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How Exactly do the Mentorship Sessions Work?
First, you reach out to us (see our Contacts page!) on behalf of any group of youths ages 6-14 that you believe would benefit from our programs. We typically work with after-school programs and elementary schools, but we are open to mentoring any type of kids' group ages 6-14.
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Second, the Mindful Mentorship Foundation will schedule a one-hour mentorship session with the group at the group's after-school program, school, or any space where the group will be!​ Mentors will be in touch prior to the scheduled mentorship session to confirm the number of mentees anticipated at the session, what type of program the youths are especially interested in (see below), and any other logistics to ensure the mentorship session goes off without a hitch.
Third, on the date of the scheduled mentorship, at least two of MMF's mentors and/or volunteers will run the scheduled session. MMF will bring all supplies and handle set up and clean up.
Examples of Mentorship Sessions
Nutrition Wellness
This is many of our mentees’ favorites as who doesn't like to eat tasty food?! We begin the session by discussing how the foods one puts into their body can affect them in a good way but also a bad way. We talk about which foods have beneficial nutrients, vitamins and minerals and how those foods can help one with focus, anxiety and mood (based on the book This is Your Brain on Food by Uma Naidoo MD). We then make several different recipes as a group using healthy ingredients. Afterwards, we feast!
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is one of the most important things we teach because mindfulness practices can be used every day. We have taught mindfulness through yoga, where we teach a variety of poses and breath work as a way to calm one’s mind and body and decrease impulsivity particularly in challenging situations. We have also taught our mentees to make fidget toys, which help relieve stress and gives them a fun way to get out energy.
Collaborative, Physical Skill-Building
​One example of a collaborative, physical skill-building activity we have brought to our mentorship sessions is “Ultimate Spy”. In Ultimate Spy, two teams are made and each player gets a football flag to wear around their waist. The teams spread out over an outdoor space and the last player in the area with their flag declares victory for their team. We teach teams to work together in order to plan a strategy in which team members each serve a purpose for the benefit of the whole team, even if that means being bait to be captured! Our mentees love this physical (there is a lot of running) and team-oriented game.
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Cardboard Makerspace
Some of our team's favorite makerspace projects involve building with cardboard instead of throwing it away. We have helped our students get creative and build cardboard wands, swords and armor. Just like we did when we were their age, our mentees love playing with their repurposed toys after their work is complete. And truth be told, we still enjoy playing with our cardboard creations too.
Music Makerspace
In this workshop, we get creative with our mentees and make instruments, such as guitars, maracas, drums, and harmonicas, mostly out of ordinary household materials that we keep instead of throwing away like tissue boxes, paper towel rolls, and broken rubber bands.
Origami & Art
Origami and art, just like yoga, are practices in mindfulness. We start our origami sessions by teaching how to make a paper crane. There are many steps and it can get really frustrating, but we counsel our mentees to take breaths, have patience and to let go of self judgment. Our goal is to show our mentees that through patience and practice, they can achieve something really beautiful. For our art projects, we like to help our students make seasonal creations, like snowflakes with tape and water colors in December, and paper plate feathered birds in Spring.
Spontaneous Problems
While our founders were competing on Odyssey of the Mind teams, we loved Spontaneous Problems because they would train our sharpness and collaboration. There are 3 types of Spontaneous problems (verbal, hands-on, and a combination of both) and teams must solve each on the spot, requiring quick thinking, teamwork, and creative problem-solving.
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