match activity ideas

Community-based matches

in-school mentoring matches

sports + activities

• Basketball, football, soccer, floor hockey, etc at Timms Community Centre
• Play tennis at the Langley Tennis Centre
• Go swimming or skating at a recreation center
• Enter for event tickets through our agency giveaways from our ticket donors
• Go cheer on a local sports team
• Watch a sports game on TV together
• Ski and snowboard the local mountains
• Create your own games at a local park

Crafts

• Attend a Paint Night, hosted by Zealous Arts
• Make a scrapbook of the things you have done together
• Make friendship bracelets
• Beading
• Paint canvases
• Tye-dye t-shirts
• Make holiday cards
• Michaels-the arts and crafts store: Kids Club Imagination Saturdays. Matches can join in on the fun every Saturday from 10:00 AM to Noon for ages 5 – 12 years old. $2 per person.

food

• Make a milkshake, float, Jello, or pudding
• Check out a local coffee shop
• Go for lunch in Fort Langley
• Bake cookies for each other’s families
• Plan, shop for, and make dinner together
• Try a new recipe
• Make a pizza
• Have a barbecue
• Go for a picnic at a local park
• Pick up take-out food and bring it to a scenic spot
• Make a gingerbread house

outdoor activities

• Go hiking
• Climb the Abby Grind
• Plan a picnic at a park or beach
• Play sports at a local field
• Try a new outdoor activity (fishing, biking, tennis, etc)
• Scavenger Hunt around the community
• Go swimming
• Visit Vancouver Trails for the best hiking guide
• Go to the Fraser Valley Trout Hatchery in Abbotsford (4 hour AMAZING “Learn to Fish” program can be geared to all ages. Adults free, kids $10)

construction + building

• Make a dollhouse
• Build a snowman or snow fort
• Build a kite and try to fly it
• Build a bird house
• Build a tree house
• Make a dog house
• Build a model car, ship, or plane
• Build Lego!
Home Depot: Kids Workshops run the second Saturday of every month from 10:00 AM to Noon. An adult needs to accompany a child/youth to participate – No Cost Involved

arts + culture

• Teach each other something – musical instrument, new game, skill
• Listen to music or write your own song
• Visit an art gallery/museum
• Attend a concert together
• Write a story or create a play
• Make a video together
• Attend a play or production together
• Research another culture’s customs & traditions
• Enjoy a free music or arts festival
• Learn a magic trick
• Create a crossword puzzle or word search together
• Check out local craft markets
• Plant seeds in a flower pot and see if they grow
• Go on a photo scavenger hunt around the community

around the community

• Go window shopping (Fort Langley, Willowbrook mall)
•  Play Lazer Tag
• Get a manicure/pedicure
• Visit the beach (sand castles, sand animals, water Frisbee, rent a paddle boat, campfire)
• Participate in a community service project together
• Go-Karts
• Go garage sale-ing
• Take part in a community event – fair, parade, rodeo, ball game
• Visit a pet store, kennel, or Humane Society
• Go on a nature walk (try using a compass) & take some photographs
• Go for a hayride or horseback riding
• Visit a farm
• Go antiquing
• Go to a farmers’ market or a local fair
• Take binoculars and go bird watching
• Go to a farm to pick seasonal produce such as apples or strawberries
• Tour a police or fire station

Crafts

• Trace each other’s shadows on the sidewalk
• Pressed flower crafts
• Make a pet rock – clean, paint, glue on hats, accessories, etc.
• Build a castle out of toothpicks or cards
• Make finger puppets, shadow puppets
• Make a scrapbook of the things you have done together
• Make friendship bracelets
• Beading
• Paint canvases
• Use fabric paints to color your t-shirt or pillowcase
• Try leather work – make a belt or purse
• Paper plane flying contest
• Origami
• Paint or draw
• Ceramics or sculptures
• Learn to sew – make your own costumes
• Holiday Activities – colour Easter eggs, decorate a tree, make your own cards
• Make paper snowflakes
• Make paper-mache
• Draw pictures of each other
• Create a cartoon character together
• Make a paper-mache volcano and erupt it (outside)
• Try finger painting
• Make masks
• Make a shoe box house with miniature furniture
• Make a piñata and then ask the teacher if the class can break it
• Cut pictures from magazines and create an “all about me” collage
• Make sock puppets
• Create a calendar and note special dates

GAMES

• Set up a domino maze and knock it over
• Play hopscotch
• Try the Limbo!
• Thumb wrestle
• Draw tattoos on each other
• Lawn games – Frisbee, croquet
• Play cards and board games – maybe create your own!!
• Do a jigsaw puzzle
• Make up new rules to an old board game and write them down
• Ask each other trivia questions
• Play “hangman” or “I spy”
• Create a secret code and write coded messages to each other
• Learn to play chess
• Write your own “knock knock” jokes
• Learn how to juggle
• Create a skit or a play

around the school

• Go on a picnic on the field
• Help set up for a community event happening in the school
• Go on a “nature walk” on the school grounds (try using a compass) and take some photographs
• Do a good deed at the school (help the custodian or librarian during one visit)
• Have a scavenger hunt in the library
• Create a treasure hunt map for your Mentee and hide a “buried treasure” where “X” marks the spot
• Have races in the Gym

food

• Make a milkshake, float, Jello, or pudding
• Bake
• Try a new recipe
• Make a pizza
• Make a gingerbread house
• Decorate cupcakes or cookies

construction + building

• Make a dollhouse
• Build a snowman or snow fort
• Build a kite and try to fly it
• Build a bird house
• Build a model car, ship, or plane
• Build Lego! (See how tall you can make a Lego creation before it falls over)

other fun ideas

• Keep a journal of your activities
• Read the newspaper headlines and have your Little/mentee guess the story
• Have “show and tell” – each of you bring something special from home and discuss its importance to you
• Write a letter to a favorite famous person
• Write down everything that you and your Mentee like about each other and then share
• Crazy photos – dress up in silly clothes, take pictures, pretend you are a professional
photographer and make each other pose
• Draw Mazes for the other to try to solve
• Learn to sign something in Sign Language
• Create a new language together

sports + activities

• Basketball, football, soccer, floor hockey, etc
• Hide and seek
• Learn how to do a dance (chicken dance, line dance, Macarena)
• See how long you can keep a ball in the air (balloon, beach ball, volleyball)

educational activities

• Computer games or surf the Net
• Be a scientist – study birds, butterflies, bugs
• Collect leaves and try to identify them
• Chose a place on a map and learn about it
• Research a favourite animal or dinosaur in the library
• Conduct a science experiment
• Learn about astronomy
• Share with each other about your own culture

arts + culture

• Listen to and compare favorite music
• Teach each other something – musical instrument, new game, skill
• Listen to music or write your own song
• Write a story or create a play
• Make a video together
• Make a Claymation movie
• Research another culture’s customs & traditions
• Learn a magic trick
• Create a crossword puzzle or word search together
• Plant seeds in a flower pot and see if they grow
• Go on a photo scavenger hunt around the school grounds
• Make up your own words to a favorite song
• Read a comic book
• Read a joke book