How to Play the Game Charades

How to Play the Game Charades

• 1

  Split the group into two even teams.

• 2

  Have each team write the names of famous people, movie titles, animals, words or phrases on the squares of paper. Fold the pieces of paper and drop all of Team No. 1's words and phrases into one of the hats. Then drop Team No. 2's words into the other hat.

• 3

  Have a player from Team No. 1 draw a piece of paper out of Team No. 2's hat. Allow the player to think about the word or phrase for a few moments. Set the timer for five minutes (or however long you choose) and then start it.

• 4

  The player giving the clues must act out the word or phrase written on the piece of paper he has drawn from the hat, while the other players on Team No. 1 guess what his word or phrase is. He may indicate the number of words in the title or phrase by raising the appropriate number of fingers in the air at the beginning of the round. If one of the words is too difficult to guess, the player may try to get his teammates to guess a word that rhymes with the original word by cupping his hand to his ear to signify "sounds like."

• 5

  Once the player giving the clues gets one of his teammates to guess the correct answer, he should draw another word or phrase from the hat. After the timer runs out, tally up and record the number of correct answers from Team No. 1 on a score sheet (which can simply be another one of the squares of paper).

• 6

  Have a player from Team No. 2 draw a piece of paper from Team No. 1's hat and repeat the process. Play continues until all players have had a chance to give clues or until a predetermined point-goal is reached.