
Dumb charades is one of the entertaining and funny games that a group of people can enjoy. This PartyJoys article will provide you with some of the best charade ideas for families.
Enough of music, eating, and chatting routine that you follow for every dinner party. Now, you have a great chance to make your family dinners more interesting. How? Well how about playing dumb charades? Playing charades is interesting, funny, and very entertaining. It’s quite easy to play this game if all the family members have some basic acting skills and if not, then you are sure to burst into a fit of laughter and have more fun.
How to Play Charades
Charades involves explaining the phrases or the name of the movie or a book or a TV show, etc., through acting. A person is not allowed to talk, but just has to act out the name by using different gestures, facial expressions, and body language.
First, you have to make two groups with equal number of members in each. Each team member has to decide a team leader who will call a member from the opposite team, and secretly tell him the word, phrase, or name of the movie that he/she needs to act out, and explain it to his or her team members within a prescribed time period, say within 3 minutes or so. You will need one person who will not participate in the game, and would act like an umpire. He will ensure that all the rules of the game are followed by every member, and would also keep the record of the time and the score.
Each team will send one member from their team alternatively to act out. To make the game more participatory, you can allow each team member to act out ,and suggest the name of the movie or a phrase, etc. So to sum up, all you need to play charades is two teams, some creativity, a little bit of acting capacity, and names of the movies, books, TV shows, and some phrases, and one neutral player.
Ideas for Charade
There are ‘n’ number of movies, TV shows, and books that you can use against the opposite team. Given below are some of the ideas for each category that you can refer to:
Movies
While choosing the movie names for charades make sure that they are easy to act out, especially if the kids are a part of the game. Pearl Harbor, Blood Diamond, Lord Of the Rings, Angels and Demons, Shrek, Home Alone, The lion King, James Bond, Jurassic Park, The Pink Panther, Spider Man, Slumdog Millionaire, Exorcist, The Reader, French Kiss, Finding Nemo, and Kung Fu Panda, etc., can be used.
If you are not able to act out the name of the movie you must act out one of the famous character from that movie using your body language and expressions. You also have the option to dance on the famous song from that particular movie, so that your team members get some clue. Basically, you can act out anything that helps your team members guess the name of the movie. But the only rule is not to utter a word!
Books
Similar to the movies, there are many books that can be used while playing charades. Some of them are: The Diary of a Young Girl, The Art of Racing in the Rain, Veronica Decides to Die, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Children of Midnight, Love Story, Harry Potter, Twilight, Little House in the Big Woods, Girls of Riyadh, The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari, and Chicken Soup, etc.
If you are not able to act out the name of the book, you may act out the author or some other works by the same author, or any of the famous characters from the book or the story. Try to give as many clues as possible about the book, and the name of the book so that your team members can catch the name aptly.
TV Shows
Tom and Jerry, The adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Desperate Housewives, friends, How I Met Your Mother, Lost, Batman, Big Brother, Star Trek, and So You Think You Can Dance, etc., are some of the popular TV shows that can be included in the list of ideas for charades. In this case too, if you cannot explain the name of the show, you can act out famous characters from the show, to give your team members a hint about the show.
Phrases and Sayings
Phrases and sayings can also be used while playing charades if you wish to make the game more challenging. Some popular phrases, such as, all’s well that ends well, a penny saved is a penny earned, all good things come to who he waits, better late than never, etc., are some of the phrases that you can use. Here you have to act out the phrase well, so that you can covey the essence of the phrase in less time. Also make sure that all the members have a fair knowledge of popular phrases before playing the game, or else it can be very challenging and boring for some.
You can choose any movies, books, TV shoes, and phrases but you must have a code body language for each of the category, so that your team members can narrow down their guesses. For example, if it’s a name of a movie, you can act as if you are holding a camera and shooting, and then start explaining the name of the movie. Similarly you can come up with unique actions and signs for other basic categories.
So how do you find the game? Well, you should play it first, and then decide. You will surely enjoy playing it. So the next time when you are planning a family dinner, you know what to do afterward!