No timer is needed to play!
How to Play Charades
Playing with Younger Kids: Charades can be difficult for younger children to play. Frankenstein says it's okay to be flexible with younger kids and give them help with what to do, and let them make noises when it's their turn to act. The important thing is to have fun.
How to Win: The first team to accumulate five cards wins.
Two-Player Variation: Instead of teams, one player acts while the other guesses.
How to Play: The starting team selects one team member to be their actor. All other team members will be guessers (players switch roles at the beginning of each team’s turn). The actor picks a card from the deck, being careful not to show it to anyone. The card will have two sets of words or actions on it, and the actor chooses one of these to act out. (Young children act out the picture on the card, and an adult may give them acting clues.) The actor tries their best to act out the chosen word or action without making sounds, using props, or pointing to objects in the room.
Guessers on the actor’s team have ten chances to guess the word or action correctly (alternatively, you can use your phone as a 1-minute timer). If the actor’s team guesses correctly, they keep the card. If they run out of guesses (or time), the card is removed from play. This ends the team’s turn and play passes to the next team.
The game continues until a team accumulates five cards to become the winner. If the deck runs out of cards, the team with the most cards in their possession wins. (For a more challenging game, only act out words in orange.)
Feel free to incorporate your own house rules!
How to Win: The first team to accumulate five cards wins.
Two-Player Variation: Instead of teams, one player acts while the other guesses.
How to Play: The starting team selects one team member to be their actor. All other team members will be guessers (players switch roles at the beginning of each team’s turn). The actor picks a card from the deck, being careful not to show it to anyone. The card will have two sets of words or actions on it, and the actor chooses one of these to act out. (Young children act out the picture on the card, and an adult may give them acting clues.) The actor tries their best to act out the chosen word or action without making sounds, using props, or pointing to objects in the room.
Guessers on the actor’s team have ten chances to guess the word or action correctly (alternatively, you can use your phone as a 1-minute timer). If the actor’s team guesses correctly, they keep the card. If they run out of guesses (or time), the card is removed from play. This ends the team’s turn and play passes to the next team.
The game continues until a team accumulates five cards to become the winner. If the deck runs out of cards, the team with the most cards in their possession wins. (For a more challenging game, only act out words in orange.)
Feel free to incorporate your own house rules!