Match activities don't have to be extravagant or super exciting. It's the little things that add up to something big! Use your imagination, start a project or explore the world through your Little's eyes. Here are some suggestions for ways you can turn Little Moments into Big Magic!
1. Figure out how to program your DVD player
2. Tour a college campus (we have lots in the area!)
3. "Find" a summer job in the classifieds
4. Select a cool wardrobe from a catalogue and compare tastes
5. Go bargain shopping at a thrift store
6. Plan a week's worth of your favorite meals and figure out the costs
7. Celebrate a friend's religious holiday
8. Go shopping for a special person you both know
9. Write a short story and illustrate it
10. Talk about credit cards and finances
11. Go on a hike
12. Visit city hall or the county office
13. Plan a hypothetical career and write out a resume
14. Watch a TV program or movie and identify negative stereotypes
15. Explore a radio station
16. Take a role of photographs of "unusual" sights
17. Take a long ride to "the end of the line" on public transportation
22. Make up stories about funny pictures you have collected
23. Celebrate your names by crafting items via carving, alphabet soup, drawing, etc.
24. Make a list of 5 people you admire and research them on the internet
25. Help an elderly neighbor
26. Make a present for someone special
27. List and prioritize 10 values
28. Visit the Humane Society and offer to walk the dogs
29. Learn to play a board game together
30. Go to a professional ball game
31. Make an appointment at a cosmetology school and get a new hairstyle or cut
32. Rent roller blades
33. Visit a production plant via prearranged appointment
34. Go to a fish market, meat market, or other place where food is not prepackaged
35. Wash the car
36. Compose a letter to a politician, author, or sports hero
37. Find a place to sing karaoke
38. Pick apples or other fruit in season
39. Open a bank account with your Little's allowance
40. Visit a junkyard to find a treasure
41. Bake cookies (from scratch, not the kind in a tube!)
42. Go swimming or canoeing and teach your Little water safety
43. Fly a kite, throw a frisbee, or learn a sport
44. Teach good sportsmanship
45. Encourage, help, and support your Little with his/her hobbies (start a collection of rocks, insects, jokes, leaves, coins, etc.)
46. Have your Little teach you how to do something
47. Participate in Bowl for Kids' Sake!
48. Talk about your friends, what your best friends are like, what it means to be a friend
49. Teach your Little good telephone etiquette and how to leave messages
50. Make dinner together
51. Eat a meal at an ethnic restaurant
52. Make popcorn and talk about what's in today's newspaper
53. Go to the library together
54. Start a scrapbook or memory book
55. Make a list of "favorites"
56. Learn a new skill together
57. Volunteer for a United Way project
58. Go to the Dollar Theater at Briarwood Mall in Ann Arbor (50 cent Tuesdays!!)
59. Go to a concert, ballet, or opera
60. Take a tour of a friend's job site
61. Discuss the importance of good manners
62. Visit a fire department of police station
63. Work on flash cards together
64. Go grocery shopping together and talk about nutritious foods
65. Teach your Little how to fill out a job application and role play an interview
66. Talk about your Little's future goals for college or employment
67. Write your Little a note/card when you have to be away for awhile and encourage them to do the same
68. Encourage your Little to teach you about his/her family's customs and traditions, and join in if invited
69. Offer to help your Little make something special for their room such as a wall hanging, framed picture, book shelves, or other arts and crafts
70. Make holiday crafts or cards and take them to residents of a local nursing home
71. Talk about responsible uses of energy (water, lights, electricity, etc)
72. Put on a puppet show together
73. Use a shoe box to make a pirate ship
74. Learn a new language together
75. Decorate plain white shirts with paints or markers
76. Plant flowers together
77. Learn a new card game together, or make one up!
78. Have a picnic
79. Make a bird feeder
80.Teach simple first aid skills
81. Do a science experiment together
82. Find similar places on a map or atlas
83. Decorate an inexpensive picture frame with puzzle pieces, candy wrappers, magazine pictures, etc.
84. Learn how to use a compass, and navigate around a park or playground
85. Help your Little to write a book or newspaper about themselves - what they're good at, favorite things, family, things that they're afraid of, etc.
86. Find some old clothes and play "dress up" together
87. OR find the craziest outfit you can at the thrift store
88. Write a play or skit and act it out for someone you know
89. Pick a place you and your Little would like to travel, and prepare a meal from that culture
90. Build a snowman or go sledding
91. Learn about different constellations together
92. Check out a library book about magic and perform a "magic show" for friends or family
93. Draw a family portrait
94. Go on a scavenger hunt
95. List ways in which you and your Little are similar and different (get creative!)
96. Perform random acts of kindness
97. Create your own board game
98. Learn origami and see how many different things you can make
99. Create your own flavor of ice cream
100. Explore a nearby city that you've never visited (Saline, Canton, Dexter, etc.)
Remember, your job is to be your Little's FRIEND and to have FUN!
