Playing Charades for Kids
Charades is a versatile game that can be played almost anywhere with anyone. With no preparation required and no accessories needed, it’s as easy as coming up with a word, (which we have helped you out with below!) then acting that word out for the other players to guess.
It’s perfect if you need kids party ideas or just as a way to pass the time.
The actions and guesses of the players can often be hilarious, making charades a lot of fun to play with friends and family. If you are playing with young people, or if a group of kids are playing on their own, they will need words that aren’t too hard for them to act out or to guess at.
We have put together a list of kid’s charades words that everyone will be familiar with.
Words and topics can be a little more difficult for adults, but charades for kids is only easy if you are up to date on what music and movies the kids are into, so don’t get too smug if you’re playing with younger people!
How to Play Charades
Very young children may need the help of an adult or older child when acting their clues. What we like to do, when playing with children who are a range of different ages, is put the very easy-to-act words into a different hat specifically for the youngest kids.
We also like to use picture cards when we can, to make it easier for the kids to know exactly what they need to act, and because a lot of the younger kids won’t be able to read yet! And instead of having them act out the category, we just let them say what it is, (animal, food, song) if they want to.
Players can make their own rules to suit, for the most part. It is up to you whether to use a timer, how many points are awarded, what topics are allowed and if you should form teams or play individually, whether to put words in a hat for players to pick out, or let each actor choose their own.
Categories
You are not allowed to speak when you are acting out a clue, so there are some specific actions that you can mime to help other players guess. First, they need to guess your category, as that will help them to guess the overall answer.
This is how to indicate categories.
- A person or character, stand with your hands on your hips.
- A television show, draw a rectangle in the air with your index fingers.
- A book, put your hands (palms facing each other) together in front of you, then open them like a book.
- A song, pretend to sing with a microphone.
- A movie, put both hands in front of your face, one hand as if it’s holding a camera, and the other as if you’re turning the crank an old camera.
- Food, mime eating.
Once the other players have guessed the category, show them how many words they need to guess by holding up fingers. For instance, if you’re acting out ‘Finding Nemo’, you should mime that it’s a movie, then hold up two fingers.
Hold up fingers again to show which word you’re working on. One finger indicates that you are going to act out the first word.
If the word is a small word like ‘A’ or ‘The’, you can indicate this by holding your thumb and index finger close together, then making an A or a T shape with your fingers.
Show a long word by holding your hands apart and indicate the number of syllables in that word by again holding up fingers, then tapping them on your forearm. Indicate which syllable you are working on in the same way.
To indicate that you’re going to act out the whole thing, spread your arms wide apart.
If a word is hard to act out, you can instead act out a word that rhymes with it. To indicate ‘sounds like’, cup your ear.
Charades Ideas For Kids
Animals
Most animals can be great ideas for charades, you’ll get a giggle even thinking about a kid acting out ‘chicken’ or ‘penguin’. They are easy to act and easy to guess.
Monkey | Dog | Chicken |
Bee | Cat | Mouse |
Elephant | Duck | Giraffe |
Bird | Squirrel | Lion |
Kangaroo | Penguin | Turtle |
Snake | Rabbit | Tyrannosaurus Rex |
Unicorn | Dragon |
Feelings
Feelings are easy to act and to guess, and most kids will know exactly what funny faces to pull to portray them!
Hungry | Angry | Sad |
Happy | Scared | Jealous |
Thirsty | Confused | Bored |
Silly | Hurt |
Activities
This list of words ranges from sports to everyday activities we all do, so kids will have either done them or seen them being carried out or played by someone else. They are very easy to guess and to act out.
Taking a shower | Brushing your teeth | Decorating a cake |
Reading a book | Coloring in | Jumping rope |
Blowing bubbles | Playing videogames | Eating a banana |
Bouncing a Ball | Getting Dressed | Blowing a Kiss |
Fishing | Playing baseball | Playing football |
Roller skating | Skateboarding | Bowling |
Archery | Basketball | Tennis |
Hockey | Skiing | Swimming |
Running | Boxing | Golf |
Books
Books are a little more difficult, as not every child will know a lot of books, but this list contains some books that have easy to act and guess words, so even if you don’t know the book you can still play.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Diary of a Wimpy Kid |
The Cat in the Hat | Peter Rabbit | Goodnight Moon |
Winnie the Pooh | The Giving Tree | Charlotte’s Web |
Room on the Broom |
Movies
Again, this list of movies has some easy to act and guess words, so even if you don’t know the movie you can still play.
Toy Story | Home Alone | The Little Mermaid |
Beauty and the Beast | Wall E | Pinocchio |
Up | The Lion King | Ice Age |
Wreck-it Ralph | Frozen | Brave |
Kung Fu Panda |
Characters
Characters are a lot of fun to act out, and kids young and old will know most of these ones.
Mermaid | Spiderman | Superman |
Zombie | Vampire | Fisherman |
Pirate | Princess | Doctor |
Nurse | Wonder Woman | Katniss Everdeen |
Mary Poppins | Baker | Witch |
Harry Potter | Superman | Firefighter |
Cowboy | Farmer | Batman |
Santa Claus | The tooth fairy |
Fairy Tales
Most kids will know these popular fairy tales and bedtime stories. For a little inspiration on some more fairy tale characters click here.
Sleeping Beauty | Hansel and Gretel | Rapunzel |
Little Red Riding Hood | Snow White | Thumbelina |
Jack and the Beanstalk | Cinderella | The Three Little Pigs |
Goldilocks and the Three Bears |
TV
Dora the Explorer | Paw Patrol | Power Rangers |
PJ Masks | Blue’s Clues | Star Wars: The Clone Wars |
Ben 10 | Peppa Pig | My Little Pony |
The Babysitters Club |
People
Some singers and actors for older kids, and some everyday people for the younger ones! Young children will get a kick out of acting like their mom or dad or a grandparent. You could even throw aunts and uncles, or brothers and sisters into the mix.
Mother | Father | Grandmother |
Grandfather | Ariana Grande | Pink |
Taylor Swift | Lady Gaga | Bruno Mars |
Ed Sheeran | Usain Bolt | Dwayne Johnson |
Daniel Radcliffe | Oprah Winfrey | Justin Bieber |
Zac Efron | Teacher | Bus driver |
Songs
Kids will know songs from popular movies and YouTube videos, as well as nursery rhymes and commonly played pop songs. Some of these are easy words to act and guess even if you don’t know the song.
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star | Do You Want to Build a Snowman | All Star |
I Like to Move it | Baby Shark | Wheels on the Bus |
Car Wash | Kung Fu Fighting | 7 Rings |
Halo | Happy | Wrecking Ball |
Poker Face | Shake it Off | Shivers |
Games
Snakes and Ladders | Tag | Hide and go Seek |
Hopscotch | Twister |
Food
Banana | Ice cream | Burger |
Hot dog | Bubblegum | Popcorn |
Spaghetti | Chocolate bar | Chicken nuggets |
Pizza | Sandwich | Apple |
Cake | Strawberry | Grapes |
Items
Fun and easy to act out items from around the house that everyone will know.
Umbrella | Oven | Hat Phone |
Laptop | Tablet | Microwave |
Television | Coffee Machine | Bluetooth Speaker |
Headphones | Flash Drive | E reader |
Piano | Ball | Shoes |
Swings | Slide | See-saw |
Tie | Lawnmower |
Household Chores
Vacuuming | Sweeping the floor | Washing the dishes |
Making the bed | Dusting | Weeding the garden |
Mowing the lawn | Watering flowers |
Click Here to download the full list of Charade Words for Kids.