Eye Scream

The Basics

Have players stand in a very close, almost shoulder to shoulder, in a circle.  Next have players stare at the floor in the center.  Once this happens, the leader calls out, "1 ,2 ,3 Look."  At the word "look," each player quickly looks up and picks one person in the circle to stare at.  This requires total commitment on the part of the players! If two players find themselves staring directly at each other, they both scream and step out of the circle.  The rest of the players step forward to tighten the circle and the leader counts out again.  This continues until there are no players left.  (Don't look at it as a competition, however!)

In The Classroom:

  • This game is an incredibly simple and effective way of adding some fun and energy into a classroom.  
  • The fact that this game is so quick, (it can be played twice with a group of 20 in under three minutes!) makes it very useful when a teacher is looking for an infusion of energy without taking too much away from the main focus of the class.
  • This game is almost guaranteed to make players laugh, because it quickly and awkwardly places people out of their comfort zone, but only for a split second.
  • Teachers can use this as a quick warm-up in the beginning of class to prep kids for an active lesson, or to infuse a class with energy in the middle of class when focus is starting to wain.
Here is a birds eye view of the first few rounds!

Here is a birds eye view of the first few rounds!

Avoiding Problems:

  • The key to this game is speed.  Do not pause or stop between rounds, it should be one or two seconds between each "look" and the next "1, 2, 3."  Keep them on their toes!  It should feel a bit jarring!
  • "Full Commitment" is an instruction I often give for this game.  They need to be all in and not afraid to scream.  In fact, practicing a group scream will give them permission to do it during the game.
  • The more energy the teacher puts into this game, the more it generates...
  • I often use this game as a warm-up when the class is sitting in a circle anyway.  Then as they drop out they can just sit back down.
  • Move right into the next activity as soon as you can from this one in order to maintain the momemtum!

Attributions:

I first found this game from the book "Improvisation: Use what you know make up what you don't" by Brad Newman.