1. Visit Klyde Warren Park, throw a frisbee 2. Walk through Bishop Arts District, art galleries 3. Ride bikes near Trinity Groves on the bike trail 4. Play pick-up basketball at Mercy Street, local court, YMCA 5. Visit lonely folks from church 6. Take a prayer walk through the neighborhood 7. Support a Mercy Street baseball or soccer game - cheer, make signs, and meet people! 8. Write thank you notes to troops, fire fighters, etc. 9. Exercise together 10. Play tennis at a local park or Mattie Nash Rec Center 11. Fly a kite - try Fish Trap Lake or any local park! 12. Hike at the Fort Worth Nature Preserve, Oak Cliff Nature Preserve, Cedar Ridge Nature Preserve, or Boulder MTB Park 13. Ride a tandem bike together from the Bike Shop 14. Repair something together or teach each other a new skill - putting up a picture, fixing a sink, etc. 15. Ride bikes from Mercy Street to Klyde Warren on the Continental Pedestrian Bridge 16. Go to Fountain Place at night - 1445 Ross Ave, downtown Dallas 17. Visit the animal shelter right by Mercy Street - 1818 N. Westmoreland 18. Serve food at a local shelter and/or look for other volunteer opportunities with the homeless, refugees, elderly 19. Interview people with different jobs to learn about various career options 20. Hook up with a Dallas ministry to visit lonely folks in prison; or if student has family in prison, visit their family 21. Dallas Museum of Art - most parts of the building are free; great kid area for all ages! 22. Watch your mentee’s favorite movie at their house and then talk about it 23. Come to Mercy Street and play a board game or card game 24. Do a Bible study together
25. Go to the local library and read a book together 26. Thanksgiving Square downtown - a small chapel and a museum on the history of Thanksgiving / gratitude 27. Public ArtWalk Dallas - publicartwalkdallas.org 28. African American Museum in Fair Park 29. The Samurai Collection of the Barbier-Mueller Museum 30. Crow Collection of Asian Art 31. Economy in Action Exhibit at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas 32. Grassy Knoll and JFK Memorial 33. Freedmen’s Cemetery Memorial - from a community formed by freed African-American slaves 34. Hall of State at Fair Park - hallofstate.com 35. Play on the bronze steer at Pioneer Plaza 36. Check out the replica of John Neely Bryan’s cabin at Founders Plaza 37. Create a bingo board of nature items and go for a hike at Cedar Ridge Preserve 38. Take a dog to the dog park at Main Street Garden downtown 39. Visit Trinity River Audubon Center - free 3rd Thursdays; take a picnic & explore outside; visit the indoor exhibit hall and bee, butterfly, and hummingbird gardens 40. Volunteer at Trinity River Audubon Center and help with their habitat restoration projects - 2nd Saturdays 41. Jazz Under the Stars - summers in downtown Dallas 42. Movies in the Plaza at AA Center - summers 43. Make a collage out of old magazines that tell about yourself 44. Watch airplanes take off at Love Field 45. Pick flowers and make a bouquet for someone 46. Go to the local library (Dallas West) and find a book to read together - for the day or long-term 47. Ride the M-Street Trolley around Klyde Warren, Uptown, and West Village 48. See how many BIG signs you can find across Dallas to take your picture in front of 49. Go to a thrift store and have a fashion show 50. Go to the Farmer’s Market and ask about local farming and produce 51. Have your student give you a tour of West Dallas - or let them tell you what streets to take and see where you end up 52. Visit your mentee’s church with them 53. Feed the ducks at Kidd Springs Park 54. Give each other a makeover (girls) or teach each other to shave or tie a tie (boys) 55. Create a garage sale scavenger hunt and see how many of the items you can find 56. Help with homework 57. Support your student at their sports games 58. Go online and submit a photo of someone you know to get it turned into a coloring sheet 59. Decorate for the big or small holidays - St. Patrick’s Day, Christmas, etc.
60. Visit a bank and learn about savings accounts, etc; visit a check-cashing place and learn how their business works 61. Tour the Russell Stover factory outside of Corsicana 62. Collect items from your house to donate and items from your student’s house to donate and take them to a local thrift shop - Salvation Army off of Inwood, Goodwill on Westmoreland 63. Play soccer under the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge using the support beams as goal posts 64. Dallas Symphony Orchestra concerts in the parks - summers 65. Make your own cards out of scrap paper and magazines and write letters to someone far away - or even down the street! 66. Have a YouTube party where you share favorite videos with each other - think ahead of time of what might be uplifting and/or educational to also include in your line-up 67. Read a story together and then take turns drawing the different scenes; or tell a story from your weekend and then draw it 68. Visit a mentee’s relative who lives outside of West Dallas who they don’t get to see often because of the distance - Duncanville, Mesquite, etc. 69. Go with the family to Parent-Teacher nights at the schools 70. Write encouraging notes for each other that will be saved and not opened until birthdays, upcoming test, etc 71. Create a unique meal out of whatever you can find in the cabinet 72. Do a puzzle 73. Do a crossword puzzle out of the newspaper, and then try to create your own crossword puzzle - you can also create your own online for each other and see if you can guess each other’s clues 74. Visit a local Michael’s, Home Depot, or Lowe’s for a free craft / home repair class 75. Ride the D-Link downtown or to Bishop Arts 76. Get an actual paper map and use it to navigate to a new destination - teach your mentee how to read a map! 77. Teach your mentee a skill that you know and then have them teach you one of their skills 78. Make a “bucket list” together; or create a “God bucket list” of what you want to see God do in your/others’ lives and pray for them 79. Create a time capsule together that you’ll save until they graduate from high school or one year from now 80. Explore the tunnels under downtown Dallas 81. Discuss what “good manners” look like in different countries and then pretend you’re having dinner in that country and practice 82. Go on the Highland Park Azalea walk 83. Do the Rosetta Stone online tutorial and see how much you can learn in a foreign language; or consider downloading a free language app together and learning a random language for fun! 84. Visit a church that is a different style from your church and your mentee’s church - discuss what you thought over a premade picnic 85. Go to the Fort Worth Stockyards 86. Play the Alphabet game while driving in the car
87. Dress up (or not) and people watch in the lobby of a fancy hotel 88. Paint each other’s finger and toe nails 89. See who can swing the highest at a local park and then who can pick up the most trash from the park 90. Make a birthday present for a family member out of items you find on a walk around West Dallas 91. Make shadow puppets and then create your own puppet show to share with a little sibling 92. Draw eyeballs on your chin, then hang upside down covering your real eyes and nose - film the things you say and post it on YouTube 93. Film your own music video - your mentee may have a good idea of fun apps to use for this, like Triller 94. Discuss what kind of clothes are needed for different jobs and see if your student can find an appropriate “uniform” at a department store 95. Have your mentee plan a free day for the two of you 96. Watch fireworks outside of the Rangers ballpark on Friday nights 97. Teach your mentee or learn alongside them how to change a tire, change the oil, other car maintenance, etc. 98. Household science experiments - baking soda and vinegar, Diet Coke and Mentos, liquid soap and pepper 99. Go “sledding” on cardboard boxes or baking sheets - doesn’t even need to be snowy! 100. Watch an old black and white movie
Cheap ($10 or less): Walk to local convenience store and buy a soft drink Bake something for a family that just had a baby Park at AA Center and bike to Highland Park Soda Shop via the Katy Trail Carve a pumpkin in the fall Plant a small garden in the spring - plots available at Mercy Street Make homemade ice cream in Ziploc baggies Ride DART somewhere instead of driving; teach your mentee how to catch the bus - or have them teach you! Dallas Heritage Village - free for kids on 3rd Sundays Make s’mores together If your mentee’s family has a car, wash it! Pass out water to people waiting in line to visit loved ones at the county jail Play hopscotch together and make chalk art on the sidewalk Have a picnic in a field of bluebonnets Build a model airplane or car Make homemade snow-cones out of smashed up ice and kool-aid packets
Simple/Relational: Create a relationship scrapbook and start to take pictures every time you are together Walk a 5K to raise money/awareness for a cause
Attend a play at the DTC - $20/ticket Plant a tree and name it after your mentee Go to the zoo and talk about the intricacies of God’s creation Cook a meal together - potentially at Mercy Street if neither home is a good option