Playing Charades with kids is such a fun way to engage them in the classroom. Here are some awesome Charades for kids ideas that you can start using TODAY! Trust me, your kiddos will be begging to play this game!
Before we dive in, some of you might be thinking:
What are the Benefits of Playing Charades?
- Strengthens social skills through teamwork and collaboration
- Boosts confidence and problem solving ability
- Improves communication skills – verbal and non-verbal
- Promotes perspective-taking through role-play
- Builds listening skills and patience through focus and turn-taking
- Reviews reading skills while strengthening vocabulary
Alright, now that we know WHY Charades is such a great game to play, let’s chat about some OTHER ways we can use Charades cards in the classroom.
Charades for Kids Ideas: Icebreaker
Charades can be such a great back to school, icebreaker activity. Play it with your students at the beginning of the school year to give your kiddos a chance to let loose and get comfortable with each other. You can also use it for team-building, emphasizing leadership and teamwork. Or, play it after Spring Break and Christmas Break to get the kids warmed up and back in the groove.
Charades for Kids Ideas: Brain Break
Get your class moving! Use Charades as an active brain break by getting EVERYONE to act the card! Try freezing, moving in slow motion, fast forward, or making funny sounds. I guarantee your students will LOVE being able to move around and act a little silly to break up the day. After all, those kids work HARD and deserve to have some FUN!!
Charades for Kids Ideas: Indoor Recess Activity
Okay, so I know you all cringe when it’s five minutes ’til recess, you see the rain pouring down, and you here that inevitable announcement from the office: “And today will be an indoor recess…” But don’t worry, I’ve got you covered! Pull out the Charades Cards and leave them with your students over the break. Honestly, sooooo many teachers have told me that their kids constantly ask to play Charades on indoor recess days. They just can’t get enough of it! So there you go, indoor recess dilemma SOLVED!
Charades for Kids Ideas: SEL (Social and Emotional Learning)
Charades can be an excellent way for your students to practice perspective- taking. Through role-play, they develop body language awareness, learn to easily recognize facial expressions, and to simply put themselves in another person’s shoes. Charades can add a great SEL/Character Education component to your learning environment.
Charades for Kids Ideas: Language Arts Centers
Charades cards can easily be used in Language Arts Centers. I’ve used them for story starters and paragraph topics, which really come in handy for those little ones that just can’t think of what to write about (we’ve all been there!). They can also be used as grammar mini-lessons. For instance, finding the verb root or verb endings (-s, -ing, -ed), identifying nouns, etc. Another quick skill practice can be arranging the cards in alphabetical order. These are just a few of the many ways to turn Charades into Language Arts learning tools.
Charades for Kids Ideas: Memory Game
Last, but not least, you can easily turn Charades into a classic game of Memory. Print two sets of Charades Cards, shuffle the deck, lay the cards face down in rows, either on a table or on the floor, and voila, your game is ready! Students can play in pairs or in teams, whatever works best. Each person/team flips over any two cards. If they are a matching pair, they get to keep the cards. If not, they turn them back over and it’s the next person’s/team’s turn. The game ends when all cards have been snatched up. This serves as another great indoor recess activity, free choice option, or centers game.
Well there you have it! Download a set of Printable Charades for Kids TODAY so you can have some FUN in your classroom!
Looking for ways to manage your class’ volume level? Check out this blog post:
Classroom Management Plan for Volume Control
Looking for more fun things to do in your classroom?
Read this post: 5 Amazing Kids Yoga Benefits.
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Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you found something you like here today, and I hope to see you again!
Jessica at Savvy Apple
“Don’t worry, be Savvy.”
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Oh my goodness! My students love playing charades! This is a great idea! Thank you so much for sharing!