaroid on the boat!
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Mardi Gras/Louisiana Themes:
- Beading for A Cure – Wear beads, etc. and dance around your Relay – bring some good dancing music to go with your Mardi-Gras Theme
- Marga-Relay-Ville – add beads to the Marga-Relay-Ville theme (Hawaiian shirts, leis, etc.) and you’re close enough…
- Mardi-Gras For A Cure – Have a little Mardi Gras right at Relay – dress in elaborate costumes (the traditional Mardi Gras colors fit Relay – purple!, green and gold), decorate your tent like it is a float in a Mardi Gras parade, get some good music, a lots of beads, and dance around the track and “bead” other teams!
- “Bye-You To Cancer!”, “Bayou For A Cure” Or “Fishing For A Cure” Or ???? – Use a swamp theme and decorate in fishing stuff. You could also have moss and some old cypress wood… (5/18/04 - Thanks to Jaime Lavigne!)
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Movie Themes:
- Win An Oscar for A Cure – Dress up like you are movie stars and at the Oscars, and make your “baton” for the person walking something that looks like an Oscar Statue/Trophy. Put out a red carpet to your tent. As you walk around the track, have little pins or trophies to give others if they can answer a cancer control question right.
- Disney theme – “We blew up the Disney characters life size and hand painted them, it was a lot of work but it was awesome.” You could call it Mouseketeers for A Cure (thanks to mmouse)
- "Let's Make Cancer, Gone With the Wind". – Dress up in Gone With the Wind period costumes… Thanks to Lorri!
- Potter’s Magical Cure – Dress up like Harry Potter characters, set up your tent and put fake cardboard turrets (like a castle) around it, have brooms to “fly on” when you walk on the track, etc. etc.
- Tarzan! – a team did a Tarzan theme; one team member drew a huge Tarzan and a vine and the whole bit, and had the name “Wild Bunch” (thanks to mmouse!)
- The Wizard of Oz! – “Hi, I'm a 15 year old girl from a high school in New York. I was the team captain for the Relay for Life held at a local high school. Our theme was the Wizard of Oz. We had everything from the yellow-brick road, to the witches legs out from underneath our tents… we received the award for "Most Creative Team Theme". – Thanks to Krys23!
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Musical/dancing/song/party themes:
- Dancing For A Cure – Have a team, get someone who is a good dancer to give dance lessons “at large” a couple of times – late in the evening, early in the morning, and get all the other teams to come and participate. Also, you could dance around the track!
- Disco For A Cure – Dress up in bell bottom and plaid shirts, big hair wigs, and play and good Disco music (Raid your parent’s record collection, go to a thrift shop and buy a record player – yes, one of those old things that plays those big black round things!) J
- Groovin’ For A Cure – Dress up in crazy 60’s clothes from a thrift shop, decorate your campsite with tie-die t-shirts, and play some good 60’s music.
- Hula For A Cure – dress in Hawaiian costume, bring lei’s and give them out for a donation, Hula dance for a cure around the track! You can also hold a Hula Hoop contest at midnight, and have a prize for the winner!
- Marga-Relay-Ville – Jimmy Buffet fans can dress up in a Marga-Relay theme – leis, Hawaiian shirts, etc. etc.! This is also good for a "beach theme"!
- Salsa for A Cure - Dress up, bring some Latin music and salsa & meringue around the track for a cure with your partner! Go and get other people off their campsites to join you and dance around the track with them. Offer for your team to hold a dance competition (and find a teacher to come give lessons) after the opening ceremony.
- Sock hop For A Cure, or Rockin’ All Night Long For A Cure, or ???? - Use a 50's theme, setup a pink bar and stools, and sell root beer floats! (5/18/04 - Thanks to Jaime Lavigne!)
- “Staying Alive!” – You all dress up like John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, and Stay Alive! (you can use the disco theme right above also)
- “Swinging For A Cure” – Dress up in Zoot Suits and dresses and swing down the track for a cure with your partner! Go and get other people off their campsites to join you and swing around the track with them. Offer for your team to hold a dance competition after the opening ceremony to give people swing lessons.
- Masquerading for A Cure! – Dress up in costumes and masks, and participate in Relay!
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Patriotic Themes:
- Relay Revelers! – Get streamers, horns, etc. and Revel at Relay! You can all dress in red, white and blue!
- Red, White and Blue For A Cure! – Similar to Relay Revelers!
- Stars and Stripes For A Cure! – Dress in Stars and Stripes, Patriotic hats, T-shirts, etc. Have someone dress as Uncle Sam and go around and say “We want you… To FIND A CURE!”, Have someone else be Betsy Ross, weaving a flag quilt… Have an Escalating Silent Auction for the Quilt, that ends at 7am the next day! Sell flag pins, buttons, streamers, Red White and Blue Hats, your team shirts that say “Stars and Stripes For A Cure”, etc.
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Running themes (see “Walking Theme” for walking ideas):
- Running For A Cure – A team in Western Maryland runs each year with the goal of completing as many laps as possible for a cure… They use the “running” as a motivational tool for fundraising more money! (Thanks Stephanie!)
- Trekking for a Cure (Thanks Stephanie!) – Dress up your tent like you are an expedition hiking Mt. Everest!!!!
- Racing for a Cure (Thanks Stephanie!)
- Cross Country Cancer Crushers or Cross Country Cure (Thanks Stephanie!)
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School Themes (For Middle and High Schools, College teams, etc.):
- Relay Revelers! – Get streamers, horns, etc. and Revel at Relay! You can all dress in your school colors, bring your school mascot, etc!
- Schoolhouse Rock - See “TV” for idea description
- SWAT - Students With A Target - Cancer! – Not sure how this team decorated/etc. but you could have big bull's-eye targets, bring a game of darts (with safe darts – say the kid safe ones you’re your Relay), bring a sack toss game where people toss the little sack onto a bull's-eye to win prizes (sunscreen, etc.). (thanks to Kandy)
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TV Themes – these relate to TV shows, etc.
- Bewitched – Dress up as Samantha, as well as Darren and have one of your kid’s team members be little Amanda, as well as someone else be Samantha’s mother…
- Cancer Survivor- Kenyan Safari – Set up a Kenyan Safari at your campsite with the slogan “Cancer Survivor it's not a game, it's life!” – Decorate with African Safari hats, camouflage, and fake pistols that shoot out flags –write “CURE CANCER!” on the flags. Put some straw or something over your tent to make it look more “Grasslands”… It can be a play on Survivor the TV show… (Thanks to Zoomzoom, 5/04)
- “Cartooning For A Cure” or “Toon Out Cancer” – Have each of your team members dress as a cartoon character to form your team… Decorate your tent like a cartoon house – maybe crazy colors, or something…. Have your cartoon characters walk the track with a Polaroid camera, and “sell” pictures for a $1 donation to the ACS (Thanks to several different folks including Jaime Lavigne)
- Friends Walking For A Cure – “My team has participated in Relay for 4 years... the idea came from the Friends TV show. This would be a good idea to do again this year as it's Friends last season on TV. We decorated our campsite to look like the inside of the coffee shop "Central Perk". We had a lot of fun that year!!” – Thanks to Karen!
- Gilligan’s Island –From Susanne: “I did Gilligan's Island - Castaway Cancer and won best decorated tent in our relay April 2004. It was cute. I purchased a bunch of cute stuff from oriental trading company on-line including leis, gilligan hats, coconut cups, grass skirts for tables and tent. Dress as the characters (Mr. Howell, Gilligan, the Skipper, Maryann, Ginger, the Professor), have a boat there, and some palm trees!
- I Dream Of Jeannie – Have someone dress up as Jeannie, and someone borrow military uniforms and dress up as Major Nelson and Major Healey…!
- “Love Boat For A Cure” – Dress up as the Love Boat crew, make your campsite or tent look like a boat, and “set sail for a cure!”
- MASH– Thanks to beepolite – The team dressed up as Mash characters – doctors and soldiers - and had a site that looked like the Mash set.
- Schoolhouse Rock - ABC Saturday Morning Shorts Theme – Remember “I’m Just A Bill, I am Only A Bill?” or Mother Necessity? Or The Great Melting Pot – If you do, it’s because you were raised on Schoolhouse Rock - A great theme might be to print out all the Schoolhouse Rock Songs, dress up like the characters, and dance around the track singing the songs!
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Walking Theme (thanks to Geddy for these, also see “Running Themes” for running ideas):
- THE PAVEMENT POUNDERS
- STREET WALKERS FOR LIFE
- LIFE WALKERS
- STRUTTIN' & JIVIN' FOR A CURE!
- THE PACESETTERS
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Western Themes – Ideas that recall the Wild Wild West!
- Running Cancer Outta Town – Put on western attire, get some fake guns, and “run cancer outta town” as you walk/run around the track! (thanks to carolwest)
- Prospecting for A Cure – “Prospect for Gold” (donations) by going from campsite to campsite while dressed like California Gold Rush Gold Diggers.
- Shooting Out Cancer! – Use a western theme, have a canopy on your site and make it into a saloon. Put a fence on the front of your tent with some rocking chairs. Set it up so you can walk in through the swinging bar doors. Put a bar and 3 tables inside. Put cancer info on the canopy walls. You could have a so long cancer saloon (and even have non-alcoholic drinks for a donation – slushies work really well), as well as a Corralling cancer@ (thanks to Angelamt – 6/29/04)
- Hunting for A Cure – see Hunting/Fishing themes above…

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 The American Cancer Society at 1 800-ACS-2345
ACS Mission Statement:
The American Cancer Society is the nationwide community-based voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health  problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.