Red Ribbon Week classroom activities work best when they are simple, factual and repeated every day. In 2026 the two big school observances land close together. Unity Day is Wednesday 21 October, and Red Ribbon Week runs 23 to 31 October. This guide shows how to run both from one classroom screen: a daily prompt board, a few unity day activities for school, age-appropriate Red Ribbon Week classroom activities, and a few cautions about sensitive topics. You can build everything on the free classroom screen with a text box, a timer and a poll.
MyClassScreen is an independent tool. It is not affiliated with PACER or the National Family Partnership. Check your school's own plan first, because many schools have set days and activities already.
What Unity Day and Red Ribbon Week are
The two observances have different goals, so keep them separate on your screen.
Unity Day was started by PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center in October 2011. It is the signature event of National Bullying Prevention Month. The call to action is to wear and share the color orange to send a visible message of kindness, acceptance and inclusion. PACER lists the 2026 date as Wednesday 21 October. See PACER's Unity Day page.
Red Ribbon Week takes place each year from 23 to 31 October, according to redribbon.org. It is a drug-use prevention campaign. The red ribbon honors Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent killed in Mexico in 1985. The campaign's 2026 theme is "Make a Difference. Be a Hero. Stay Drug Free." The campaign is sponsored by the National Family Partnership, and its site marks Red Ribbon Week® and Red Ribbon Campaign® with the registered-mark symbol. Its FAQ says permission to reproduce the campaign logo and theme images must be requested in writing, so describe the week in your own words and do not copy their logo or theme artwork without permission.
A two-week plan at a glance
| Date | Focus | What the screen shows |
|---|---|---|
| Wed 21 Oct | Unity Day | Orange background, kindness prompt, wheel of kind acts |
| Thu 22 Oct | Kindness follow-up | "What did you notice yesterday?" prompt |
| Fri 23 Oct | Red Ribbon Week begins | Theme line and "Make a Difference" prompt |
| Mon 26 – Thu 29 Oct | Daily Red Ribbon prompts | One prompt, one timer |
| Fri 30 Oct | Thank-you and wrap-up | Gratitude prompt |
Halloween falls on Saturday 31 October, so Friday is likely to be a busy school day. Keep the Red Ribbon wrap-up short, and see our Halloween activities plan if you are running both.
Build one daily prompt board
A single board that looks the same every day is easier for students than something new each morning.
- Open the free classroom screen and choose a calm background. For Unity Day, orange works. For Red Ribbon Week, use red or white. Keep text readable.
- Add a text widget with the day's prompt in large type.
- Add a countdown timer set to three or four minutes.
- Add a clock so students see the real time.
- Save the board with a clear name, such as "Red Ribbon week." Saved boards stay in the browser on the computer where you save them, in the browser's local storage.
- Each day, open the saved board and change only the prompt.
If you already run a bell ringer, the prompt can be the bell ringer. A morning meeting is another natural home. See the morning meeting screen template.
Unity Day activities for school
These unity day activities for school need almost no prep and focus on kindness, acceptance and inclusion.
- Wear and share orange. Show a large orange screen as students arrive and invite them to wear anything orange. Remember that participation is optional.
- Kindness spinner. Put kind actions on the wheel spinner: "Invite someone new to join," "Say thank you to a helper," "Write a note to a classmate." Spin one each morning and challenge the class to do it by lunch.
- What does kindness look like here? Ask students to name three behaviors. Type them in the text widget as a class kindness list.
- This or that: kind or unkind? Show short, invented examples and have students vote on whether each helps or hurts a classmate. The this or that widget is built for fast two-option votes.
- Bucket Filler layout. Open the Bucket Filler layout from the templates library and ask students to write one specific, kind sentence about the class. Do not single out any student.
- Thank-you board. Use the Daily Gratitude layout to thank someone at school.
For more routines of this kind, see the SEL classroom screen ideas post.
A 10-minute Unity Day routine
If you only have one short block, this sequence keeps the focus on kindness, acceptance and inclusion.
- Minute 0-2. Show the orange board and read PACER's call to action: wear and share orange for kindness, acceptance and inclusion.
- Minute 2-5. Ask: "What is one thing someone did that made you feel welcome?" Students write one sentence. Offer a pass.
- Minute 5-8. Spin the kindness wheel and agree on one action the class will take today.
- Minute 8-10. Type the action on the board and leave it up all day. Check in at the end: "Did we do it?"
It is a small routine, and it is one of the easiest unity day activities for school to repeat on other days.
Red Ribbon Week classroom activities by age
Red Ribbon Week classroom activities should match what students are ready to hear. Keep the focus on healthy choices, goals, and who to ask for help.
| Grade band | Focus | Screen idea |
|---|---|---|
| K-2 | Healthy habits, caring for your body, trusted adults | Draw-and-share prompt, with a timer |
| 3-5 | Making good choices, being a hero for others | This or that scenarios, class pledge |
| 6-8 | Peer pressure, speaking up, asking for help | Poll on how to respond, short discussion |
| 9-12 | Goals, influence, supporting friends | Reflective writing, a student-made message board |
Ideas that work on a screen
- Be a hero prompt. "A hero is someone who ___." Students write one sentence. Use the name picker for two or three volunteers.
- Make a Difference goals. Ask students to write one goal and one healthy choice that helps them reach it.
- Trusted adult map. Use a text widget to list the adults students can go to: teacher, counselor, coach, family member. Add your school's counselor name.
- Class pledge. Write a short, positive pledge together on the text widget. Many classes read it aloud on Monday. Keep it voluntary.
- Poll on response strategies. Present a general peer-pressure scenario with three ways to respond. Students vote by show of hands, and you tap each choice in the live poll to add a vote. The bars update as you tap.
Stay descriptive and age-appropriate. Avoid graphic details, and do not invent statistics. If you want facts, use redribbon.org and your school's health curriculum.
Sample daily prompts, Friday 23 to Friday 30 October
| Day | Prompt for the board |
|---|---|
| Fri 23 | Make a Difference: What is one small thing you can do today to help someone? |
| Mon 26 | Be a Hero: What does courage look like at school? |
| Tue 27 | Healthy choices: What helps you feel strong and ready to learn? |
| Wed 28 | Trusted adults: Who can you talk to if you have a worry? |
| Thu 29 | Goals: What goal are you working toward, and how can a healthy choice help? |
| Fri 30 | Thank you: Who helps you make good choices? Write them a thank-you. |
Set the timer for three or four minutes and ask for one sentence. That is enough.
Share with families
Families often want to follow along with your Red Ribbon Week classroom activities. Add a QR code to the board that links to the Red Ribbon page on your school's website, or to redribbon.org. Paste the link into the QR widget and it makes the code. Check that the link opens on a phone before the first day.
Handle sensitive topics with care
These themes can be personal for students, and Red Ribbon Week classroom activities can touch real family experiences. Plan for that before you start.
- Do not ask students to share family stories. Some have lived with substance misuse. Offer a "pass" for every prompt.
- Never name or point to a student when discussing bullying or drug use.
- Keep facts accurate. If you use a number, link the source. Do not use frightening statistics or images.
- Know your school's process. If a student tells you something that worries you, follow your school's reporting and counseling procedures.
- Check district policy on what themes, props and dress-up days are allowed.
Make the routine last past the week
Kindness and healthy choices are not one-week topics, and the best Red Ribbon Week classroom activities are easy to repeat. After October, keep one prompt a week on the same board. In November, carry the kindness theme into gratitude activities for the classroom. Next in November: Veterans Day activities for students. The PBIS classroom screen post shows how to recognize expected behavior on the board without turning it into a contest.