12 Tips for Designing Learning Experiences Where Every Young Person Belongs

Belonging doesn't happen by accident. It can be designed.

As youth development professionals, we spend countless hours planning activities, managing logistics, and supporting young people. But one of the most important questions we can ask ourselves is this:

What are we intentionally designing people to feel?

At Mizzen, we believe that belonging is the foundation of positive youth development. When young people and adults feel seen, valued, connected, and able to contribute as their full selves, they are more likely to engage, take healthy risks, develop confidence, and thrive.

Inspired by the work of Susie Wise and the Design for Belonging framework, we've learned that while we can't design a feeling itself, we can design the conditions that allow belonging to emerge.

Here are twelve practical ways to start.

1. Begin with Relationships

Program quality work is relational work. Before expectations, procedures, or outcomes, prioritize helping young people know one another and feel known. Build in moments for storytelling, shared discovery, and joyful interactions.

Ask yourself: How am I helping young people truly see one another?

2. Listen for Experiences of Othering

To design for belonging, we must first recognize moments when belonging is absent.

Take time to reflect:

• Who participates easily?
• Who hangs back?
• Whose voices dominate conversations?
• Who might be excluded by language, routines, traditions, or physical spaces?

Sometimes exclusion is obvious, but more often, it's subtle. Gaining awareness can lead to the first step toward sparking change.

3. Design Invitations, Not Just Activities

Every experience begins with an invitation. Whether spoken or unspoken, invitations communicate who belongs, what is possible, and what kinds of participation are valued.

Consider:

• Who is this activity inviting in?
• Who might hesitate to join?
• How can we lower barriers to participation?

Young people are more likely to engage when invitations honor their identities, interests, and strengths.

4. Create Opportunities for Meaningful Contribution

One of the most powerful moments of belonging is contribution. The more people feel they belong, the more they contribute. The more they contribute, the deeper their sense of belonging becomes.

Ask:

• What gifts and talents are currently invisible in our program?
• How do we invite young people to share what they know?
• Are leadership opportunities available to everyone?

Every young person and adult deserves to hear: "We would love your contribution because we value what you bring."

5. Design Spaces That Send Signals of Welcome

Physical environments communicate powerful messages. Who is your space designed for? Who might feel out of place?

Small adjustments can have an enormous impact:

• Quiet spaces for reflection
• Flexible seating arrangements
• Youth-created artwork and displays
• Accessible materials and signage
• Visual representations of diverse identities and cultures

6. Give Young People Real Roles

Belonging grows when people are needed. Consider creating rotating or permanent roles that allow young people to contribute their unique strengths:

• Welcome ambassadors
• Activity leaders
• Reflection facilitators
• Community photographers
• Peer mentors
• Celebration planners

Roles communicate: "You matter here, and this community is better because of you."

7. Build Rituals That Bring People Together

Rituals create meaning and help communities celebrate, grieve, reflect, welcome, and grow together.

Simple rituals might include:

• Gratitude circles
• Weekly shout-outs
• Shared opening questions
• Birthday traditions
• Community meals
• Closing reflections

The best rituals are often co-created with young people themselves.

Ask: What traditions, routines, and rituals help our community feel like us?

8. Make Room for Joy, Movement, and Play

Belonging is embodied. People connect differently when they move, laugh, create, and experience joy together. Joy is a powerful design tool!

Play isn't an extra, nice-to-have element of programming: it's essential.

Movement-based activities, collaborative challenges, and hands-on experiences allow young people to connect beyond words and discover common ground in unexpected ways.

9. Design for Dissent and Repair

Healthy communities don't avoid conflict; rather, they learn how to navigate it.

Belonging doesn't mean everyone agrees. It means people know they can disagree, raise concerns, and still remain valued members of the group.

Consider:

• How do young people safely express disagreement?
• What happens when harm occurs?
• How do we repair relationships rather than simply move on?

The way a community handles conflict often reveals its deepest commitments to belonging.

10. Belonging Through Communication

Craft communications so that they help a wide range of people to see themselves invited in, participating fully, achieving flow, and moving through all the moments of belonging that matter.

From flyers and emails to announcements and social media, ask:

• Can everyone see themselves reflected here?
• Whose stories are being highlighted?
• What language invites participation rather than assumes it?

Real stories of contribution, growth, and connection powerfully communicate belonging.

11. Reimagine Your Schedules and Rhythms

Schedules help set up days and times for connecting, sharing, and learning – all of which support belonging.

Ensuring everyone has a regular opportunity to participate is key. We can also use schedules and rhythms to disrupt routine and switch things up, which can spark excitement and creativity!

Think about:

• Who benefits from our current schedules?
• When do young people have opportunities to connect?
• Is there a way to make our schedule truly reflect our community and its needs?
• Where can we introduce flexibility, creativity, or moments of celebration?

Even small shifts—a community circle, a reflection pause, or a weekly celebration ritual—can strengthen belonging over time.

12. Start Small and Prototype Often

Designing for belonging is not about perfection - it's about experimentation.

Try one small change:

• A new welcome ritual
• A rotating youth leadership role
• A community-created agreement
• A visual belonging wall
• A different room setup
• A reflection practice at the end of each session

Then ask, "How did people feel?"

Because ultimately, belonging is measured less by what we create and more by what people experience.