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Model United Nations Knowledge Builder Games, Icebreakers & Other Organized Mayhem
All Aboard-‐ Use a number 10-‐sized can or a milk crate and try to get you entire group off the ground for 5 seconds. Make sure someone is spotting. Around the world-‐ As the group stands in a circle, one person walks around the outside. This person will pick one other person to race around the circle against. They begin by introducing themselves; “hello my name is...” the person they picked has to respond back “hello my name is…” The two shake hands and in opposite directions race around the circle (the person initially walking around the circle races in the same direction they were walking). They are racing to get back to the now open spot in the circle, and whoever gets there first wins the spot. When the two meet again, hopefully halfway around the outside of the circle from their starting point, instead of just trying to run through one another, they must stop and shake hands again and say the other person’s name and “it’s nice to meet you again”, after this quick exchange, they continue to race around the circle. Once the group gets the hang of one group racing, have another person step out to pick someone to race against. The more groups racing at a time, the crazier the game gets, but the more names you will learn. Astronaut to Janitor-‐ Write down the following careers on separate pieces of paper: Astronaut, Mother, Doctor, Lawyer, Baby, Pro Football Player, Janitor, and Rock Star. Pick eight volunteers and have them not look at their identities. Explain to them they are to line up in order of importance. Have the group sit quietly and watch them go. Once they are done have the entire group discuss the results. Big Booty-‐ The purpose of the game is to become Big Booty. The person leading the game starts as Big Booty and has the group stand in a circle. Big Booty then gives the rest of the group numbers which correspond to their order in the game, starting to the left of Big Booty as number one, and so on until everyone playing has a number. The game starts with the Big Booty chant: “Ah yea, Big Booty, Big Booty, Big Booty/Ah yea Big Booty, Big Booty, Big Booty...” Big Booty then names him or herself and then shoots the chant to any other player in the circle. That player has to name themselves and shoot the chant to another player without losing rhythm. If anyone gets caught out of rhythm they are either out or move to the end of the line in number. The game can go on for hours (and has), or it can end when the last person is left crowned as Big Booty. Birthdays-‐ Have the group arrange themselves in order of birthday, from January to December, WITHOUT TALKING. You can add categories as needed and then discuss the importance of communication. British Bulldogs/Sharks and Minnows-‐ One person is “It” and stands in the middle of the gym/ field. All other participants stand on one side of the gym. The person who is It calls everyone to go (“swim fishies, swim” or “run doggies, run”). All the participants must then make it across to the other side of the gym without being tagged. If they are tagged, they must stand where they were tagged and, without moving their feet, attempt to tag others. All those not tagged wait for the person who is it to tell them to go again. Game is over when everyone is on the same team. Cave In-‐ Your entire group sits on one side of the room. Place half as many candles as the number of people in the group in a line in the middle of the room. Explain to the group that they were exploring a cave with only one entrance and the entrance began to cave in. They have as much time as they need to decide who should stay in Games, Icebreakers & Other Organized Mayhem, Page 1 Model United Nations Knowledge Builder the cave and who should go, but for every person that leaves the cave, a candle gets blown out signifying that the entrance is getting smaller. It should be made clear to the group that only half of them shall survive and they as a group need to decide who the survivors will be. Extinguish one candle for each person who is selected out of the cave until two halves of the group sit quietly on each side of the darkened room. Circle the Circle-‐ Take an eight foot length of rope and tie the ends together forming a circle (a hula hoop will work if you have one). Have the group hold hands, forming a circle. Place the rope circle on your arm and explain that the group has to get this rope around the circle without unlocking hands. You can change this activity from an initiative to an icebreaker by stating that whenever the rope is touching you, you must be telling the group about yourself. Corner People-‐ Everyone gets a piece of paper and writes “corner people” at the top. The term “corner people” is like a boxing match. When fighters retreat to their corners between rounds, they receive support from their coach/manager/trainer. Their support team whispers in their ear about how great they are and how they are believed in, etc. All this verbal support while getting their shoulders rubbed. While this is happening to a member of your group they will write down the names of the corner people in their lives-‐-‐these can be people currently in their life or individuals who are no longer a part of their lives. Once everyone has gone, have the group each pick one person from their list and have then write a letter to that person thanking them for their support. Letters can be turned in, mailed, or torn up, but encourage them to say everything they want to say. Give time for sharing if people want to. Duck, Duck, Goose-‐ It really is fun for all ages. Group sits in a circle. One person is “It” and walks around the circle. The person who is “It” taps players on the head and says “duck” to pass them. If they want to pick to person to be “It” next they say “goose”. The person who is “goosed” has to chase the person who is “It” and tag them before they can make it around the circle and into their spot. Electricity-‐ Break your group into two teams. Have teams sit on the floor in a line facing each other, holding hands with their fellow teammates. Have them close their eyes. At one end of the lines place an object (pen, teddy bear, pillow, etc.). At the other end of the line tell the two people to open their eyes. You are going to toss a coin and on heads they are going to squeeze the hand of the person next to them. If the coin lands on tails, the coin is flipped again until it land on heads. When anyone’s hand gets squeezed they must then squeeze the hand of the person next to them, passing on the electricity. When the people at the ends of their lines get squeezed they must open their eyes and be the first to grab the object. Whichever team grabs the object, their player at the front of the line moves to the end of the line. The point of the game is to get you whole team back to their original line order. Elves, Wizards, & Giants-‐ Played like a big game of paper, rock, scissors. Elves beat wizards, wizards beat giants, and giants beat elves. Split the group into two teams. Have each team decide a character and an alternate. The teams face each other in the middle of the field/gym/wherever. They recite “elves, wizards, giants, reveal yourselves” and then say the character they chose. Whoever wins chases the other team before they can get back to their “base” on the other side of the gym/field/etc. If a tie results, go to the alternate. Game is over when everyone is on the same team. Games, Icebreakers & Other Organized Mayhem, Page 2 Model United Nations Knowledge Builder Evolution-‐ The goal of this game is to evolve from one level to another. Everyone starts at the same level, finds a partner, and plays a round of paper/rock/scissors, best two out of three. If you win, you evolve and if you lose, you regress. You can never regress past the level everyone starts on. Everyone starts as an egg, crouched down and wobbling, if you win your round of paper rock scissors, you evolve into a chicken, wings flapping and mouth gawking. Once you become a chicken you can only play paper rock scissors against another chicken. If you win, you become a dinosaur, roaring and stomping. If you lose, you become an egg again. If you are a dinosaur and play another dinosaur, you become a superhero, soaring through the group and flexing. Once you have become a superhero, you need not evolve any further, you may simply bask while waiting for others to join your super ranks. Flip Me the Bird-‐ A tag game where balls or bean bags are used as “safety”. When you are in possession of a ball or “bird” you cannot be tagged. Set a boundary and select a person to be “It”. Give the group one bird for every five people and as “It” tries to tag a person, the group must flip a bird to anyone in danger. If “It” manages to tag someone, they are now “It”. Four Corners-‐ Designate the four corners of the room as follows: agree, disagree, strongly agree, and strongly disagree. Make up questions with varying risk and have group members stand where their opinions are. Have them process questions depending on risk level. Gimme Shelter-‐ You are a group of hikers out on a trip when lightning struck a nearby tree, blinding all of you except one. That person was injured and cannot move their legs. The lightning was a warning of a big storm approaching in 10 minutes. You must construct some sort of shelter that you can all fit under using the materials available in your cabin. All members of the group are blindfolded except for the injured person, who sits somewhere in the cabin and gives directions to those who are blindfolded. The facilitator acts as the process observer, safety spotter and time keeper. After 10 minutes are up, everyone can take off their blindfolds and see what the shelter looks like. Can it cover everyone? Ha Ha-‐ Have the group members lie down, placing their heads on one another’s stomachs (if there is only one head per stomach this should form a serpentine line through the room or cabin). The first person must say “ha”, the second “ha ha”, the third “ha ha ha” and so on down the line. The group has to try and accomplish this without laughing. Heads Up 7 Up-‐ Pick a few people to be “It”. The more people in your group, the more “Its” you may have. Anywhere from 3 to 6 is good. Have everyone who is not “It” put their heads down with their eyes closed and thumbs up. Have the people who are “It” walk around the room and pick one person. To pick a person they must touch their thumb. If a person’s thumb is not touched they must put their thumb down. Once all the people who are “It” have picked, they return to the front of the room. They call “heads up seven up” and everyone may open their eyes. If a person’s thumb was touched they must now stand. Have facilitator pick a person whose thumb was touched to guess who picked them. If they get it right, they take their place in the next round. If they do not guess correctly, they sit back down. When everyone who was picked has guessed and either replaced their picker or taken their seat, have everyone close their eyes to play again. Hog Call-‐ Have the group find partner pairs and have each pair select a matching set of words or sounds (like shoe-‐foot, peanut-‐butter, or whooo-‐eeee). Have the groups announce their selections to ensure no duplications. Games, Icebreakers & Other Organized Mayhem, Page 3 Model United Nations Knowledge Builder Have the pairs separate and go to opposite ends of the room or field. Blindfold the group or have them keep their eyes closed if you can trust them and have them try to find their partner again. Give the group a list of questions to ask their partner once they have found them. Hospital Tag-‐ Similar to Everyone’s It, everyone has the ability to tag someone, but instead of becoming out when tagged, you must simply “dress your wound” with part of your body, be that a hand or a forearm. Game continues until players cannot move because they are too busy covering themselves. Hot Seat-‐ One member of the group sits in the middle of the circle. Other members write down one or two questions on a piece of paper and place them in a hat. Once everyone is done, the hat gets handed to the person in the middle and they answer the questions. The rules are: you must only ask questions you would be willing to answer, and there is always the option to pass. I’d Like to Meet My Neighbor Who ...-‐ Have everyone sit in chairs placed in a circular formation with one chair short. Have the person without a chair stand in the middle. The person in the middle then says, “I’d like to meet my neighbor who...” and adds whatever they would like, with the one exception: it has to be something that is true for them also. For example: “I’d like to meet my neighbor who is wearing white shoes” (as long as the person in the middle also has white shoes). Then everyone wearing white shoes has to get up and find a new chair. They cannot go back to the same chair. The person who is left over is now in the middle and they now get to pick the next category. This is a light icebreaker but can be used to show similarities amongst a newly formed group. I Love You, Baby, But I Just Can’t Smile-‐ the group sits in a circle with one person standing in the middle. Person in the middle picks a person in the group and says to them “smile, baby, and say that you love me” trying to make that person smile. They may do anything else to make them smile except physical contact. The person who is picked must say “I love you, baby, but I just can’t smile” without smiling. If they smile they are now in the middle. If they do not smile the person in the middle must find someone who will. Game variation! If playing with a crowd for which this game can be uncomfortable, try “will you buy my donkey?” In and Out-‐ Have everyone stand up. The first person starts by saying “in”, the next person says “out”. If you are in, you remain standing, if you are out, you sit down. Keep going around the circle until only one person is left. Jerusalem-‐ Give everyone a slip of paper with two city names on it. Make sure everyone has a different first city but give everyone “Jerusalem” as their second. Make sure people keep their slips of paper secret. Have the group form a circle, holding hands. Invent a story including the first city names of everyone in the group; tell them that if they hear the name of either of their cities they must try to sit down. The group must try to prevent them from sitting down. Tell the group that the last person standing will lose. Once everyone’s first city has been used, throw in Jerusalem and watch as the entire group rushes to sit, and everyone ends up winning. Vampire-‐ Have everyone sit on the floor and recite the following to the group: “the purpose of this game is to stay alive. To kill someone you run your finger from their neck down their back to the base of their spine (have a volunteer to demonstrate on). Once you are killed you must double over until someone brings you back to life. To bring someone back to life, you run your finger from the base of their spine, up to their neck. You have one minute. Go!” Watch the group interact. After a minute bring them back together and have them form groups. Games, Icebreakers & Other Organized Mayhem, Page 4 Model United Nations Knowledge Builder (Sizes of groups should vary with group. Try to make at least four groups). Have them devise a strategy to stay alive as a group. After a minute or two, repeat the statement and have them go for another minute. After the minute is up ask them why they killed each other. Reiterate to them the purpose of the game was to stay alive. Ask the group why we assume things like that, why are we so avid to kill, and in what ways do we really kill each other, such as insults, cruelty. Ask the group how they can bring people back to life, i.e. hugs, compliments. Knots-‐ The purpose of this game is group building. Have a group of 8-‐20 people stand in a circle. Have them join hands with two different people across the circle from them. They must now find a way to untangle themselves. Make sure to encourage the group but let them know that it’s not always possible to do it. Encourage them to try again. Leaders-‐ Dismiss one member of the group so he/she cannot hear what is going on. Pick one member of the remaining group to be the Leader. The Leader must constantly be doing something; clapping their hands, pounding the ground, or even just touching their nose. The rest of the group must do exactly what the Leader does. Bring the dismissed member back and they have to guess who is leading the group. M&M Madness-‐ Pass around a bag of M&M candies and have everyone get at least five. Tell them the following character values and their corresponding colors: Red = respect, Green= responsibility, Blue = honesty, Yellow = caring. Any other color of M&M may be eaten. Ask the group who among them has respect? Ask them how much respect they have. Ask if anyone doesn’t have any respect. Ask someone who has enough respect to share, to give some respect to those who have none. Do this for all four character values. Once you are done discuss with the group if this can be done in real life and how. Mafia-‐ The point of the game is for the community to find the mafia or for the mafia to kill everyone off before they figure out who they are. The facilitator has the group close their eyes and picks people to be “It”/mafia in about a one to five ratio (if you have 15 participants, that’s 3 people who are It). The facilitator is very important in this game and acts as a storyteller. The game is played in rounds, 3 minutes per round. In the first minute everyone is asleep (eyes closed) except for the mafia (eyes open), the facilitator picks the mafia and then has them open their eyes. The mafia come to a silent consensus, by pointing at the person they would like to kill, eliminate, “whack”. The facilitator then has the group open their eyes and tells the story of this “citizen’s” death. The community, some secretive mafia amongst normal citizens, has to then at the end of this two minute round, decide which member of the group must die. Once they have decided, the group picks a way for them to die. Once dead the facilitator reveals whether or not they were a citizen or mafia. After each three minute round the group closes their eyes and the facilitator makes sure they are all closed. Now the mafia members have one minute to open their eyes, confer, and to kill off one person, without talking. The facilitator brings everyone back and discloses who the mafia has killed. The rounds repeat until someone wins. Magic Carpet-‐ Using a tarp or piece of carpet just big enough for your entire group to stand on, have the group imagine they are on a magic carpet ride. Describe the beautiful scenery rushing by. But then they realize that the magic carpet has no steering wheel and only goes one direction. If they want to get back home they need to flip the carpet over to go the other way. To do so, no one can leave the carpet (cause they would fall and die). Watch as the group flips the tarp over without leaving the tarp itself. Games, Icebreakers & Other Organized Mayhem, Page 5 Model United Nations Knowledge Builder Mingle-‐ Have the group walk around the room mingling at a brisk pace shaking hands and singing “mingle, mingle, mingle” (to the tune of conga). Have the facilitator yell out a number. Once participants hear the number of people they must sit down with them as soon as they are together. Then have the group sit back-‐to-‐
back and attempt to stand up while their arms are interlocked. Once they are up have them mingle again until you call a bigger number. Name Games: Name..., and Favorite Superhero-‐ Have the group sit in a circle. Make up a series of questions (no more than five), and have the group answer them one by one. Picnic-‐ You must say your name and any item beginning with the same letter. As your picnic grows in items and attendance, anyone wishing to attend this picnic must tell you who else is coming and what they are bringing. Smart Dennis-‐ Have everyone in the group pick an adjective with the same letter as their first name that describes them (dynamic Dan, jovial Jeremy). Go around the group and as each person says theirs they must also repeat those that have already gone. M&Ms-‐ Pass around a bag of M&Ms and have the group take as many as they want. Once everyone has some, have each person count how many they took and for each M&M they must tell the group something about themselves (game can also be played with toilet paper). Passing the Icebreaker-‐ Obtain four or five small balls (hacky sacks also work well). Have the group stand in a circle. Bring out one ball to start and explain to the group that everyone in the group has to receive the ball before it gets back to you. Explain to them that they must remember the name of the person they are passing to and that as they pass the ball to them, they must say the person’s name nice and loud. You start and wait for the ball to get all the way around to you. When it gets back to you, pass it around again and after it has passed you, introduce another ball. Keep adding balls until chaos ensues. Peasants and Noblemen-‐ give everyone in the group a playing card, face down and have them, without looking at it, place it to their forehead so everyone else can see it. Tell the group to interact with each other responding to their card. The cards have the following values: all face cards are noblemen, people with numbered cards standing in society decrease with their numbers, aces are wild and therefore no one pays any attention to them, and if a person receives a joker they have the plague and everyone runs from them. After a brief interaction have the group analyze how they were treated. People to People-‐ Have the group members pair off with someone they do not know so well. You are going to call out two body parts and they will have to touch those body parts. An example would be “elbow to forehead” and the participants would have to touch elbows to foreheads. The purpose is to become more comfortable with you partner. After three or so of these fun challenges, you are going to call out a question. An example would be “favorite color” and the participants must ask their partner their favorite color. You can mix it up and throw in a few more body parts, or you can call out “people to people” at which point they must find a new partner. You can then do it all over again. Penny Flop-‐ Have your group break into partners and give each pair a penny. One person lies on their back and balances a penny on their nose. Without moving anything but their facial muscles, they try to get the penny off their face. The partner watching is the judge and cheerleader. Not everyone will be able to get the penny off, so switch roles before people get frustrated. Games, Icebreakers & Other Organized Mayhem, Page 6 Model United Nations Knowledge Builder Pin-‐Huck-‐ A variation on capture the flag, played with twenty plastic bowling pins (plastic cones will do). Played best on an open field or in a large gym. Break the group into two teams, using markers or headbands to identify teams, and separate the playing area into two equal sides. Place ten cones or pins randomly about on each side. The group to get all the pins to their side first wins. If a player is tagged on his opponent’s side of the field they do not go to jail as in traditional capture the flag, but are frozen as in freeze tag and can only be free when they are tagged by a member of their own team who has not yet been tagged. Pruie-‐ Everyone closes their eyes and you select one person to be the “pruie”. The group mingles and if they bump into someone they ask “pruie?” If they hear a person inquire back “pruie?” they continue to mingle. Meanwhile the pruie mingles eyes open and when asked “pruie?” they remain silent. Once a group member meets up with the pruie they may open their eyes and lock arms with the pruie. This continues until everyone is a member of the pruie. Rainbow Chair-‐ This game gets better the more people you have. Have the group stand in a circle, back to front, so everyone is facing either to their left or right. Everyone faces the same direction. Have them place their toes touching the heels of the person in front of them. Have everyone sit down on the lap of the person behind them. See how long the group can hold it. Sardines-‐ A classic. Have one person go and hide, the group then has to split up and try to find the hidden person. Once a member of the group finds the hidden person they hide quietly with them until the entire group is hiding together. Scream-‐ Have the group stand in a tight, shoulder-‐to-‐shoulder circle. Have everyone look down. Instruct the group that when they look up they are to pick one person and stare at that person. If that person is staring back, both people are to scream and they are out. (If you have a big group, you can split the group in two and have the two people that made eye contact from one group run screaming to the other group). The group looks down again, give them a few seconds and then have them look up, staring again. Whoever is the last or the last two, wins. Scrounge-‐ Make a list of items commonly found in people’s possessions. Split the group into two and have them race to pass the items you call for to the front. The first group to get the item to you scores a point. The team with the most points wins. Shuffle-‐ Find a log or elevated board about six inches across. A rectangle laid out on the cabin floor in masking tape (about 6’’-‐8’’x10’) works just as well. Divide your group into two smaller groups and have them line up single file on the “log” facing each other. The two groups must now exchange ends without touching the ground (or stepping out of bounds). Time the group and see how long it takes them. Make them start over or assess them time penalties for falling off the “log”. Smaug’s Jewels-‐ This game is best when played in a wooded area, but fun indoors too. Have the group stand in a well spread out circle. Place one person in the middle with their eyes closed, preferably blindfolded. Place any object on the ground between this person’s legs. The individuals making up the circle must attempt to move undetected towards the person in the middle and retrieve the item. If the person in the middle hears or otherwise detects a person moving from their original spot in the circle they can point to them and say “stop”. If Games, Icebreakers & Other Organized Mayhem, Page 7 Model United Nations Knowledge Builder the person in the middle is correct, the person moving must return to their original spot. If you are playing with a younger group, it may help to select who gets to attempt to move by pointing to players around the circle. This avoids the person in the middle being unfairly “rushed”. If a person from the circle successfully grabs the item without being detected they are now blindfolded in the middle. Sock Wrestling-‐ Have group members find partners of approximately equal body size. Number each pair one and two. Have ones go to one side of the room and twos go to the other. Have everyone take of their socks. Have each group number themselves, from one on. Number pieces of paper equal to the highest number in either group. Pick a number for the first group. That is your first wrestler. Put the number back and draw a number for the second group. Have these two people wrestle. Whoever gets one of the other person’s socks off first wins a point for their team. Make sure everyone gets to wrestle. Whichever team was the most points at the end wins. Straw Challenge-‐ Give everyone a straw and arrange them into circles of 6-‐10. Have them cross their arms and connect their straw, held by their pointer finger, to the straw of a person next to them. Have them move about the room, stand up, sit down, etc. without dropping the straw. If they drop it have them try again. After a few minutes have the group discuss how their actions and the actions of others in a group affect their ability to work. String Toss-‐ Have the group stand or sit in a circle. Using a ball of yarn, wrap the end around your wrist several times, introduce yourself and pass the ball of yarn randomly across the circle to someone. Instruct them to introduce themselves and tell the group something about themselves (you can narrow a topic if you’d like). Once they are done have them toss the yarn randomly to someone else. Once the yarn gets back to you, (make sure to tell them you need to receive the yarn last) you will have formed a cool web of yarn. Use scissors to cut the yarn and have everyone wrap the yarn around their wrists as bracelets and reminders of the bonds they have formed or will be forming. Telephone-‐ Make two groups and have them each pick one person to remember a story. Take the two people aside and have them silently read the story. Give the approximately five minutes, using a short children’s story of no more than a few paragraphs. After five minutes have them go back to their group and quietly recite the story to one member of the group. Once they are done that person must pass the story on to another member of the group. This continues until everyone has heard the story. Have the last person recite the story that they heard and then read the original story to the group. Two Lies and a Truth (or Two Truths and a Lie)-‐ Have everyone in the group write down two lies and a truth. Have the group go around the circle reading each person’s list, and then decide which is the truth. Will You Buy My Donkey? -‐ Similar to “I Love You Baby...” but fun in its own right. Have the group sit in a circle with two people in the middle, one as the donkey and one as the seller. The seller must pick a person in the circle and ask them, “Will you buy my donkey?” The person picked must respond, without laughing, “No thank you”. The seller then has a second chance and must say, “But my donkey can…” and the seller picks an action. The donkey then performs the action and, still without laughing, the person picked must respond “no thank you”. If the person laughs they become the donkey, the donkey becomes the seller and the seller joins the Games, Icebreakers & Other Organized Mayhem, Page 8 Model United Nations Knowledge Builder group. If they do not laugh, the seller must move on to sell his donkey to another group member. (So much fun, especially if the seller can do a good Shrek impression!) Wink-‐ Have the group members sit in a circle and close their eyes. Pick one person to be the murderer by tapping them on the back. Once everyone’s eyes are open, the murderer must kill off the group without being caught. The murderer kills people by winking at them. If someone is winked at they cannot say who killed them and they have 10 seconds to die. Game ends when the murderer is caught or the whole group is dead. Working Together to Build a Better Cupcake-‐ Break the group into different “societies”, either by giving individuals their own roles or by breaking the group into smaller groups. Give each society their own cultural norms, instructing them privately so no culture is aware of the norms of any other. Give the group a task to perform (like exchanging red vines, or even attempting to bake cup cakes, which has worked in the past). Make sure there are societies whose goals directly conflict. As the facilitator it is your goal to create conflict; if this exercise is easy, there will be nothing to debrief later! Let the group attempt to fulfill their goal, making sure all groups get a chance to interact. When the group is done, have them talk about how they felt interacting and then have the group share their culture with one another. Facilitate a discussion on cultural awareness. Yelling Game-‐ You need a lot of room and somewhere where people won’t mind a lot of noise. Have one group member run and yell at the same time and see how far they can get. The next person sees if they can get further. Zip Zap-‐ Group forms a circle with one person in the middle. If person in the middle points and says “zip”, person pointed at has to say the name of the person on their left. If the person in the middle points and says “zap”, the person pointed to has to name the person on their right. The person in the middle has to count quickly to ten before the person pointed to can name the person. If the person pointed to cannot name the person, they are now in the middle. Games, Icebreakers & Other Organized Mayhem, Page 9