When CA started All-Star cheer, I noticed clothes pins on some of the older teams’ bags. I googled it, and found tons of ideas, but almost no information on when this traditions started or the guidelines to get pinned. Back when I was a cheerleader, we had a spirit stick. I’m assuming this replaces that.
Some folks believe that the concept of exchanging cheer pins comes from the Olympics, where the athletes trade pins. They’re a great way to promote team spirit, or remember the event. Now they are passed at competitions, cheer clinics, and cheerleading camps.
What are Cheer Pins?
Cheer pins are quite literally old fashioned clothes pins that are secretly clipped cheer bags when the owner isn’t looking. They’re decorated with inspirational words, glitter, and cute embellishments.
Alternatively, you could simply ask a fellow cheerleader if she’d like to swap clips. Cheer clips are very similar to SWAPs from Girl Scouts.
Being super duper artsy, I knew she would have a blast decorating some clothes pins for her first competition. Some of her teammates made them as well, and they had such a good time handing them out to the other teams.
What do you do with Cheer Pins?
As mentioned above, a lot of cheerleaders leave the pins on their backpack. There are also keychain ribbons that hang from the gym bag, to display the pins. Alternatively, one could make a cheer board or home to store them where they are not at risk of being broken.
Although you could easily make a Cheer Pin ribbon holder, I snagged one at our first competition. It was a cute little reward for a job well done at her first competition, but also now holds all of her clips from the first year.
Shop Here (affiliate link)
How to Decorate Cheer Pins
When we got home from competition, she was excited and eager to make more pins. So we ran to Walmart and jumped right in to decorating more pins.
Although I don’t have any photos of our first batch of pins, I do have some photos of pins we’ve made recently.
Sparkly purple cheer clips with motivating words.
Minion inspired cheer clothes pins.
Rainbow glitter pink and white cheer clips
Super simple cheer clips with glitter and smile face beads.
Decorating Cheer Pins Together
One of my favorite surprises at the first competition, was the teams who sat together and decorated cheer pins while waiting for their competition slot. Obviously they weren’t using paint or glitter, or hot glue. But the coaches had brought kits with different beads and stickers and markers to decorate. It seemed like a wonderful idea to pass time.
All in all, decorating and trading cheer pins is a fun way for cheerleaders to connect with others, show their team spirit, and create lasting memories of their cheerleading experiences. I’m really glad my Kiddo and I are able to decorate them together, and hope you and your cheerleader are able to connect the same.
