Charades

Charades is a classic guessing game that’s full of fun and totally flexible. It’s ideal for families, small groups, or even one-on-one time with your child. All it takes is a few ideas—movies, animals, actions—and a willingness to be a bit silly.

This game encourages creativity, communication, and body awareness while giving everyone a chance to shine. It works brilliantly indoors on rainy days, and you can easily adapt it to suit different ages and abilities.

What You Need

• Small slips of paper
• Pens or pencils
• A bowl or hat
• A timer (optional)

Setup

• Write down different actions, phrases, characters, or objects on slips of paper. These can be themed (e.g. movies, animals, jobs) or completely random.
• Fold the slips and place them into a bowl or hat.
• Divide into two teams.

Steps

1. Choose one player from the first team to act out the word or phrase without speaking or making any sounds.
2. Start the timer (e.g. 1–2 minutes).
3. The rest of their team tries to guess the word or phrase before the timer runs out.
4. If they guess correctly, their team scores a point.
5. Teams take turns, with a new actor each round.
6. Play continues for a set number of rounds or until all slips have been used.

Standard Gestures

• Number of words: Hold up fingers to show how many words are in the phrase (e.g. two fingers for “two words”).
• Number of syllables: Tap your forearm with the number of syllables in the word using your fingers.
• Which word: Hold up the number of fingers to indicate which word you’re acting out (e.g. three fingers for the third word).
• Sounds like: Cup your hand behind your ear.
• Short word (like “a” or “the”): Use your thumb and index finger to show something tiny.
• Movie: Pretend to crank an old-fashioned movie camera.
• Book: Open your hands as if opening a book.
• TV show: Trace a rectangle in the air (like a screen).
• Song: Pretend to sing or tap an imaginary microphone.

Variations

Reverse charades: The whole team acts while one person guesses.

Solo play: One person acts for everyone else playing together.

Themed rounds: Choose a specific category like “Animals”, “Disney Characters” or “Everyday Tasks”.