Making Friends, Can We After A Pandemic?

 Inspiring Friendships at Jigsaw Arts

How will our young ones bounce back to forming friendships after a Pandemic?

Living through a pandemic altered the way children’s friendships were forming, in unprecedented ways. While we responsibly stayed in our homes, it meant our young ones had limited options when it came to making friends and connecting with their peers, leaving many of them feeling lonely, isolated and bored.

Now that life is somewhat returning to the way it was before the pandemic, we may dismiss or have forgotten the effects that social distancing may have had on our growing and developing children. And the lasting anxieties and behaviour patterns that some of our young ones formed due to limited interactions with other children their age. 

At Jigsaw Arts, we understand the importance of creating ‘A Place To Belong’ that encourages friendships to naturally form. So, how do our weekend classes introduce and inspire friendships? Let’s find out… ✨

Social Skills

Social interaction is essential for making friends and relationship building. At Jigsaw Arts, your child will develop their social skills through drama games and activities! Learning how to engage with peers from a young age is beneficial and social skills are not only important in making friends but also in maintaining these friendships.   

Letting Go 

Letting go of worries and freely expressing yourself will allow others to connect with the real you and accept you for who you are. At Jigsaw Arts, we encourage our students to express their individuality and let go of fear. This helps form genuine friendships, where the admirable level of confidence shown through expression pulls like-minded people together.

Empathy

The drama activities that we introduce to our students at Jigsaw Arts teach young people the importance of empathy and how to show genuine interest in others. Having empathy while making friends will help children focus on others rather than themselves. When children learn how to consider other people’s thoughts and feelings, their peers feel more connected to them. 

Openness 

Each term at Jigsaw Arts, we introduce our students to new activities, tasks and different styles to explore. We love when our students are open to diving in and giving it a go. Showing openness to trying new things will encourage conversations to start! 

Warm Welcomes

We understand that making friends and socialising may be difficult for some of our new students joining us, so we aim to make our students feel as welcome as possible in their ‘Place to Belong’. Our managers, teaching team, assistants, and cuddly Jigsaw Joey and Arty Bear will be waiting at reception ready to greet our new students with a warm smile and welcome pack. We can also assign new students a ‘class buddy’ to show them around the school and keep them company while they are introduced to the rest of their group.  New to Jigsaw? Here are 5 things to expect on your first day.

Get them involved!

Encourage your child to join an activity they will enjoy and explain to them that this is how most friendships start — with people that have similar interests. Our weekend schools are a great place to start.

Although parents may be worried about the impact that the pandemic had on their children making friends, we believe in the resilience that our young ones hold. And that in the right environment, they will likely bounce back and want to connect with their peers again. It is important to ease our children and back into social interactions without pushing them, so perhaps a Jigsaw Arts School may be the place for them to explore making friends in a fun and creative environment. 

 Find a Jigsaw school near you by entering your postcode into our venue finder here.