131 Fun Ideas for the Mentoring Journey

A number of ideas, things to do with mentees, have been gathered from a variety of mentoring programmes. Wherever possible, encourage the mentee to make suggestions about things to do. This is in line with the developmental aspect of youth mentoring. However, mentors might need a few ideas to suggest and the following list might be helpful:

Set your mentoring goals together
Help with some homework
Make dinner together
Participate in a Fun Run/Walk together
Go out for a meal together
Make popcorn and talk
Go to a movie
Pick fruit
Go to a concert
Go to the library
Go to the theatre
Visit a car museum
Go to the swimming pools
Go to the beach
Visit a major harbour (where applicable)
Go to the gym
Play computer games
Discuss responsible use of a mobile phone and how to handle text bullying in a responsible way.
Visit your workplace
Talk about planning a career
Get together with friends from work
Take tours of friends’ jobs
Visit a tertiary institution
Work on a C.V.
Visit the SPCA
Go rollerblading
Go to an indoor climbing wall
Go to the museum
Visit an art gallery
Do a personality test (on the computer)
Review your mentoring goals
Sew on a button
Take photos of favourite people/places
Do a pretend job interview
Listen to your favourite music together
Go to the weekend markets
Talk about how to get a job and find a part-time job
Set up work experience
Change a tyre
Balance a cheque book
Visit your old school
Talk about balancing work and play
Form a group and go Ten Pin Bowling
Play a sport together e.g. Basketball, Netball, Golf, Baseball, Football
Go to a sports game
Open a bank account
Talk about credit cards
Talk about budgeting
Visit a sick child in hospital
Go bargain hunting
Plan a week’s worth of meals
Visit an old age home
Do a week’s grocery shopping
Go holiday shopping
Write ‘thank you’ notes
Go to a church or faith institution
Talk about relationships
Talk about personal values
Draw your family tree
Talk about the future
Visit an armed service base
Write a song
Do good deeds for three strangers
Have a picnic (at a nearby lake, zoo, park, beach, mountain)
Prepare a surprise party for the Programme Coordinator
Take a ferry ride
Take a train ride
‘Surf the Net’
Fly a kite
Show your mentee how to read a map
Show your mentee how to use an answer phone
Design a website home page
Visit an airport and look at all aspects: ticketing, reading a monitor, checking in, going through security
Watch a video and then discuss it
Make something together e.g. picture frame, birthday or Christmas cards
Go hiking or kayaking or camping or sailing
Go fishing
Go bird-watching
Play with a Frisbee or participate in some other fun outdoor game
Play board games or cards
Mow lawns together
Build, create, design something
Paint something
Watch and discuss the T.V. news
Fix an appliance
Play Snooker or Pool
Audition for a Play together
Create a journal, including photos, of your time together
Start a collection e.g. stamps, coins or whatever else is the craze of the time!
Go ice skating
Arrange a visit for your mentee to meet his or her hero
Plant and maintain a vegetable garden
Arrange a clothes collection with other mentors and mentees for a charity of your choice
Arrange a treasure hunt for some children in foster care
Do needlework e.g. knitting, embroidery
Participate in World Vision’s 40-hour Fast as a joint project and challenge other mentors and mentees to participate. End with a celebration!
Begin a book club with other mentors and mentees
Go to a horse show
Attend a motor car rally or a motorbike race
Go to an ANZAC Day (or similar remembrance) gathering and discuss the impact of two World Wars on the world
Attend a cultural festival together
Visit Parliament or a local Council meeting
Help out at a local faith or charity shop or thrift store
Arrange a garage sale with other mentors and mentees and donate the proceeds to a children’s charity
Offer to help serve meals to the homeless or to help out at a shelter for needy people
Adopt an elderly neighbour and carry out some chores for him or her, or go and visit from time to time
Coach younger children a sports skill
Organise a recycling project with other mentors and mentees
During winter arrange a collection of blankets through the school for the hungry and homeless
Look for suitable accommodation together (where applicable)
Have lunch with your mentee once a week
Do a jigsaw puzzle
Build a model car or aeroplane
Take a walk around the neighbourhood
Go hunting
Go skiing
Go Tubing
Play Laser Tag together
Visit a Ceramics Studio
Go on nature walks
Clean out the garage together and then celebrate a job well done!
Play Table Tennis or Badminton or Squash Racquets or Tennis
Go jogging together
Help your mentee to draw up a fitness schedule
Do aerobics together
Discuss the importance of networking
Discuss how to program a VCR/DVD
Talk about taxes
Get involved in a community environmental project