Building friendships while swinging

November 4, 2024

This autumn, the Tartu Youth Work Center has undertaken a renovation of its youth rooms. First, the Ilmatsalu youth room received a new look, followed by Lille, then Anne, Lilleke, and Anneke. A week before the autumn break, the Lilleke youth center was closed, and during that time, several changes were made to the youth room.

In Lilleke's youth room, the lighting was changed, the wall was painted, we rearranged the furniture, and we got a new TV and four new unique swings. Now we have two swings and two nest swings. The swings bring joy to both young people and staff, but in addition to the fun, they have also become a place for creating new relationships.

Young people enjoy inventing various games on the swings, which helps include other youth in play and make new friends through shared activities. One autumn evening, two young people, who were strangers to each other at the time, were playing on the swings. After 15 minutes of playing, they exchanged phone numbers and planned to meet the next day.

This is one example of how changing a physical space can contribute not only to mental and physical health but also to the creation of social relationships. We are very pleased that our youth room has such an addition.

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