Tapestry of Faith: Love Connects Us: A Program on Living in Unitarian Universalist Covenant for Grades 4-5

Alternate Activity 3: Graffiti Wall of Wonder

Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Large poster board or art paper, and tape
  • Color markers

Preparation for Activity

  • Identify a place to post a Graffiti Wall of Wonder.
  • If you have a wall space everyone can reach easily, tape blank poster board or art paper to the wall. Or, tape it to a work table or a clean floor surface.

Description of Activity

The group creates a Graffiti Wall of Wondering Questions.

Distribute markers and encourage participants to write their wondering questions on the blank paper. Invite them to forego neat lists and instead arrange their questions haphazardly.

Remind them that a "wondering question" is one that inspires investigation and discovery-"seeking truth in love". Such questions may not be readily answerable, and certainly not with a simple "yes" or "no".

If needed, prompt with questions of your own, questions you heard from the group in Activity 1, or some of these:

  • I wonder how the universe began?
  • I wonder why we are here?
  • I wonder if there is a guiding force to the universe?

As the graffiti wall fills, invite reflection with questions such as:

  • How are these wonder questions similar to what came up after our meditation (Activity 1)?
  • What does wondering about these questions tell us about what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist?
  • Are these questions answerable by science or religion? Both? Neither?
  • If a question seems unanswerable, what is the point of seeking an answer? Why?
  • Our fourth Unitarian Universalist Principle affirms us to make, "a free and responsible search for truth and meaning". How does the fourth Principle help us know what to do with our wondering questions?

Post the graffiti wall. If there is space left on it and participants can easily reach it, invite them to add more wondering questions as long as the graffiti wall remains posted.

Including All Participants

If any participants are physically unable to write their own questions on the graffiti wall, have some or all participants work in pairs: One generates questions, the other writes.