January 7, 2021 – Virtual Activities for Matches

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Resources from the Virtual Coffee:

  • What Will We Do Each Week? Adapted for Virtual Mentoring (i.e Coronavirus Version) – LINK
  • National Mentoring Summit – LINK

Notes from Breakout Rooms:

What’s worked? Innovative ideas?

  • Being silly
  • Finding ways to be creative, light, and silly
  • Easy games
  • Providing a mental break
  • Remind app for contacting students
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf4b5Svn4iXcBy9UirC0nIPU3KqwvHxtf4no1Bs5OUC8HJeHQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
  • Writing paper and ink letters – pen pals
  • Girls Inc. – Looking into other organizations to provide programming, have found creating kits to have hands-on activities for girls and families. Crafts and science experiments that can be picked up ahead of time. Creates an opportunity for people to be together. 
  • SOS – scavenger hunts, getting out of chairs, using breakout rooms mostly as kids are more engaged in smaller groups. Introduce activity in a big group then send to breakout rooms. Make sure mentors are prepared ahead of time too. 
  • Monthly virtual challenge – this month, cookie decorating, drive-through pickup for materials. Competition to send in the final project with $15 prizes. 
  • Mountain Mentors – Launching bringing together English and Spanish community with a dual-langage space, hosting a virtual bingo game where people can feel comfortable.
  • Girls Inc – Independent learning subscription boxes. Mailing boxes with books, videos, etc. for mentors and mentees to do together. Open to having folks who want to help pilot reach out to Sarah. 
  • In August compiled an Excel sheet of activities posted online. Also had a pen pal program. Stumbled on activities around holidays are picking up a lot of traction on social media
  • Newly Matched Game: for new matches based on Newlywed Game to get to know each other – LINK
  • Canvas and “mocktails” – great turn out. Pick up materials in the determined location left on the porch. Fun for all ages. 
  • Take home projects – kits for baking pies, cookie decoration challenge. Send pics in for the challenge! 
  • Creating dual language virtual program for matches including BINGO for vocabulary translation community connection
  • University college mentors 
  • Zoom games that mentors, and mentees can play one another – chess, checkers, cribbage Virtual Link sent to mentors  https://playingcards.io/ 
  • Cooking kits to each match then create virtually together 
  • Gift card giveaways 
  • Normalize the program by bringing the team virtual 
  • Meet as a group 
  • Jeopardy tournaments (hosted by staff) 
  • Virtual STEM day – science experiments kit will be sent to matches – corporate partners present 
  • Able to talk more with (support) mentors: Mentor Coffee Hour Virtual 
  • Career Conversations – guest speakers talk about their career path. Alumni involved as presenters 
  • Holding zoom training for mentors – https://www.pcsb.org/Page/19803
  • Pen Pal Kits
  • Virtual Gaming (Video Games) Teach your mentor how to play Minecraft
  • Virtual Jeopardy, Uno, Battleship, charades, scavenger hunt
  • Book Club (read book, share thoughts virtually) 
  • Origami Zoo (send kits and link to how-to video – they create the animals together on Zoom)
  • Each do a Collage (together on zoom)
  • Play legos on Zoom (so you’re not just staring at each other)
  • Go Noodle (break to get up and dance when on Zoom)
  • Little Talk cards by Best Self (questions to ask each other)
  • Do activities separately then come back and talk about them virtually.
  • Covid Quilt
  • Monthly Mentor meetings 
  • Transportation safe for COVID
  • Zoom fatigue 
  • High School student’s engagement and contact 
  • Mentor comfort with technology  
  • Focusing on games and activities thru an equity lens
  • Collaborating with other community organizations
  • Coming up with and shares resources and ideas for mentors and mentees 
  • Newsletters, emails
  • Activities that can be done in person together or virtually – cooking, baking, arts and crafts, games 
  • Monthly journaling questions 
  • Hosting a Zoom Room for mentors to teach mentors how to utilize zoom 
  • Monthly community meetings for mentors and mentees together to meet all together virtually 
  • Connecting with local Maker Spaces to come up with ideas for things that are gender neutral
  • Word search
  • Silly poetry
  • ‘Name that object’
  • ‘Virtual scavenger hunts
  • Virtual events: match anniversary party on zoom, virtual study night, virtual college exploration
  • Shared board-games
  • Dropping off crafts to be done virtually
  • Virtual tours of cultural and nature destinations
  • https://musiclab.chromeexperiments.com/Experiments
  • https://www.safekidgames.com/straight-4/
  • https://www.dropbox.com/s/j132t06um5mkjtz/Jan%20-%20Feb%20Mentor%20Activities.pdf?dl=0
  • https://docs.google.com/document/d/1diEy6uJ4FxzHdcwR7Owa2CmHUxwrsVaBVkkJ70WXGbM/edit\ 

Challenges/Resources Needed:

  • How to get kids to show up? – School is in person but no extracurriculars.
    • SOS – Part of the program kids signed up for. Outdoor activity as an incentive for attendance
    • Girls, Inc – Technology grant that allows them to check out ChromeBooks so there’s not a technology issue. Finding solutions for internet access (Comcast Essentials). Prizes and incentives, including independent learning challenges that get them points. 
  • What can we do online, how can we be more engaging?
  • Efficiency – Sending out texts to send out monthly check in. 
    • Ideas: Calendly, Doodle, Betwext for texting. Also for texting, we use Remind and Talking Points, they are both free and pretty user-friendly
  • How can we make it NOT like school? 
  • Transportation safe for COVID
  • Zoom fatigue 
  • High School student’s engagement and contact 
  • Mentor comfort with technology  
  • Focusing on games and activities thru an equity lens 
  • Mentee engagement 
  • Reaching our most high-risk isolated youth
  • Technology fatigue 
  • Encouraging mentors 
  • Not asking too much of our mentors 
  • Expecting kids to transition well in this virtual world when the adults are not mastering this 
  • Huge mental health needs
  • E-exhaustion
  • Running out of ideas, things getting stale
  • Connecting with older youth
  • Activities for older kids
  • Virtual service projects
  • Guidance on how do you meet safely
  • Ideas that allow for matches to connect but NOT on zoom

Things to Keep Post-Pandemic

  • Keeping a virtual component to reach a wider geographic area
  • Virtual family interviews – asked family to have two separate devices in two different rooms and then using breakout rooms. Allowed for more candid conversations

National level trainings and the ability to bring in higher-level facilitators to train across all sites. 

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