One-on-one Time with your Mentee

Active Activities


  • Winter Weather
    • Sledding
    • Skiing (downhill or cross country)
    • Build a snowman
    • Snow Art: put food coloring and water into a spray bottle and go nuts
    • Build a snow-fort
    • Caroling
    • Broomball or ice hockey
  • Spring/Summer Weather
    • Canoeing
    • Fly a kite
    • Rollerblading
    • Biking
    • Fishing
    • See an outdoor movie
    • Visit a farm
  • Collect bugs and worms
    • Catch frogs
    • Butterfly catching
    • Frisbee
    • Mini-golf
    • Run through a sprinkler
    • Plant flowers or make a garden
  • Whistle with blades of grass
  • Fall Weather
    • Rake leaves and jump in them
    • Make a scare crow using your clothes and some leaves
  • Any Weather
    • Take a hike
    • Exercise
    • Attend a sport event
    • Go to a second hand store and dress up
    • Attend a school play
    • Take turns leading each other around blind folded
    • Go exploring
    • Basketball
    • Racketball
    • Tennis
    • Run on the track
    • Lift weights
    • Bowling
    • Play Pool
    • Ping Pong
    • Foosball

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Arts & Crafts


  • Build a bird house
  • Build a bat box
  • Take pictures
  • Press flowers and leaves
  • Build a bird feeder
  • Pinecone Bird Feeders: large pinecones, chunky peanut butter, shortening, cornmeal, birdseed, string. Spread mixture onto pinecone and hang!
  • Make a collage
  • Paint your fingernails
  • Knit
  • Paint (hand, brush, feet)
  • Carve soap (use eating knives…they still cut soap)
  • Draw chalk pictures on the sidewalk
  • Paste leaves and other natural stuff on a piece of cardboard to make a collage
  • Make and launch model rockets
  • Leaf rubbings
  • Do gravestone etching
  • Make playdo figures
  • Learn how to make pottery
  • Paper Dolls – draw figures and cut them out. Make clothing and tools, instruments, etc.
  • Stained Glass – use white glue and mix it with different glitters, pour it on wax paper and you have stained glass!
  • Sand Painting - colored chalk, salt, and glue. Smash the chalk and mix it with salt, keeping the colors separate in separate containers. Spread glue over one part of a picture at a time and sprinkle the color you want on it.
  • Sand Sculpture – using the “Sand Painting” salt mixture, pour layers of color in a jar salt as instructed above. Push the layers in different ways to make waves.
  • Plaster of Paris Molds – leaf casts (put leaf in a tin foil “bowl” and pour plaster of paris over it, allow it to dry and remove the leaf – it’s great for footprint and other molds as well (buy it at your nearest hardware store).
  • Make beaded necklaces
  • Egg Drop – make a container that will keep an egg from breaking when dropped out a window.
  • Color
  • Make paper bag or sock puppets
  • Create a time capsule: what would each of you want future generations to know? Pick a place and bury it with instructions for when it should be opened (maybe on your graduation)
  • Collect colorful leaves and iron them between waxed paper to preserve them
  • Freeze water in different shapes using balloons, plastic bags, etc. (great for winter too)
  • Pick your own pumpkins and carve them
  • Make a scrapbook or a picture book
  • Make a Halloween costume together
  • Make piñata's with balloons and paper mache (you can also make hanging boxes by putting the paper on different size/shape paperboxes)
  • Draw
  • Take pictures
  • Go to a museum
  • Tie lanyards
  • Piano lessons (or other instruments)
  • Face Painting
  • Gravestone rubbings
  • Make beaded necklaces
  • Make a Newspaper Windsock: Lay four sheets of the newspaper out on the floor, one on top of the other. Roll into a hollow cylinder approximately four inches in diameter. Tape it in place so that if forms a tube. Tear another sheet of newspaper into strips. Tape to the end of the tube for a streamer effect. Attach yarn to one end and hang.
  • Other newspaper projects: hats, huge paper airplanes, kites, masks
  • Clay sculptures
  • Make a miniature cardboard city using old cereal boxes and other cardboard
  • Make Magnets
  • Make puppets out of socks or paper bags and put on a show
  • Paint with watercolors
  • Make play-dough
  • Make Candles
  • Do things for holidays: make mother's day projects, father's day projects, valentine's projects, thanksgiving projects… make presents for family members or friends
  • Carve Pumpkins
  • Paint Pumpkins
  • Buy cheap white t-shirts and use puffy paints, pens, and/or tie dye kit to make matching t-shirts
  • Playdo! - 2 cups flour, 4 teaspoons cream of tartar, 1 cup salt, 1 1/2 - 2 cups boiling water, 3 - 4 Tablespoons vegetable oil, Food coloring. Add oil and food coloring to boiling water. Combine remaining ingredients, and mix well. As you knead it, the dough will get smoother. Store in airtight container. To make edible peanut butter playdough, use 1/2 cup peanut butter, 1/2 cup honey, 1 cup powdered milk and kneed until smooth.
  • Salt Clay - Stir together: 2 cups plain flour, 1 cup salt, 1 to 1 1/2 cups cold water, 2 tablespoons cooking oil. Knead well until it forms a soft ball. Line a baking tray with aluminum foil, make the shapes you want, and bake in the oven at 300 degrees or until hard (about one hour). You can use food coloring to color dough before you bake it at 300 degrees, or paint it afterwards. A finishing coat of shellac or clear acrylic will make your salt clay products last longer.
  • Finger Paint – Mix together: 1/4 cup cornstarch, 2 cups water, food coloring. Boil until mixture thickens. Allow to cool, then pour into jars or other storage containers and color with food coloring.

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Civic Engagement


  • Research political positions and candidates who will be on the ballot in November
  • Write a letter to a congressman or other politician

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Computers


  • Peruse fun and/or educational websites. This site has links to them all (games, exploring new places, animals, homework help, etc.)!
  • Learn a new computer program (kids love PowerPoint)
  • Send an online greeting card
  • E-mail friends

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Conversations


  • Introduce your partner to your friends
  • Have a serious talk with your partner
  • Show pictures of when you were young
  • Take advantage of a "teachable moment" and talk with your partner about racism, sexism, homophobia, swearing, hate speech, eating disorders, or anything else you think is important for them to think about.
  • Take time on Friday to plan an activity you will do next Friday
  • Tell life stories to each other. Bring in pictures of your family or your home town and tell them all about where you come from. Encourage them to do the same.
  • Bring in pictures of some place you have been and tell them all about what it was like there.
  • Write thank you notes with your partners when someone does something nice for them or both of you.
  • Ask your partner o tell something about themselves that nobody else knows.
  • It’s not always easy to talk with kids about tough things. Here are a couple websites that might help: Talking with Children, When the Talking Gets Tough and Winning Ways to Talk with Young Children.

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Cooking and Food


  • Bake bread from scratch
  • Go on a picnic
  • Bake cookies, cinnamon rolls, pizza, cupcakes, brownies, etc (easy stuff)
  • Make popsicles
  • Roast marshmallows and drink hot chocolate
  • Decorate hard boiled eggs
  • Get ice cream
  • Go apple picking (or blueberry, raspberry, or strawberry picking)
  • Make caramel apples together
  • Cook outside on a camp stove (Ramen noodles and hot cider are easy)
  • Make various ethnic foods (lots of good resources online)
  • Make up a new snack
  • Here are some easy and fun recipes:
    • Soft Pretzels: 2 - 16 oz. loaves frozen bread dough,1 egg white, slightly beaten, 1 teaspoon water, Coarse salt. Separate thawed bread into 24 - 1 1/2" balls. Roll each ball into a rope 14 1/2" long. Twist into the shape of your choice. Put pretzels one inch apart on greased cookie sheet. Let stand for 20 minutes and brush with combined egg white and water. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Place a shallow pan containing 1" of boiling water on bottom rack of oven; bake pretzels at 350 degrees on rack above water for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
    • Peppermint Ice Cream: 3 lb. coffee can with plastic cover, 1 lb. coffee can with plastic cover, rock salt, crushed ice, 2 cups whipping cream, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, Red food coloring, crushed peppermint stick (about 3 T.). Place 1 lb. can in center of 3 lb can. Fill 1 lb. can with ice cream ingredients. Layer crushed ice and rock salt around the small 1 lb. can. Cover both with their plastic lids. Sit in a circle on floor and roll the can back and forth for about 15 minutes.
    • Rice Krispie Bars: 6 cups Rice Krispies, 1 bag of white marshmallows 3 tablespoons butter or margarine, no-stick cooking spray. Melt the margarine in a no-stick pan and add the entire bag of marshmallows. Stir over medium heat until the marshmallows have completely melted. Add Rice Krispies and mix together well. Pour mixture into a 9" x 13" pan that has been greased or sprayed with no-stick cooking spray. Spread and flatten mixture. Cut into squares when cool.
    • Gingerbread Men: 1/2 cup shortening, 1 egg, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1 1/2 cup flour, 1 pkg. instant butterscotch pudding mix, 1 1/2 teaspoon ginger,1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, frosting, raisins & candies, cookie cutter. Mix together egg, shortening, and brown sugar. Add remaining ingredients. Roll out dough and cut into gingerbread men shapes with a cookie cutter. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Decorate men using frosting and candies.

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Cultural


  • Learn some words in a foreign language
  • Speak in pig latin (I mean, "ig-pay atin-lay")
  • Start a pen pal relationship with someone from another country, or even a friend or family member
  • Learn sign language
  • Ask different cultural groups around campus to teach you and your partner the history, dances, foods, etc. of their culture

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Entrepreneurial


  • Set up a lemonade stand
  • Sell golf balls on a golf course
  • Start a reading Club
  • Start a collection (bottle caps, baseball cards, rocks, etc.)
  • Make your own sales business and try it out!

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Film and Plays


  • Make a play and video tape it or perform it for others
  • Film a short documentary together
  • Make a home movie
  • Make different hand shadow puppets
  • Puppet activities to do with kids
  • Come up with a dance routine
  • Make a Tape – narrate a sports game or talk about an adventure

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Games


  • Indoor
    • Any Board Game
    • Play cards
    • Learn a magic trick
    • Puzzles!
    • Explore every nook and cranny of cool buildings around campus
    • Play memory with cards (make a grid of cards, when it’s your turn, you turn up two cards and try to match them based on color and number. If you do match them, you put them in your pile and flip up two more).
    • Play with a balloon (keep it off of the floor)
    • Build a fort
    • Play dress-up and pretend to be different people / professions
    • Have a circus using stuff animals and other props. Pretend like you’re different circus professionals.
    • Tell stories
    • Play School with textbooks and some fun activities
    • Have an on-the-spot talent show and give out prizes
    • Make card-forts (it’s tricky to get them balanced in the beginning, but don’t give up!)
    • Make a cardboard fort that you can actually hide in!
    • Play "I Spy" or "20 Questions" – pick out something in the room, then people try to guess what you’re thinking of using only 20 questions.
    • Have a picnic or camp out inside!
    • Have an indoor scavenger hunt or clue hunt
    • Have a party (music, food, games) and invite other partners!
    • Have a fashion show
    • Interview people on fun topics
    • Tell old family stories
    • Build sculptures
  • Outdoor
    • Climb
    • Frisbee
    • Kayak
    • Catch fire flies
    • Soccer
    • Baseball
    • Set up obstacle courses for each other
    • Various water balloon activities - throw balloons at the Band
  • Anywhere
    • Make up a new game

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Gardening


  • You can visit your local gardening store for packages of seeds with instructions.
  • If it's not the right time of the year to plant things outside, start an indoor garden! Here are some things we eat all the time that your partners might find pretty cool…
    • Citrus Trees: Save seeds from oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, or other citrus fruit. Plant them in regular potting soil in a smallish pot (6 inches or less). The seeds will germinate in 15 to 30 days. When the seedlings have at least four leaves, put each seedling in its own, small pot. It will need 4-5 hours of sun per day and will need water about three times per week. Watering is very important for the first six weeks since citrus trees often die from dehydration.
    • Date Tree: Date pits grow best in plastic pots so that the roots never dry out. Add extra sand to the soil for a date tree. Germination takes 8 to 10 weeks. Date trees require three hours of sun for day. Water the tree twice a week.
    • Mango: In a bowl, combine water, cracked charcoal, and the huge mango seed. Soak the seed for a week to soften the tough shell. Then, in a 5" pot, plant the seed vertically with the eye pointed down in basic potting soil. Water the seed heavily. It won’t germinate for four months. Then it will need four to five hours of sunlight per day. Keep it away from cold windows and use only tepid water. It won’t need to be transplanted for a year.
    • Avocado: Dry the seed for a couple of days and then peel the brown papery skin off of it. Place the seed 2/3 into the soil (basic potting soil will do), leaving the tip exposed. Germination will occur in 30-90 days. The plant will need 3-5 hours a day. Water it weekly. If you want it to stay short, pinch it off as it grows.
    • Pomegranate: This seed will develop into a shrub and produce bright orange flowers. Clean the seeds before planting. After the seeds germinate (in 6 to 8 weeks) transplant several seedlings into a 5" pot filled with sandy soil. The plants require 2-3 hours of partial sun and need to be watered weekly.

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Life Skillz


  • Count money
  • Establish a savings account
  • Do homework together

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Music


  • Make a music video
  • Teach how to play piano
  • Teach partner how to dance, go country line dancing together
  • Make your own musical instruments (glasses filled with different amounts of water, etc.)
  • Make a band!
  • Burn a CD with your favorite songs

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Rainy Days


  • (in addition to the indoor activities in the other sections)
  • Run through puddles
  • Collect gross worms
  • Measure the amount of rain falling
  • Make streams in the dirt
  • Slide in the mud
  • Hang man
  • Make a rain drink (filled with all the grossest stuff you can find outside in the rain)
  • Go to a nearby museum

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Reading


  • Read books out loud to each other
  • Go to your local library
  • Go to the bookstore, read the first pages of all your favorite books
  • Find a book on bugs or plants and go around campus trying to identify everything you see

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Science


  • Start an aquarium:
    • Fish
    • Frogs
    • Turtles
    • Butterflies
  • Look at pond water under a microscope
  • Make a volcano with vinegar and baking soda
  • Science Experiements, there are tons on the web, including:
    • Bubbles: 1 cup water, 1/3 cup dish soap (Joy, Sunlight, etc), 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup. Use different objects to make bubbles (string loops, coat hanger, kitchen utensils, etc.)
    • Slime (liquid or solid?): corn starch, water, food coloring (optional). Put cornstarch in bowl. Add enough water to make a paste… if you move it quickly or punch it, it will be a solid, but if you let it sit in your hands, it turns to a liquid

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Teen Activities


  • Lock-in
  • Pizza Dinner
  • Cook-out
  • Softball
  • Bowling
  • Paintball
  • Ice Cream Social
  • Mini-golf
  • Dodge Ball
  • Mud Volleyball
  • Eat out
  • Go to a big sports game
  • Visit a City
  • Join an exercise class together
  • Go golfing or play a game of one-on-one basketball.
  • Volunteer
  • Create a Time Capsule (focusing on what teenage life is like)
  • 101 more things!

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Volunteering


  • Children’s hospital: bring a blanket, a fake fishing rod, some tape, and prizes. Put the blanket between two doors and have the kid-patients "go fishing" for presents…
  • Soup kitchen
  • Volunteer together to mow an elderly or disabled person's yard.
  • Do random acts of kindness (pick flowers for elderly people, hand out lemonade or flowers in town, etc.)
  • There are lots of non-profits in the area who need help and would be a great experience for your partner!

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Writing


  • Write a story, illustrate it
  • Write madlibs together
  • Make a comic strip
  • Write an article for a newspaper
  • Write letters in code to each other
  • Make picture stories – use cutouts from magazines and narrate a story.
  • Riddles – start your own joke and riddle book!
  • Write a skit and act it out for others
  • Write a book – fold paper in half, make a cover out of construction paper, staple the book down the middle crease, and add illustrations and stories!

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