Charades is an amusing family-friendly game to play with your kids, siblings, parents, extended family, and friends! However, coming up with original charade ideas can be less amusing!
Not to worry – these charade ideas for kids take the guess-work out of playing! So, you can spend more time refining your miming skills!
Plus, these unique charade ideas will have your opponent’s team scratching their heads a little longer! Perhaps, even long enough to result in a win for yours!
I’ve also included a section for each age stage, as well as my top kid’s charades games on the market. So, let’s find out what the best charades ideas are, then!
In This Post:
- 100+ Easy Charades Ideas for Younger Kids (3-8 Years)
- 100+ Moderate Charades Ideas for Kids (8-12 Years)
- 100+ Hard Charades Ideas for Older Kids & Teens (12-18 Years)
- Bonus: 60 Challenging & Unique Charade Ideas for Advanced Kids & Adults!
- The Top Charades Games to Play With Kids of All Ages!
100+ Easy Charades Ideas for Younger Kids (3-8 Years)
Playing charades with little kids can be challenging. They may find it more difficult to guess certain charades simply from a lack of knowledge.
As such, easy and familiar options make for the best topics. However, do add a few curveballs to ensure they are challenged and learn during the game!
These easy charades are ones that little ones should find educational but still be able to grasp. Yes, they’re an excellent choice to include in your next game!
If you’re playing with people of various ages – children, teens, and adults, try to group teams accordingly. For example, put younger kids together and give them a stack of easier cards, too.
Action Charade Ideas
What to do, what to charade? These everyday actions make for excellent charade topics for young kids!
- Washing dishes
- Tying shoelaces
- Mopping the floor
- Sweeping the floor
- Chewing bubblegum
- Having a bath
- Opening a door
- Sitting down in a chair
- Lying down to sleep
- Brushing hair
- Brushing teeth
- Standing up
- Putting on pants
- Checking the time
- Tying up your hair
- Putting on glasses
- Playing with toys
Animal Charade Ideas
Cute to mimic, but not always easy to guess – these familiar animals make excellent charade topics for young ones! Try them out at their next game.
- A cow
- A dog
- A mouse
- A tortoise
- A rabbit
- A sheep
- A pig
- A butterfly
- A cat
- A horse
- A lion
- A donkey
- A chicken
- A duck
- A fish
- A bird
- An alligator
Transportation Charade Ideas
What’s that ride? Little kids will surely be familiar with these recognizable vehicles and forms of transportation!
- A car
- A steam-train
- A bicycle
- A kick scooter
- A skateboard
- A rowboat
- A school bus
- An ambulance
- A motorcycle
- A taxi
- An airplane
- A helicopter
- A boat
- A tractor
- A police car
- A car
- A tricycle
Job Charade Ideas
Who are you, what do you do? Commonplace jobs such as these make the perfect charade ideas for younger kids!
- A doctor
- A teacher
- A waiter
- A ballerina
- A maid
- A fireman
- A policeman
- A gardener
- A plumber
- A TV reporter
- An electrician
- A postman
- A pilot
- A football player
- A soldier
- A chef
- A priest
Sports Charade Ideas
A fun activity makes for a hilarious charade, too! These sports won’t be unfamiliar or hard to charade for young ones, either.
- Football
- Soccer
- Tennis
- Swimming
- Gymnastics
- Dancing
- Basketball
- Dodgeball
- Cricket
- Running
- Ice skating
- Yoga
- Roller skating
- Skiing
- Horse riding
- Cycling
- Martial arts
Food Charade Ideas
These charade ideas taste almost as good as they look! Most young children should be familiar with these commonplace foods and food-related actions.
- Biting into an apple
- Eating food
- Cooking food
- Drinking water
- Eating an ice cream cone
- A banana
- Soda pop
- Cereal and milk
- Cookies and milk
- Eating fries and ketchup
- Pizza
- Hamburger
- Popcorn
- Donuts
- Buttering bread
- Peeling an orange
- Flipping pancakes
100+ Moderate Charades Ideas for Kids (8-12 Years)
At this age, kids have amassed a considerable amount of knowledge about the world around them. As such, playing charades with them is fun and can be made more challenging, too.
They are more creative than ever and able to grasp abstract concepts and movements! As such, there’s no need to go easy on them in a game of charades!
Most commonplace and some unusual items, animals, and topics are suitable topics to cover in a game of charades! They can also play with, against, or in a group with teens or even adults.
If need be, kids can be grouped together with younger kids, too, though! Here are some charade ideas for kids that are perfectly appropriate for them but will also challenge them!
Action Charade Ideas
What on earth are you doing?! These regular actions are familiar to most kids yet unique enough to challenge them in a game of charades!
- Painting your toenails
- Lighting a candle
- Taking communion
- Stubbing a toe
- Opening an umbrella
- Putting on gumboots
- Knitting
- Using a calculator
- Picking flowers
- Making a bed
- Trying on shoes
- Molding clay
- Gargling with mouthwash
- Writing a letter
- Putting in earphones
- Driving a car
- Drawing a picture
- Painting a painting
- Filing your fingernails
Animal Charade Ideas
Who are you? You belong in a zoo! Animals like these may not roam in most backyards, but kids are likely to have heard about them!
- A dung beetle
- A scorpion
- A rhino
- A panda
- A gorilla
- A kangaroo
- An elephant
- A python
- A parrot
- A frog
- A bear
- A starfish
- An earthworm
- A shark
- A wolf
- A jellyfish
- A flamingo
Transportation Charade Ideas
Hmm, I’m not sure where you’re going with this charade? These transportation-themed charades ideas for kids will challenge their creative skills and thinking!
- A jetski
- A trailer
- A caravan
- A tow-truck
- Walking
- A bus
- A military jet
- A hot air balloon
- Hitchhiking
- A minivan
- A 4×4 car
- A pick-up truck
- A private jet
- A cargo ship
- A four-wheeler
- A superbike
- A steamboat
Job Charade Ideas
So, what do you do for a living? All of these unique jobs may be commonplace but not necessarily the easiest for kids to mime or guess!
- A scientist
- A painter
- A photographer
- A flight attendant
- A truck driver
- A businessman
- A nurse
- A singer
- A mechanic
- A pirate
- A librarian
- A salesman
- A cashier
- A dentist
- A boxer
- A pianist
- A delivery driver or courier
Sports Charade Ideas
These unique sports aren’t the easiest to mime or guess, but kids likely know what they are. Perhaps they may have even played one of these sports themselves, too?
- Sprinting
- Hurdling
- Ice hockey
- Horse racing
- Volleyball
- Figure skating
- Surfing
- Baseball
- Boxing
- Wrestling
- Archery
- Snowboarding
- Kayaking
- Table tennis
- Bowling
- Paragliding
- Snorkeling
Food Charade Ideas
What on earth are you eating? These fun foods and food-related actions might stir a memory for kids!
- Stirring a pot
- Flipping a pancake
- Frying an egg
- Using chopsticks
- Apple pie
- Toast
- Smelly cheese
- Eating a bag of crisps
- Barbecuing
- Squeezing orange juice
- Peeling a carrot
- Pushing a shopping cart
- Opening the fridge
- Making hamburger patties
- Setting a table
100+ Hard Charades Ideas for Older Kids & Teens (12-18 Years)
So, you’re playing charades against some older kids and teens, are you? Well, then you’ll need to bring out the big guns – easy charades just won’t do it here!
These tricky charades ideas aren’t for the faint of heart! No, these are for bright sparks who have the know-how to mime and guess challenging topics!
These difficult charade ideas are also the perfect head-scratchers to include in your regular games too. After all, a predictable game full of easy to answer charades is no fun!
Even if kids don’t get them the first time around, they might learn a few things from these interesting choices! At the very least, everyone will have a good laugh trying to figure them out!
Action Charade Ideas
These actions aren’t easy to guess! Plus, they might just make the player charading them look like a silly sausage!
- Driving a forklift
- Dancing in the rain
- Taking a moonlit walk on a beach
- Walking in high heels
- Shopping online
- Balancing rocks
- Adjusting a gas cylinder office chair
- Traditional Thai dancing
- Stringing beads
- Weed-eating a garden
- Making pork sausages
- Fanning someone with a palm leaf
- Lighting incense
- Opening a bag of groceries
- Shoveling snow
- Weeding a garden
- Making daisy chains
Animal Charade Ideas
Who are these strange and fantastical critters? If you know, you might just have a leg up on the competition!
- A sloth
- A peacock
- An armadillo
- A star-nosed mole
- A narwhal
- A chameleon
- A pufferfish
- A giraffe
- An owl
- A platypus
- A zebra
- A tiger
- A panther
- A cheetah
- A koala
- A toad
- A porcupine
Transportation Charade Ideas
Getting around is something we humans all have in common. However, our mode of transportation (of choice) is quite otherwise!
- A monster truck
- An electric scooter
- A pest-control truck
- An ice cream truck
- A Hoverboard
- A formula one racing car
- A go-kart
- A horse & carriage
- Santa’s sleigh
- A Harley Davidson
- The subway
- A tram
- A double-decker bus
- A ferry
- An aerial tramway or cable car
- A ski lift
- An electric car
Job Charade Ideas
These outlandish professions are not only out there but may be difficult to charade, too! Can you figure out the best way to do so?
- A glassblower
- A clown
- A dishwasher
- A dog walker
- A diver
- A midwife
- A dog groomer
- A therapist
- A pharmacist
- A train conductor
- A cameraman
- A sound engineer
- A graphic designer
- A writer
- A stay-at-home dad
- A geisha
- A game ranger
Sports Charade Ideas
Popular sports are not everyone’s cup of tea. Luckily, there are many kinds of activities to choose from these days, including these unique sports charade ideas for kids!
- Croquet
- Polo
- Squash
- Water gymnastics
- Badminton
- Sky-diving
- Windsurfing
- Yacht racing
- Water polo
- Netball
- Diving
- Bobsledding
- Fencing
- Pole vaulting
- Powerlifting
- Bodybuilding
- Rugby
Food Charade Ideas
Can your opponent’s team make head or tail of these cryptic food-related charades ideas? If not, a win might just be on the cards for you and yours!
- Peeling a potato
- Frying chips in a deep fryer
- Using a microwave
- Whipping cream
- Cutting an avocado
- Measuring out baking ingredients
- Carving a Thanksgiving turkey
- Grilling a panini sandwich
- Picking veggies in the garden
- Basting a chicken
- Test tasting a food
- Eating sushi
- Slicing a pizza
- Ordering a takeaway on the phone
- Eating tacos
- Drinking a milkshake
- Making fruit juice with a juicer
Bonus: 60 Challenging & Unique Charades Ideas for Advanced Kids & Adults!
Are you playing a seasoned charades veteran, or, even worse, a whole team of them? If so, you’ll need to go all out with these advanced charade ideas for kids!
Add some obscure charades that only a knowledgeable person would know, and you may stand a chance! Just be sure to avoid any topics the opposite team may be familiar with!
These interesting options are sure to throw a spanner into the works! Perhaps they’ll even confuse your opponents and lead to a win for you, too!
Unique Action Charade Ideas
How did you know? These hard-to-guess charades mimes may be quite hilarious to watch!
- Smelling wine in a glass
- Checking in at an airport gate
- Lotus position (Yoga pose)
- Catching chickens in an enclosure
- Sending an email
- Listening to the sound of the sea in seashells
- Handing out your CV
- Delivering milk in glass bottles
- Sitting down in a bean bag
- Eating Ramen noodles
Challenging Animal Charade Ideas
Can you guess these obscure, freaky, or otherwise downright out-of-this-world animals? If not, then your opponents might not be able to, either!
- A llama
- An ostrich
- A weasel
- An eel
- A honey badger
- A guinea fowl
- A blobfish
- A hyena
- A tardigrade
- A pink fairy armadillo
Unusual Transportation Charade Ideas
Be it land, air, or water; there are a heck of a lot of ways to get around! Have you heard of some of these weird options, though?
- A bullet train
- A hovercraft
- A Zorb ball
- A dog sled
- An Elliptigo
- A suspension train
- A beer-bike
- An amphibian bus
- A unicycle
- Solowheels
Obscure Job Charade Ideas
Success is success no matter what the person is successful at – don’t you agree? In the case of these professionals, their field of specialization is truly quite something special, though!
- A mortician
- A Mukbanger
- A water sommelier
- A snake milker
- A Youtube vlogger
- A bed tester
- A for-hire boyfriend
- A lamplighter
- A professional cuddler
- A golf ball diver
Unique Sports Charade Ideas
No matter the sports, they all have one thing in common – entertainment value! And, these unique options will surely add some more of this to your next game of charades, too!
- Snail racing
- Log throwing
- Curling
- Cheese rolling
- Tuk-tuk polo
- Wife carrying
- Competitive eating
- Muay Thai
- Onbashira (Japanese traditional log riding)
- Extreme ironing
Challenging Food Charade Ideas
Do you consider yourself a foodie? If so, you may be able to guess these, but will your opponents?
- Balut
- Haggis
- Spam
- 100-year-old egg
- Salami
- Snails in garlic butter
- Vegemite
- Frogs legs
- Rocky Mountain oysters
- Durian
The Top Charades Games to Play With Kids of All Ages!
There are many reasons to play charades and just as many benefits of playing! If you’re unfamiliar with the game, though, you might want to start off with one of these options.
Outsourcing topic creation and game rules is a stress-free way to introduce charades to your household! Yes, these fun charades games take the blood, sweat, and tears out of playing.
Furthermore, each got created with families with kids in mind, be they toddlers, tikes, tweens, or teens! So, you can find a suitable game for your young ones, be they big or small!
Some of these games are no reading required; others include various difficulty levels. And, some even bend the charades rules – or reinvent them entirely!
The Best No-Reading-Required Charades Games for Young Kids (3+ Years Old)
Young kids aren’t fully literate, meaning they can’t play many traditional adult charades games, especially those with written cards. No, kids are better at recognizing pictures, not words!
As such, no-reading-required charades games like these are an excellent charade idea for kids!
University Games Charades Kids on Stage Tin
This popular no-reading-required charades game is suitable for kids aged three years old and up. Plus, this edition comes in a handy, kid-resistant tin ideal for traveling with!
The game also includes 100 picture topic cards and a color-coded spinner for easy gameplay. Many moms felt that this was an excellent game for siblings to play together.
University Games Kids on Stage
This cute game is an alternative to the Kids on Stage tin mentioned above and also suits kids 3+ years old. But, it’s slightly different – it comes in a box with a game board and 60 topic cards.
Outset Media Picture Charades for Kids
At this age, young kids learn via pictures more so than words. That’s why this cute picture charades game is perfect for them!
It includes close to 200 colorful, illustrated picture cards to excite and inspire young ones. Though, I think the whole family would be happy to join in on a round, too!
Disney Frozen II Charades The Board Game
This lovely themed charades board game is an excellent gift for Frozen II fans! It even includes four cute collectible Frozen II figurines with which players can navigate the game board.
Additionally, there are 52 game cards with one picture and three topics on each. So, it suits older, more advanced kids and can adapt to kids as they grow older, too!
The Best Charades Games for Kids Who Can Read (7+ Years Old)
Literate kids can play both picture-based and word-based charades games at this age. However, they may struggle with obscure or difficult to mime topics.
As such, you’ll want to look at suitable, fun, kid-friendly options for them to play. Many of these fun games are suitable for them, and even the whole family to play together, though!
Do you love traditional charades games but want to try something unique and fun for a change? If so, try out Hasbro Guesstures – it’s a fun take on your classic charades game!
This speedy charades game comes packed with 320 topic cards divided into three difficulty categories.
It really engages kids, though, as they need to rush to guess the topic before the cards disappear in the game box!
Outset Media Family Charades Card Game
This travel-friendly, pocket-sized charades card game may be small, but one thing is for sure – it does not lack in entertainment value! It includes 65 cards featuring over 300 charades topics!
This charades game is the perfect choice for game-hungry kids! Why? Well, it comes with 50 game cards featuring over 300 charade topics to keep them entertained for hours!
Zobmondo! Store Don’t Make Me Laugh! Reinvented Charades Party Game
Are you looking for something a little different from the norm but just as theatrical and hilarious as charades? If so, this fun cooperative charades-style game is just the thing!
Instead of miming clues, players perform funny acts for their fellow players to entertain them. Players can also play solo, in a partnership, or together, unlike in a traditional charades game!
The Best Charades Games to Play With Older Kids and Teens (10+ Years Old)
Are your kids older or all grown up? If so, you can opt for some advanced charades games like these to play with those tweens or teens.
These hand-picked options are fun, challenging, and all-around age-appropriate!
This party-style charades game features plenty of interesting topics – as such, it will surely challenge older kids and teens! The game comes with 100 cards with over 500 topics, too!
This challenging charades game takes things up a notch! Instead of taking turns, teams race each other to guess four out of five charade topics correctly to win the round!
The game comes packed with 280 game cards featuring five topics on each. Yes, that’s 1400 topics altogether! So, it will keep the whole family entertained for a while to come, too.
The Best Family-Friendly Charades Games for All Ages
Do you have a mixed household as far as age goes? If so, you need a game that can cater to all your family from tots to centenarians – and everyone in between!
These fun charades games are family-friendly, and some can even adapt to suit various age groups, too! They include a wide variety of charade ideas for kids of all ages.
Outset Media Charades Party Game – Family Charades-in-a-Box Compendium
This compendium is my top pick for families! Why? Because it is actually six games in one box! Each game suits kids from different age groups, from 4 years old up to 14+ years old!
This hugely popular no-reading-required charades game has it all! Plus, it’s suitable for the whole family, not just tots! It includes 150 topic cards with three topics on each card.
Each card has a single picture and the corresponding word. However, it also includes a further two word suggestions to raise the game’s difficulty level when required.
Outset Media Family Charades [Amazon Exclusive]
Are you looking for an all-in-one charades game for all the kids (teens included) in your family to play together? If so, do take a look at this game!
It comes with four card decks – one for kids aged 8+, one for the whole family to play, and two others! The movie and 80’s and 90’s decks, which are sure to be winners with teens and adults.
Conclusion:
Charades is one of the most fun, educational, and exciting games for the whole family to play together! I hope these charades ideas for kids liven up your games with some new topics!
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