Family Charades

Rules and host guide

How to play Family Charades

One player silently acts out a prompt while teammates guess. Correct guesses before the timer ends score one point.

Materials and setup

Print and cut the prompt cards, prepare a bowl, timer, and score sheet, then divide players into balanced teams.

Play steps

1. The active player draws one card without showing it.
2. Start a 60-second timer.
3. The player acts without speaking, spelling, mouthing words, or pointing to written text.
4. The team scores if it names the prompt before time; then play passes to the next team.

Host tips and variants

Skip an unfamiliar prompt without penalty once per turn. Younger groups can use a two-minute timer; in all-play mode, every team guesses and the first correct team scores.

Example round

For “building a snowman,” the actor can mime rolling snow and stacking circles but cannot say “cold,” point at a snowman image, or draw letters.

Design note

The deck mixes actions, objects, and familiar situations to reward expressive movement rather than specialist knowledge.