Charades | Activities | DoInFreeTime.com

Act out a word or phrase using only gestures and expressions while your team races to guess it before the timer runs out — a classic party game that gets louder and funnier with every round.

The Essentials

How to play

Split into two or more teams and prepare slips of paper with words or phrases (movies, books, famous people, actions) folded up in a bowl or hat.
One player from the acting team draws a slip, reads it silently, and has 60-90 seconds to act it out for their own team using only gestures, expressions, and mimed actions — no talking, no mouthing words, no props beyond your body.
Standard signals help: patting your arm means "sounds like," holding up fingers means the number of words, tugging your ear means "small word."
Teammates shout out guesses continuously; the actor can nod, shake their head, or gesture "getting warmer" but never speak.
If the team guesses correctly before time runs out, they score a point; then it's the next team's turn with a fresh slip.

Tips

Establish a shared signal system before playing — even three or four basic gestures (word count, sounds-like, syllables) speed up guessing dramatically.
Mix in easy, well-known references with a few trickier ones so every round has both quick wins and genuine head-scratchers.
If the actor gets stuck, let them skip to a new slip after a short penalty rather than burning the whole round in silence.
Great for team building: it's loud, physical, and instantly reveals who's a natural performer and who thinks best under pressure guessing.

Min number of participants	4
Age	6+ yrs.
Safety support by adult	Not required
Min duration	15 min.
Cost	None (Free)
Environment	Indoor / Outdoor