Looking for an activity to open the school year and develop empathy in your students to each other while teaching about peace and war? Developed by El Peace Pro, the following activity is suitable for students in middle school and up as well as for groups of educators and any community group meeting for the first time who value peace and hate war.
“Human Search is a simulation of peace and conflict. In peacetime, we build connections; in wartime, we risk losing what we’ve built. This tension is intentional.”
Samuel Teixeira, developer of the Human Search Game
To start the game, give each person a piece of paper and a pencil/pen. Explain the guidelines below.
Peacetime – Players connect with others by completing a scavenger hunt of personal traits (e.g., “Find someone born in a different country” or “Find someone with a different favorite food”). Each connection earns a point, marked with a signature.
Wartime – Players engage in quick rounds of rock-paper-scissors. The winner crosses out one of the opponent’s earned points.
Phase Changes – A group leader announces when to switch between Peacetime and Wartime. Players must immediately stop and follow the new phase when it’s called out.
A good starting rhythm is 60 seconds of Peacetime followed by 30 seconds of Wartime, but this can be adjusted as needed to suit the group and energy level.
Sample Scavenger Hunt List
(This can be adjusted to fit your group and goals.)
Names:
- Find someone whose first or last name begins with a different letter.
- Find someone with a different number of letters in their first or last name.
Background:
- Find someone born in a different year, month, or day.
- Find someone born in a different city, state, or country.
- Find someone who lives in a different neighborhood, city, state, or country.
- Find someone whose ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation differs.
- Find someone who speaks a different number of languages or a different language at home.
Appearance:
- Find someone who’s wearing differently colored clothes or shoes.
- Find someone with a different hair color or hairstyle.
- Find someone who’s not the same height as you.
Favorites:
- Find someone whose favorite food or dessert is different.
- Find someone whose favorite book, film, or music differs.
- Find someone whose favorite holiday, season, or weather is different.
Schedules:
- Find someone who wakes up or goes to bed at a different time.
- Find someone who eats breakfast, lunch, or dinner at a different time.
- Find someone whose class schedule, job, or sport differs from yours.
Networking:
- Find someone who works in a different field or has a different specialization.
- Find someone who works for a different company, department, or team.
- Find someone whose dream job is different.
Why war?
War is the most destructive force on earth. Yet, it never stops.
To relate the game to war and peace, follow up with a discussion starting with the question: Why go to war at all, if you only lose points during Wartime, why go to war at all?
- What did war feel like?
- Why did you fight?
- What does this say about real-world conflict?
