It has become a family tradition in my household to play charades. Even though it may not be evenly teamed by age, we always do boys against the girls. I have 2 girls and 2 boys and they range from ages 5-12. It’s a great activity for birthday parties because it has an organized method of playing, and all the kids get to participate.
How to Play Charades – For Kids
The idea of the game is simple. Taking turns, 1 person from each team must act out the opposing teams list, and the winning team is the one with the most correct guesses.
Preparation:
- Group the kids into two teams
- Give each group a piece of paper and something to write with
- Tell each group to come up with 10 different things from 4 categories (Book, Movie, Song or T.V show)
- Have them write each one down on the piece of paper and then cut them into individual pieces of paper so that the other team can select one.
- Make sure they write the title and the category. Example : Curious George – Book
- Once both teams have their list of 10 and they’ve been cut into pieces, now the fun begins!
How to Play:
- One person from a team selects one of the other teams slips of paper.
- They get 30 seconds of prep time to think about how they want to act it out.
- The person acting it out then has 2 minutes to try to get his/her team to guess the correct movie, song, book or t.v show.
- Once either the timer runs out, or the correct guess was made, that team gets a point, and it is now the other teams turn.
- Take turns until all 10 items from both teams have been acted out.
- Everyone gets a turn to act something out.
- The winning team is the one with the most points.
Rules for Charades
- There can be no talking from the person who is acting
- Start with acting out whether it’s a book, movie song or show, and then tell them to give the number of words in the title.
- Using clues like “sounds like”, syllables, and “small words” – if, and or, but, the, etc. are great ways to get started.
Symbols for Charades
- Small words – put their thumb and index finger together to make a gesture indicating it’s a small word
- Book – put their hands together as though they are clapping, and then open and close them to indicate it’s a book
- Movie – put their hands up to their face and “roll” one hand indicating it’s a reel from a movie
- Song – put one hand up to their lips and then extend it out, indicating a song is being sung
- T.V show – draw a box with box fingers in the air, indicating it’s a television set
- First word, second word, etc – put up the number of fingers to show what number the word is
- Syllables – put the number of fingers together to indicate it’s a syllable
- Sounds like – put their finger up to their ear to indicate it’s a word that rhymes with what they are acting out
The only real rule is there is no talking. Let the kids have a good time with figuring out how to get their team to guess what they are acting out. You’ll be surprised at the creativity they come up with! (Or…maybe you won’t be surprised. 
)
Age certainly does not matter when playing charades. Younger kids may need a little more supervision, but the joy and fun they have is all worth it in the end!
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Happy Birthday Party planning!
*To get more kids birthday party ideas and kids birthday party games, click on the links below.
Simon Says | The Balloon Ping Pong Game | Obstacle Course Ideas | Charades for Kids | Printable Bingo Cards for Kids
Image Credit : Spoonful
