Mosaic

1. Prepare a set of paper hexagon shapes in 4 different colours. You'll need:

• Colour 1: 3 per person
• Colour 2: 2 per pair
• Colour 3: 1 per group
• Colour 4: 1

2. Give each participant "colour 1" (3 shapes per person) to start with.
    
3. Ask participants to reflect alone, to consider themselves and their values. They should write in one word/phrase, on each hexagon. Give prompts, explaining that these words may be things that are important to them or values they use to describe themselves. Examples could include: tolerance is important for me, education and my work with communities, good health, family first, animals, nature, school, trust, etc.
    
4. Now, ask the group to get into pairs. Give out the "colour 2" hexagons (2 per pair).
    
5. Encourage discussion in pairs, sharing each person's words and then looking for commonalities. Together they should agree on 2 shared words/statements (this can be new or existing, based on their shared discussion).
    
6. Write these on the 2 pieces of "colour 2" paper.
    
7. Now, ask the pairs to join another pair - groups of 4. Distribute the "colour 3" hexagons (1 per group).
    
8. Encourage discussion in the groups, sharing each person's words and then looking for commonalities. Together they should agree on 1 shared word/statement (this can be new or existing, based on their shared discussion). Write this on the "colour 3" hexagons.
    
9. Ask the whole group to come together in the centre of the room.
    
10. You'll start creating the outline of a mosaic made using "Colour 1." Ask the groups to lay their "colour 1" hexagons in a circle in the middle of the floor.

• Ask them to reflect on the process of their reflection and decide on 3 values/statements for themselves. Invite a few comments or reflections from the group.

11. Inside the outer circle, place the "colour 2" hexagons.

• Ask them to think about the process of their reflection and how they worked together to decide on 2 shared values/statements. Invite a few comments or reflections from the group.

12. Inside this circle, place the "colour 3" hexagons.

• Ask them to reflect on the process of their reflection and how they worked together to decide on 1 shared value/statement. Invite a few comments or reflections from the group.

13. Once the discussions have finished, show them the final hexagon – "colour 4." Explain that now they have the responsibility as a group to find one shared value/statement, based on the last circle ("colour 3") of hexagons.

• This can be very challenging, but you should try to allow for natural discussion and debate. See if they can find a shared conclusion.
• If not, don’t worry, the conversation is more important.

14. Once you have a nice complete mosaic in the middle of the room, facilitate a group reflection.

Start by allowing participants to share their reflections and interpretations of this session. They may cover some of the things below. If not, encourage them to consider the following:

• The mosaic symbolizes the richness of life 
• Different colours of paper
• How the process of getting from the outside in is important   
• Despite differences, we have commonalities 
• There are common threads that run through us all   
• It is important to know that, through dialogue, we can always find something in common   
• We see ourselves differently through the lens of other people 
• Through other ideas and dialogue, we find out things about ourselves that we didn’t know  
• We need all the uniqueness between us to fit together into something beautiful

Please refer to the Learning Objectives above for each age group when explaining, facilitating, and recapping this activity. Select the questions relevant to the age group and their objectives:

• How did that activity make you feel? Did you learn something new about yourself or others?
• How do you think understanding shared values and also the diversity of personal values is important to dialogue?
• Was it easy to listen and understand the differences in the group, the reason other people had unique values or ideas?
• Why do you think the difference is important?
• Did you feel safe? What helped you feel safe? What influenced how you felt?

As the adult leader, you should also encourage other reflection and questions based on your knowledge, experience and desired objectives.