All nine games

🎭 How to play Charades with kids

One player acts out a secret without words while everyone else guesses.

Ages 3+ · Players 2 or more · Time 10–20 minutes · You need room to wiggle

Rules

1. The actor takes a secret peek at what to act out.
2. Act it out: no talking.
3. Everyone else shouts guesses.
4. Guessed it? The next player becomes the actor.

Make it fit the youngest player

• Ages 2–4: Animals only, and animal noises are allowed.
• Ages 5–7: Animals, jobs and everyday actions. Sounds are OK, words are not.
• Ages 8–10: Hard ones like "a snowman melting", with a 60 second timer. No sounds.

Nobody is ever out: a mistake becomes a wiggle or a giggle, so the littlest player keeps playing.

No phone? No problem

Whisper the secret in the actor's ear. Grown-ups can draw it on paper for little ones who can't read yet.

Or let the phone run it

Romparoo keeps the secret. Every secret is a picture, so kids who can't read yet can be the actor too. They peek, put the phone down and start acting. Secret Charades is one of nine games in Romparoo, a free iPhone app with no ads, no accounts and no tracking. It is coming soon to the App Store.

Play safely

Clear the floor, keep cushions low and never climb on furniture. A grown-up should always be around when little ones play.