Faith Curriculum Library: Tapestry of Faith: Heeding the Call: A Program on Justicemaking for Junior High School Youth

Alternate Activity 1: Heritage Festival

Activity time: 30 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • Heritage items brought from home. Workshop leaders should bring items, too

Preparation for Activity

  • At least one week before this workshop, ask youth to bring an item that is part of their ethnic or racial heritage. It could be a photograph, article of clothing, book, or anything else. Suggest youth talk to family members about what to bring and how it connects to their heritage.
  • Workshop leaders should bring items, too, and be prepared to share their story.
  • Set up a table with an attractive cloth to display the heritage items.

Description of Activity

Participants learn about different heritages.

Invite participants one-by-one to place their object on the table and share how it connects to their heritage. Remember that there is no right or wrong way to connect. Allow participants to pass if they desire. If youth forgot to bring an object or there are visitors, they can place a "virtual" object on the table and share about what they would have brought.

After everyone has shared, ask

  • Did you learn anything about a culture that you did not know before?
  • Have you ever been ridiculed or received another negative reaction when sharing something from your culture? If so, what was that like?
  • What values do we hold as Unitarian Universalist that help us share our heritage with each other?