Board Game Week at Tartu Youth Work Center

This week, January 16-20, the Tartu Youth Work Center is hosting .. The event is being held in cooperation with the board game store Brain Games. The games week will run from Monday to Friday, during which various board games will be played with young people. Games such as Carcassonne, Sushi Go, Klask, Lama , etc., which Brain Games has taken care to provide.  

On Thursday, Brain Games' game masters will visit three centers (Anne and Lille youth centers for the 12-19 age group, and Ilmatsalu youth center) to teach young people and youth workers the board game Carcassonne. The learning session will take place between 3 PM and 6 PM. 

We conclude the board game week on Friday, when all centres will host board game tournaments with games chosen by the young people themselves. Prizes for the winners are provided by Brain Games and Tartu Youth Work Centre.  

Playing board games allows youngsters to interact with peers through a fun and stress-free method (Lukas, 2014), thereby developing their cognitive skills such as thinking, attention, decision-making, planning (Altschul et al., 2020), and other essential life skills. 

 

We welcome all interested individuals to join! 

Source:

Altschul DM, Deary IJ. Playing Analog Games Is Associated With Reduced Declines in Cognitive Function: A 68-Year Longitudinal Cohort Study. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2020 Feb 14;75(3):474-482. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbz149.

Lukas, E. (2014). Kindergarten teachers' opinions on the use of board games in teaching activities with children. Bachelor's thesis. University of Tartu, Preschool Teacher Curriculum.

news:

Youth Counselor Oksana Knjaz: “None of us has to handle everything on our own!”

Every young person has their own story, questions, and challenges. Sometimes, all it takes to move forward is for someone to help them clarify their thoughts and identify possible solutions. The youth counselors at the Tartu Youth Work Center support young people in precisely these moments, offering them the chance to talk about both everyday worries and more complex issues. Let’s meet Oksana Knjaz, a youth counselor working at our Anne House.

Read more »

Design socks for the Tartu Youth Work Center!

The Tartu Youth Work Center’s sock design contest is about to begin! Design socks using the provided sock template. You can find the template here or get a paper copy from your youth worker. You can create your design by hand or digitally. Include your name, contact information, and—if you’d like—a brief explanation of your design. Submit your finished work by October 25 at the latest to helene.toomeoks@tartu.ee or give it to your youth worker.

Read more »

Youth Counselor Kairi Kivaste: “My job is to listen and provide guidance, together with the young person”

There are times in a young person’s life when they don’t have to face their thoughts, worries, or questions alone. The Tartu Youth Work Center employs two youth counselors whom young people can turn to when they need someone to listen, help them make sense of a situation, and work together to find possible solutions. The youth counselors also support youth workers and help them identify and resolve

Read more »

Tartu, the Youth Capital, Opens a New Playground at the Anne Youth Center

Today, October 2, at 3:00 p.m., a new playground will open in the courtyard of the Anne Youth Center (Uus 56, Tartu), providing younger visitors with more opportunities for active leisure.The playground is part of a comprehensive plan for the Anne Youth Center’s outdoor area, which is being implemented in stages. In the coming years, the plan is to develop the entire outdoor area to create a space that meets the needs of young people of all ages.

Read more »

Summer Work Camp 2026: Friends, First Paychecks, and Experiences That Last a Lifetime

The summer of 2026 at the Tartu Youth Work Camp offered young people much more than just work experience. Feedback collected at the end of the camp clearly highlighted the things the young people valued most: new friends, their first earned paycheck, special experiences, and shared activities. New friends were the biggest win. Most often, the camp participants highlighted the opportunity to meet new

Read more »

An interactive adventure game titled “The Lost Trail” is being created at the Ilmatsalu Youth Center based on an idea from young people

What happens when you give young people the chance to think for themselves, experiment, build, and actually bring their ideas to life? An interactive adventure game called “The Lost Trail” is currently taking shape in Ilmatsalu, and local youth have been involved in its creation from start to finish. From an idea to an actual game… It all started when some young people stopped by the youth center and complained that in Ilmatsalu there wasn’t

Read more »

Tartu, the Youth Capital, Tested a Mobile Youth Work Bus 

What if, instead of waiting for young people to come to the youth center, the center went to where the young people actually are? Over the past four years, the Tartu Youth Work Center has been developing mobile youth work in Tartu’s public spaces. This summer, a mobile youth work bus (the MoNo bus) was tested for the first time to see if this kind of solution would help reach young people,

Read more »