Charades ideas and word lists
Pick a theme below and you have 60 charades ideas ready to play, for kids or adults, with nothing to sign up for. Each list is a sample from a deck in Charado, a charades game for iPhone. The words also work for Who Am I and for Fishbowl.
Word lists by theme
Animals
Lobster, Peacock, Parrot, Seal
Movies
Guardians of the Galaxy, The Matrix, Dirty Dancing, Harry Potter
Act It Out
Slithering like a snake, Proposing marriage, Losing your keys, Stuck in quicksand
Famous People
Julie Andrews, Galileo, Dwayne Johnson, Britney Spears
Food & Drink
Corn on the cob, Taco, Pickle, Ramen
Kids
Seashell, Laughing, Pencil, Marbles
Jobs
Astronomer, Dancer, Street performer, Fisherman
Sports
Three-legged race, Diving, Squash, Backflip
Music
Sabrina Carpenter, Orchestra, Choir, Drums
Places
Rio de Janeiro, Fire station, Waterfall, Disneyland
TV Shows
Downton Abbey, Reality show, Breaking news, Sitcom
Fairy Tales & Fantasy
Captain Hook, Gargoyle, Mummy, Vampire
Halloween
Graveyard, Invisible Man, Cackling like a witch, Face paint
Christmas
Christmas dinner, Naughty list, Deck the Halls, A Christmas Carol
New Year's Eve
Top hat, Reading more books, Streamers, Dinner party
All the words on your iPhone
In Charado one player holds the phone on their forehead, the others explain and act, and a tap scores the word.
Download on the App Store12 decks with 150 words each, in 14 languages. Animals, Movies and Act It Out are free, Charado Plus opens the rest, and seasonal decks are free in season. No account, no ads.
How to play charades
- Split into two teams and set a timer for one minute.
- One player picks a word and acts it out without speaking. Their team calls out guesses.
- Every word guessed in time scores a point. Then the other team takes over.