Seven Up (game)

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Seven Up (sometimes called "Heads Up, Seven Up", "Heads Up, Thumbs Up", or "Heads Down, Thumbs Up") is a traditional children's game that is played in primary schools, and to a lesser extent at parties. The goal is for each selected participant to correctly guess the person who pressed his or her thumb. It takes a minimum of 14 children to play the game in its truest sense, but if there is a smaller group to start with, fewer than seven can be picked at the start. This game dates back to at least the 1960s.

[edit] Gameplay

To start the game, seven children are selected and come to the front of the room. The teacher (or selected player) says, "Heads down, thumbs up!" The children who are not selected then put their heads down, close their eyes, and put up one thumb each. The chosen seven circulate through the room, secretly pressing down one thumb each and then returning to the front of the room. This takes about one minute. Some people cheat and pick more than one person. Sometimes you play by tapping heads.

The teacher then calls, '"Heads up, seven up!" All children raise their heads and the seven whose thumbs were pressed stand up. Each in turn names the person they think pressed their thumb. If they are correct, the thumb-presser sits down and the winning child takes their place. The game then starts again.

The child who goes last may have the advantage if other pickers have been eliminated, however, they often do not understand or have the working memory. To account for this, the new pickers may squat down so the other children can see who is left. Also, to make the game fair, the teacher can alternate the order of which of the children are called each time (e.g. front to back, or left to right of the room).^[1]