Tin Can Robots

Who doesn't like Robots?

What a great way to create something with your mentee with things you can find around the house. Bring in old coffee cans, tins, ect (just make sure you wash them out first), and attach elastic bands, clips, magnets, washers, and whateve you can get your hands on to create cool little robots for you and your mentee to take home! Just make sure that you, not your mentee is the one handling the hot glue gun.

 Be as creative as you want, the sky is the limit.

Check out a more detailed explanation of how to make them here : http://www.thechocolatemuffintree.com/2011/06/tin-can-magnetic-robots.html

Ch-ch-ch-chia pets!

Looking for a  fun and inexpensive multi-week activity to do with your mentee? Make your own Chia pet! Assemble it, watch it grow, and then cut its 'hair'!

Materials you will need:

• Soil
• Grass Seed
• Pantyhose
• Wiggle Eyes
• Pom Poms
• Chenille Stems
• Fern Pins
• Hot Glue Gun & Glue

Instructions:

1. To begin, you will need to mix together soil and grass seed. I would recommend using 2 parts soil to 1 part grass seed. The more grass seed you use the “hairier” your Chia pet will be. Cut the pantyhose into about 6 inch sections and be sure to tie one end before adding the soil. To make it easier to add the soil, I used a cup to hold the panty hose. You can use as much soil as you want but I used about one cup.
2. Once you have filled the hose, tie off the open end and shape the hose into a ball.
3. Now for the fun part! You can decorate or embellish your Chia pet anyway you like! Add a face, ears, tail, and a nose. I glued my embellishments to fern pins and chenille stems and stuck them into the hose.
4. You want to leave room for the grass to grow up and around what you added. The possibilities are endless!
5. Once you’re done decorating, place your Chia pet in a bowl and add water. You should water it every day and keep it under a warm light for the best results. Now it’s time to sit back and watch your little potato-looking pet grow! You should start seeing grass in about 7-10 days.
6. Once your hair (grass) grows, you can give it a trim or let it grow wild!

Check out the full link right here: http://www.favecrafts.com/Crafting-with-Kids/How-To-Create-Your-Very-Own-Chia-Pet-from-Consumer-Crafts#

Pumpkin time!

Happy Halloween!

Its that time of year again! Carving pumpkins with your mentees is a fun way to celebrate the holidays, be creative, and get a little messy. But just remember you have to be the one doing the carving! 

Teen Mentor Profile

Hello All,


Today we thought it would be fun to share with you what one teen mentor does for a living.
Peter Takis, 17, is a local entrepeneur who designed and launched his own clothing label, Local Advancers, at the age of 15. Not only does Peter have an incredible eye for street wear fashion, he is also an avid promoter for Winnipeg and it's local artists.  Although Peter has now graduated from high school, he maintains his belief in the power of mentoring. Recently, Peter posted this to his Local Advancers facebook page:

"What would you choose?

1. Influencing 1 person all your life and have $1,000,000.00 in your bank account?
-or-
2. Influencing 1 million people positively all your life and have $1.00 in your bank account?

It's actually a pretty crazy thought, realistically the majority or people would take the dough and enjoy it but I'm gunna try to explain the importance of being a positive influence to your sc

hool, city and generation without sounding out of touch (edited)...

I think as teenagers we need to rethink rich. Being wealthy is so over glamorized it's shocking. Don't get me wrong making money is something we should shoot for, but true power is how many people we can influence in a positive way.

My goal and biggest motivation with everything I do is to inspire young people and play a part in advancing the city...

2 years ago WPG wasn't exactly known for streetwear brands was it? In 2010 I launched LA with $300 and a 15 year old's grade 10 education. Since then we began paving the way being one of the first independent brands coming out of the 204 and definitely one of the first brands pushing a positive message in the entire streetwear industry. FLASH FORWARD 2 YEARS... how does the city look for streetwear now? It's seems like every high school as a kid is launching a line hey? It's awesome and inspiring! Now Winnipeg streetwear progression has taken a life of it's own! Not to mention the past ignorance in streetwear is essentially dead, people now want to wear what's important to them. If your wearing LA or not, that's not the point but wearing what you believe in is.

Did I get rich in the last 2 years? HELL NO. But I'm blessed to know that young people and aspiring artists in WPG have began to take action because they heard some skinny goofy looking kid named Peter Turkis, Takis, Tack-ass or something did so when he was 15. I'm proud of that!

We all use twitter right? I'm on it far too often for sure, but in between my silly tweets I make a genuine attempt to tweet tips and positivity instead of negativity or drama. I don't push my twitter and say "I have 25,000 followers" for an ego boost, sure it's cool to have fans but I see 25,000 followers as 25,000 listeners/ opportunities, so I try to make it count by inspiring them, making them laugh or helping them get passed an issue. So since your on facebook now, look at how many friends you have 500, 1000, 1500? Posting something positive would be dope, and might put a smile on someones face right?

Alright enough preaching for one night aha.. I just hope everyone doesn't get so caught up in the dollars and cents so we can start moving our schools, city and generation forward. Oh and also listen to 2 Chainz... he's inspiring too ;)

- Peter Takis:

 

 

Please take the time to check out Local Advancers on facebook to see what Peter is up to next! He's an inspiration to us all!! Keep up the amazing work you do, friend!!

click link below to visit facebook.

 

 

 Local Advancers Facebook

How about a Back to School Scavenger Hunt!

 

What better way to spend some time with your metee in the School Yard before things get too cold. Here is a list of scavenger hunt clues to take along, or make your own!

* Find a large red leaf.
* Find the smallest yellow leaf that you can find.
* Find an animal sign…a track, a feather, a bone, etc. What animal was here?
* Look for an old bird’s nest.
* Find some rough bark.
* Find some smooth bark.
* Find 2 different grasses. How are they different?
* Find a smooth pebble that fits in the palm of your hand. Take it home and paint it with fall colors.
* Listen for the sound of birds. How many different birds to you hear?
* Can you find a flower? What color is it?
* What is the most beautiful thing that you can find?

When you and your mentee are done with this scavenger hunt, take a walk through the park or on the nature trail and have them point out signs of fall, animal signs, and other interesting things they find along the way. Wrap a piece of masking tape sticky side out around their wrist and help them make a fall nature bracelet. Stick leaves and other bits of nature right onto the tape, or make other 'Nature Inspired' art projects using things you finf outside.

When you’re done, have your picnic, sip on some hot chocolate and enjoy the colors of fall with your mentee.

You can find more scavenger hunts for kids at www.scavenger-hunt-guru.com. There is also a great collection of nature scavenger hunt ideas as well.

Have a wonderful autumn season exploring the great outdoors with your mentees!

Just Around The Corner!!

My Dear Mentors, New and Experienced,

If you can believe it, summer is almost over. All of us here at Big Brothers Big Sisters sure hope you've had a happy, healthy, and safe summer. We know you'll all have something awesome to share with your mentee, whether you're meeting them for the first time, or getting to reunite since the end of the school year.

We are rapidly apporaching what will be our 6th year of running this amazing program. It sure is amazing for us to get to know you guys over the years that you volunteer for us. We are always amazed at how kind, eager, determined, reliable, and energetic our mentors are every year. Without teens like you, none of this would be possible.

Who We Are

We - The ISM casework team are made up of Jessika, Ashley, and Delaney. You'll all have the opportunity to meet each of us throughout the year, but one of us will be your devoted "go to".
We work in close connection to your high school liaison to ensure that everything runs smoothly. We are always happy to hear from you so feel free to email or call whenever you feel like it!!

A Few Things To Look Forward to This Year

With a growing digital and social media world, we've decided to jump on board and keep you guys informed - ONLINE! Please use this site to see what's new and exciting in the Teen ISM world. Check regularly for activity ideas, photos and stories on highlighted matches or events!! If you have amazing stories to share with us, please do!! We will be looking for great stories to share.

We will be working with our fabulous team of  In School Mentoring Caseworkers to plan and deliver some awesome group activities. Whether it's a classic favorite like carving pumpkins, or it's having presentations on DNA extractions, baking cookies, or organized gym games - this is your information centre for what will be happening at your schools.

Robots!!

Some of our amazing mentors from last year!!

Who doesn't love cookies!!

 

As always, you can expect your caseworker to be in close contact with you throughout the school year. We want to hear from you - what's working, what's not working, and what we can do to help make your match the best it can be!!

We hope to be updating this blog as often as possible, so please remember to check on us once a while!! Can't wait to see all of your smiling faces! Let's make this year the best year yet!!

Jessika

101 Fun Activities for Mentors and Mentees

Looking for some activities to try out with your mentee? Take a look at this list of 101 ideas and get creative! See how many you can accomplish throughout the year, keep track and make a memory book of all the fun activities you did together!

1.     Fly a kite in the schoolyard.

2.     Surprise your mentee by celebrating his/her half birthday.

3.     Make a thin layer of Jell-O and carve it into letters, numbers, figures, etc.

4.     Together, write a family newspaper for friends and relatives.

5.     Take a walk around the school grounds with a memento bag and collect interesting leaves, rocks or junk.

6.      Pick up any garbage littering the schoolyard.
7.      Design your own cards for various occasions.
8.      Have a picnic lunch/snack together.
9.      Weave a ring out of grass.
10.    Pick shares of stock and watch them make or lose money.
11.    Look up new words in the dictionary.
12.    Use a globe to locate friends, travel destinations and current events.
13.    Make a collage of your lives with pictures cut from magazines.
14.    Make giant soap bubbles.
15.    Plan an imaginary vacation.
16.    Learn a simple magic trick and amaze your friends.
17.    Show your mentee your high school yearbook picture.
18.    Paint an original T-shirt.
19.    Compliment your mentee’s character and skills.
20.   Find all the living things on a one-foot square of grass.
21.    Make a bug cage and catch bugs.
22.   Learn to count to 10 in a foreign language.
23.   Write a letter to your mentee on you’re your match anniversary telling them what you’ve noticed about him/her in the last year.
24.   Make homemade potpourri with dried flower petals.
25.   Help your mentee make a list of everyone who loves them.
26.   Paint a special message on a wooden cutting board as a present for mom.
27.   Make a calendar of the big events of the year.
28.   Write a poem about your mentee and read it at a special occasion.
29.   Find and feed the birds in the schoolyard.
30.   Look through a book of house plans and pick out your dream house.
31.    Help your mentee write a letter to the author of their favorite book.
32.   Start a coin or stamp collection.
33.   Go on a camera scavenger hunt.  Let your mentee take the pictures.
34.   Tape record messages to send to loved ones.
35.   Read biographies of people who did great things and let your mentee know that they can do great things too.
36.   Look up Big Brothers Big Sisters on the Internet.
37.   Finger paint.
38.   Make mini pizzas using buns and other tasty ingredients.
39.   Make paper mache maracas or a pinata filled with treats!
40.   Donate old toys and clothes to a community shelter.
41.    Check out a tree identification book from the library and discover which   trees grow in the schoolyard.
42.   Using the letters from a big word, see how many smaller words you can create.
43.   Role play meeting new people so your mentee will have more confidence in unfamiliar situations.
44.   Learn about another country.
45.   Use a book of names to find the meaning of your names.
46.   Build a log cabin out of popsicle sticks and glue.
47.   Use a magnifying glass to examine all kinds of little things.
48.   Write a poem about Big Brothers Big Sisters of Winnipeg.
49.   Write a story about your match and send it to your Caseworker at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Winnipeg.
50.   Squeeze fresh orange juice.
51.    Tape record yourselves reading your favorite stories.
52.   Learn about the history of Winnipeg.
53.   Share photographs of yourselves as children.
54.   Carve a pumpkin and roast the pumpkin seeds.
55.   Read books written by local authors.
56.   Speak highly of the people in your life.
57.   Read books about famous inventors.
58.   Research the events that occurred in your birthday years.
59.   Enjoy a fresh coconut, pineapple or other fruit that cannot be found in the area.
60.   Build and paint a birdhouse.
61.    Learn to tap out your names in Morse code and sigh your names in sign language.
62.   Watch a Chia pet grow.
63.   Learn how to do tricks with a yo-yo.
64.   Make a video movie.
65.   Get a chemistry set and perform your own experiments.
66.   Build a house of cards together.
67.   Make pancakes.
68.   Learn to identify three constellations.
69.   Learn 10 new words in a foreign language.
70.   Drink hot chocolate together.
71.    Have a monopoly tournament.
72.   Surf the Internet and learn about new subjects.
73.   Bake and frost cookies.
74.   Assemble a model.
75.   Make food from around the world.
76.   Learn about your own cultures.
77.   Learn to meditate.
78.   Maintain a scrapbook of all the things you do together.
79.   Research an important event or issue at the library.
80.   Learn how to dance.
81.    Decorate eggs…not just at Easter!
82.   Learn some Yoga moves.
83.   Tell each other stories.  Star by giving the other a starting sequence such as   “I was walking to school the other day and I saw…”
84.   Create a bead necklace or bracelet.
85.   Think of ways to be kind to others.
86.   Take out a book on drawing and learn to draw together.
87.   Paint self-portraits.
88.   Read each others palms.
89.   Do crossword puzzles together.
90.   Do word search games together.
91.    Create your own game.
92.   Learn about different career opportunities.
93.   Learn a new joke.
94.   Learn to use a compass.
95.   Plant seeds and care for the plants throughout the year.
96.   Make masks.
97.   Talk about how your day/week has been and any interesting highlights.
98.   Read about your astrological signs.
99.   Make Play-dough sculptures.
100. Make a list of things that make you happy.
101. Discover each other’s interests and brainstorm activities to do together.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Winnipeg

Hello Mentors,

This is the first year that we will have a blog. Please use it as a resource to help with your match :)

If you have any ideas, or are looking for something specific on the blog that you think we should feature, please let us know!

http://www.bigwinnipeg.com/en/Home/default.aspx