Activity Ideas

The quality of the time you invest with your Little is more important than the amount of money you spend. That’s why we don’t encourage spending a lot of money on your outings.

The goal of the relationship is to help your Little see the world through a different lens so you can inspire your Little to become something they never thought possible. If you are going to spend money, we encourage you to seek out low-cost activities, especially in the beginning.

Activities That Are NOT Allowed

Bungee Jumping, Parachuting, Skydiving, Parasailing, or Hang-Gliding
Flying in an Airplane, Hot Air Balloon, or any other Flying Object
Off-Road Motorized vehicles like Dirt Bikes, ATVs, UTVs, Snow Mobiles, or 4-Wheelers (Golf Carts are allowed)
Riding in a boat over 60 feet long

Fall Activities

Visit an Apple Orchard and pick apples together
Corn Maze
Pumpkin Patch
Carve or paint pumpkins
Haunted House
Trick or Treating events
Popcorn and Scary Movie night
Make caramel apples
Make Halloween costumes together
Rake leaves for neighbors
Collect fall leaves and identify the trees they fell from

Spring Activities

Create greeting cards, happy “May Day” or “Easter” for loved ones
Plant a garden, or visit a community garden and offer to help
Chalk inspirational messages on public sidewalks
Color spring coloring pages together
Pick up litter for Earth Day at a local park or area

Anytime Activities

Go on a walk and collect interesting rocks, leaves, etc
Card games: Uno, Crazy 8, Old Maid
Play badminton or croquet
Go for a walk, scavenger hunt
Visit a pet store
Scrapbook together
Read books
Go Bowling (All Star Lanes coupon)
Go to a roller rink
Play board games: monopoly, Life, Sorry, Hangman, charades, checkers, chess, etc.
Go to a Museum: Dahl Auto Museum, Children’s Museum, La Crosse Area Heritage Center, Minnesota Marine Arts Museum, Watkins Museum, Police Museum, etc.)
Ask to visit a local fire or police station
Visit the humane society and offer to walk the dogs
Play computer/video games together
Shop for a cook a meal together
Bake a treat
Try mastering something difficult: juggling, watercolor painting, etc
Paint portraits of one another
Start a hobby together: astronomy, sewing, music, singing, drama, dance, stained glass, painting, poetry, woodworking
Start a collection: stamps, rocks, coins, comics, bugs, dolls, figures, sports cards
Walk, train, and play with your dog
Build a model car, plane, or rocket
Create a book club for you and other matches
Visit the public library
Work with clay, or paper mache
Research your family tree
Attend your Little’s school play or sporting event to cheer them on!
Watch the same TV show each week, then call to talk about it
Do a science project together using household products
Make a volcano
Go to a Trampoline Park
Watch a local sports team! (UWL Athletics, Viterbo Athletics, Loggers Game, etc)
Help your Little with a school project
Take your Little to your place of employment
Pretend to go camping in your backyard and create a fire, set up a tent, and roast smores
Create or paint pottery at All Glazed up
Try an escape room (The Great Escape La Crosse) with other matches
Go stargazing (on the bluffs!)
Make a Log Cabin or other creations out of popsicle sticks
Try a new restaurant together
Try a new food together
Go to the La Crosse movie theater
Do a puzzle together
Play arcade games together
Make your own T shirts with fabric markers and colored glue
Go to the YMCA and play basketball, swim, etc.
Teach your Little valuable life skills, including maintaining a bike (replace chain, repair brakes), changing oil in a car, jump starting a car, changing a tire, tying a tie, etc.
Eat lunch with your Little at school
If comfortable, visit your littles church or your church.
Have your Little teach you something
Volunteer together! Ideas: Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, deliver food for Meals on Wheels, help out at a homeless shelter or food pantry, nursing home, or volunteer at a BBBS event
Visit the UW-La Crosse Planetarium
Go to a coffee shop and read together
Go shopping at the mall
Do a get to know you game/competition
Do Buzzfeed quizzes together
Go to Goodwill and thrift an outfit for one another
Attend a Big Brothers Big Sisters Agency Sponsored Activity (link)
Make a calendar to schedule outings together and plan ahead!
Keep a journal of all your outings together and what you liked/disliked about each
Make friendship bracelets
Visit a local courthouse and observe a court hearing
Make paper airplanes
Go rock climbing or try out a ropes course
Go to a gem and mineral show
Create a puppet show and show your friends/family
Create a movie or trailer on iMovie
Play chef/restaurant
Run errands with your Little and teach them about grocery shopping, budgeting etc
Write a letter to your Little on your match anniversary telling what you have noticed about him/her in the last year. (ex positive change, growth)
Learn a new language together.
Look up new words in the dictionary
Plan for a money-earning project and save money for a special event
If your Little is a teenager, practice completing job and college applications
Play a musical instrument or learn one together
Spend time on a college campus
Teach your Little good phone etiquette, how to leave messages, how to use emergency phone numbers
Take a first aid class together
Build and bury a time capsule
Paint a fence or room
Go to a dance performance, concert, or art show

Winter Activities

Bake/frost Christmas cookies
Make a Christmas/Birthday present for Parent or Guardian or someone else special
Rotary Lights
Watch a Hallmark Christmas movie
Try Ice Skating (rotary lights have this!)
Go Christmas Caroling
Build a snowman or snow fort
Go sledding
Go skiing or snowboarding at Mount La Crosse

Summer Activities

Fly a kite
Feed the ducks at a park
Geocaching (free app: “Geocaching” on app store)
Picnic: PB&J, juice, etc at the park
Make a bug cage and catch lightning bugs
Visit the zoo/petting zoo
Mini Golfing
Build and decorate a birdhouse for your little house.
Learn how to rollerblade/skate
At home car wash!
Take a bike ride together (both wear helmets!)
Go to a circus, county fair, or carnival
Go to the Farmers Market
Watch a Parade
Go horseback riding
Take a hike in Hixon Forest
Explore the Bluffs
Watch a fireworks show
Go swimming at a local pool
Play in the Sprinkler
Do a slip-and-slide
Go to a Splash Pad
Explore a new park. Ideas: Beaver Creek Reserve, Hoffman Kills, Dunn Co. Lion’s Club animal park, Irvine Park Zoo, Big Falls, Lake Wissota, Coon Forks, etc.)Play Frisbee Golf
Play Basketball, Volleyball, or Soccer outside
Go Go-karting at Riverside Amusement Park
Blow Bubbles
Make a lemonade stand and sell lemonade
Have a water balloon fight
Create and compete in an obstacle course
Visit a farm
Go to a beach and build a sandcastle
Mow lawn, rake leaves, yard work
Go fishing
Help tag our young Lake Sturgeon at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery
Go tubing, canoeing, or rafting
Go bird watching
Go pick strawberries or raspberries
Plant a tree
Go to a horse, dog, cat show

Don't Get Discouraged

- Big Brother Logan

“It’s tough at first. It’s a tough adjustment to be able to work into your Match. It’s difficult to get started because you don’t necessarily know where to start.

Just be confident in yourself and know that whatever you’re doing is making an impact. Taking small steps is the first thing that you can do. Eventually, those will grow into bigger things. Small changes and small moments can really make big differences later. Don’t get discouraged”.

Show Up

- Big Sister Jazlynne

“Don’t get discouraged. It’s likely that your Little has had someone betray their trust or just doesn’t feel comfortable opening up to a stranger. That’s okay!

Make sure to let them know you’re always around when they’re ready to talk. I like to share stories with my Little about things I struggled with at her age, such as making friends or focusing on schoolwork, as a reminder that I was once eleven too. It’s okay if you don’t have all the right answers.

You just have to show up”. Being persistent in your relationship with your Little will show that you’re not just around when they’re at their best.

Sometimes all they need is someone that will stay connected no matter the season of life they’re in."

Be Patient

- Big Sister Lexi

“My biggest advice to a new big is to be patient and go in with an open mind, I truly can’t emphasize it enough. I wish I went into my match with more of an open mind.

I thought it was going to be easy from the first time I met her, and to be honest it wasn’t. I had to show her that I was someone she could trust.

Having a Little is not always easy and it’s a very big responsibility. But, through patience and an open mind it will be one of the best experiences you will have. BBBS is an amazing opportunity, one that not everyone gets to participate in.

Always remember to be patient, kind, and have fun. You are going to make such a difference in a child’s life”.