Look Up, Look Down

Instructions:

• Players stand in a circle, all with their heads looking down. 

• The facilitator yells "look up.” All players look up at someone else. 

• They must be looking someone in the face (not at the ceiling, the wall behind people, etc.). 

• If two people happen to be looking at each other (i.e. make eye contact), they both have to scream signifying their elimination. 

• The facilitator then says "look down" and everyone looks down. The facilitator then says "look up" and the process continues. 

• The game continues until there are only one or two players left.

Praxis (why + theory):

Like the Question Game (page 2), I use this game as a tool to develop our group’s shared agreements within the space. Over the years, a number of my students have expressed an aversion to eye-contact with their own peers; in response, I have intentionally played games and created assignments that fostered intimacy and vulnerability amongst their classmates. This response is rooted in an awareness that cooperative play is inherently struggle-oriented, and therefore, an effective tool for solidarity building and communal restoration. 

One of my favorite quotes is, “I wonder how many people I have looked at all my life and never actually seen” (Steinbeck). Accordingly, I have included the Look Up, Look Down Game in this asset-mapping section because without looking and speaking directly to each other, we can never fully know how we are actually mirrors for each other. Our learning and organizing spaces should be spaces where safety and trust are foundational.