Tapestry of Faith: Faithful Journeys: A Program about Pilgrimages of Faith in Action for Grades 2-3

Activity 5: U U Principles Matching Game

Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Copy of Leader Resource 6, UU Principles Matching Game Cards (Note: If the group has more than seven children, make an additional copy of the cards with the children's language.)
  • Two baskets

Preparation for Activity

  • Cut out the game cards from Leader Resource 6. Place the adult language version game cards in one basket and the children's version in a second basket.

Description of Activity

Gather children in a circle at a large work table or on the floor. Show them the two baskets. Say, in your own words:

Unitarian Universalists have written down seven Principles to express what we believe. Adults worked together to get the words of the Principles exactly right.

Show the basket with the adult Principles cards. Then say:

Then adults wrote the Principles again in easier words, to help children know what they mean.

Show the basket with children's Principles. Pass this basket around, inviting children to take one card, without showing it to anyone. If you have fewer children than cards, pass the basket until it is empty (some children will have more than one card).

Now, ask a volunteer to pull a card from the adult Principles basket and give it to you. Read the adult Principle aloud to the group. Ask the volunteer to guess which child has the card with the same Principle in easier language (it's okay if a child volunteers themself).

Read the selected child's card(s) out loud to the group and ask, "Does that seem like a match?"

Lead a brief discussion about why or why not it is a good match. If it is not a match, have the volunteer guess again. If it is a match, the child whose card matched now picks a card from the adult Principles basket. Repeat the process until all seven Principles have been matched in pairs of adult and children's language.

Including All Participants

Make sure to read clearly from all cards to assist sight- and/or hearing-impaired participants.