How to play charades with kids
- Set each player's level. In Settings, add names and pick easy, medium or hard for each player, or one level for everyone.
- Hand the phone to the actor and start the clock. Only the actor looks at the screen.
- Act it out. No talking. Animal sounds are OK. Everyone else shouts guesses, and close guesses count.
- Tap Got it or Skip. The next picture pops up right away. Get as many as you can before the buzzer.
- Pass the phone to the next actor. Their pictures come at their level, and the scoreboard keeps track.
Why pictures, and why levels?
Every card is a picture with the word under it, so a four year old who can't read yet plays the same game as a ten year old. Each player gets cards at their own level. Easy pictures are things a small child sees every week and can act in one move: a dog, a banana, brushing teeth. Hard ones are little scenes for older kids and grown-ups, like a knight fighting a dragon.
What's in the deck?
240 pictures in six categories: Animals, Things Kids Do, Jobs, Food, Feelings and Pretend Play, about 80 at each level. Turn categories on or off and add a timer in Settings. Cards don't repeat until you've seen a whole category at that level.
Tips for playing with little kids
Let sounds count: a moo makes a cow easy for a three year old. Give the youngest players Easy pictures and a longer clock (90 seconds), or switch the timer off for one picture at a time. Let the whole room guess together instead of splitting into teams, so nobody sits and waits. If a picture is too tricky, skip it.