Inclusiveness--Commonalities

**Activity: Commonalities and Uniquities**

A recommended icebreaker that works well (in terms of teamwork and building unity) is an activity called "Commonalities and Uniquities". Within groups, students identify commonalities they have with each other and also unique gifts and characteristics that they have. Students may realize that they have more in common than they first might have thought, which promotes unity. Identifying unique characteristics is also beneficial in that people can feel empowered to offer the whole group a unique perspective or skill.

**__Directions:__**

 1. Form groups of five to eight people and give them two sheets of paper and a pencil or pen.  2. The first part of the activity is Commonalities, where each subgroup compiles a list of the things they have in common. In order for it to make the list, it must apply to everyone in the subgroup. You want to avoid writing things that people can see (e.g. “everyone has hair,” or “we are all wearing clothes”). Try to get them to dig deeper. After about 5 minutes, have a spokesperson from each subgroup read their list.  3. Then, depending on your goals for the session, you can have half of each subgroup rotate to another group for Uniquities or you can leave everyone in the same group. On the second sheet of paper have them record uniquities, meaning that each item applies to only one person in the group. The group tries to find at least 2 uniquities for each person. After 5-7 minutes, you can have each person say one of their uniquities or have a person read them one by one, having others try to guess who it was. (Again, you want to go beyond the superficial, avoiding those things that people can readily see).

This is an excellent team-building activity because it promotes unity, gets people to realize that they have more in common than they first might realize. The awareness of their own unique characteristics is also beneficial in that people can feel empowered to offer the group something unique.