This activity is designed for general youth settings. The purpose of the activity is to recognise the value of history, and in particular, our personal histories – and how understanding personal histories contribute to how we understand and behave towards others.
Read
1. Introduce the idea of an archive, or a personal collection. Ask participants to work in pairs to think about what physical objects would be important to keep for an achievement of their life. Consider which items that are precious or meaningful or might represent specific significant moments in their lives.
2. Ask the group to make a list of their selected archive items with descriptions, list them in chronological order from the most recently acquired to the oldest items.
3. Ask the group to re-organise and edit their list as a poem. Suggest they pick items with some story or connection that the reader could work out by reading their poem.