Plan an ice breaking activity for the first day that you meet with your student, and also as an introduction to each meeting. The ice breaking activity for the first meeting should revolve around you and your student getting to know each other. You can talk about each other's interests and find what you have in common, and what differences you have. The ice breaking activity for each meeting should be focused on catching up on the past few days, week or month.
Planning a community service project with your students is a great way for your students to feel involved and do something they might have never done before. This activity will show that as a mentor, you want to help your students get involved in positive activities that help others out. Community service projects to consider include raising funds for a charity, cleaning up a highway, donating your time with a nonprofit organization or even just cleaning up the playground.
Talking about the future is a very important aspect of being a mentor, because you want your students to want to be successful. The students cannot be successful unless they know about their options and can explore them. Talking to the students about their future can consist of discussing their interests for a job, discussing their interests in school, talking about how they picture themselves when they are adults, visiting a college campus, having the student pick out interesting sections in a newspaper, and setting life goals.
Many people struggle with becoming organized. As a mentor, you may want to help your students organize their desks, backpacks or cubbies/lockers to help them feel more successful. Once students are organized, you can do various projects with them, like help them with homework, do a craft, create a collage, write a book together, or paint a picture or mural.