Ideas for Fun Match Activities

Our community is made up of all types of people. City workers, janitors, bankers, crafters, electricians, storeowners, chefs, teachers, and so many more. And before they become these pillars of our community, they start as the youth of our community. At one point, they’re the kids on the playground and in our schools. Each one of them is as different as the careers and hats they’ll wear as adults. Mentoring them is one of the best ways to ensure their success in their future careers and lives.

However, not every mentorship looks the same. It’s not all meeting at a coffee shop to discuss goals, action items, and milestones like it is for adults. In fact, when mentoring youth, finding activities that encourage them to open up and talk while still enjoying themselves is important for nurturing a quality connection.

Below are a few ideas for having fun with your match!

Go To A Live Event

Do you and your Little have a shared love for baseball or Broadway shows? Do you like the same music? Go check out an event together. From coordinating transportation to cheering on your favorite players during the game, this is a great chance to hang out and get to know each other. Contact your match support specialist to discover if Big Brothers Big Sisters of the INW has any tickets available. If not, ask about funds that could be accessed to purchase tickets.

Take a Cooking Class With Your Mentee

Who doesn’t love food? A love for flavor and good food transcends culture, age, background, and unites people better than most things. As a Big, taking a cooking class gives you an opportunity to tackle a task with your Little. All the while, you can talk about what foods they like or don’t like and why. You can talk about how meals work at home for them, who cooks and cleans up after, etc. Cooking classes provide a fun and interactive opportunity to chat, learn, and best of all, eat something delicious.

Go For A Walk In The Park

Find a local park that your Little enjoys visiting and go explore. Better yet, discover a new park together. Enjoy walking around, swinging on the swings, and being outside in nature. Bring a ball, jump rope, skateboard, or try your hand at hopscotch.

Do An Escape Room

Check out a local escape room (Google “escape room Spokane”) and work together to solve the clues. This gives you an opportunity to bond over shared frustration solving difficult puzzles and observe how your Little thinks through problems. Afterward, you can go somewhere and grab a bite to eat while chatting about how the escape room experience went.

Volunteer Together

If you and your Little have a cause you both care about, go volunteer together and support that cause. From building houses to walking dogs at the shelter, you two can get out of the house and into the community while getting to know each other.

Pick Fruit Together

Find a u-pick farm in the area and go pick some delicious, healthy fruits and veggies together. Picking fruit is an excellent activity to enjoy while having a conversation and getting to know each other. Of course, Green Bluff offers plenty of options, but your window of opportunity is limited to ~ September – October, typically.

Visit A Museum Or Gallery

Take an afternoon to visit a museum in the area. From the MAC to Mobius to Spark, you and your Little can explore art, science, history and more, and in some cases, do interactive activities together (especially at Mobius). This will challenge you and your Little’s critical thinking skills while providing a fun and educational experience. Plus, as a Big, you get free admission to places like Mobius and Spark. Ask your match support specialist about this to learn more!

Start Mentoring With Big Brothers Big Sisters of The Inland Northwest

Our community-based mentoring program matches Bigs and Littles to create one-to-one mentorships. Our Bigs and Littles enjoy outings in the community together, doing the activities they both love. These fun outings take place 2-4 times every month. To learn more about what it takes to become a Big, and to start the enrollment process, email [email protected].

Make a BIG difference today!

Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Inland Northwest is a 501C3 organization. Our mission is to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth.