How to Mentor Interactive Activities for Teens

There are many interactive activities for teens to engage in.

Mentoring teenagers is a rewarding experience that many people seek to pursue. It can help build self-esteem, confidence and knowledge in teenagers, and it can provide an excellent feeling of self-worth and accomplishment for mentors. However, for many mentors it is hard to come up with ideas and activities that keep their mentees engaged. For teenagers, not only do the activities have to be fun and interactive, but they also must build lifelong skills to help them succeed after graduation.

Instructions

1. Fill a need within the community. If there is a severe lack of service or activity in the community geared toward teens, a mentor or organization can create an activity to fill this gap in services. For example, mentors can create fun and free sports games or college tours for mentees to participate in intervals of their choosing, such as once a week or once a month.

2. Ask professionals for help. Enlist in the help of professionals such as business owners, doctors, lawyers, teachers and others in the community by asking them to participate in panel discussion or career shadowing. Have mentees develop five to 10 questions to ask panel participants during the discussion, and make it mandatory that each teen ask at least one question. You can expand this panel to include college students, graduate students, mentors and former mentees as well. For career shadowing, mentees can rotate with professionals so that they can have experience dealing with different jobs and gain knowledge about careers they never thought to pursue. Have mentees discuss their experiences with other mentees and their mentors.

3. Develop team-building exercises for both mentors and mentees. Team-building exercises can be as simple as icebreakers every time there is a meeting or as extensive as a challenge course either at the local park or at a sports gym (if available). Create obstacle courses for mentors and mentees in various team arrangements so they can complete together.

References

• Healthy Families and Children: Youth Mentorship Programs

Resources

• Youth Mentoring Connection: One-On-One Mentor Map: Ideas for Things To Do from Other Mentors