All you need is a pencil, scraps of paper, and your imagination for this fun enrichment game! If your children don’t already know how to play charades, now is a great time to teach them! Divide your family into teams – or you can play one on one – and start jotting down names.
Here are some modification ideas so the whole family can play! (1) Use words and gestures – traditionally, charades is played using only gestures. If your little one is having difficulty, try using both to keep the game interesting for all! (2) Use words only – challenge your older children to use their describing words only. (3) Use teams – if acting out alone is too challenging for your young children, act it out as a team!
Speech and Language Connections
Vocabulary – help build vocabulary networks by playing the game using categories (e.g. animals, places, Disney characters, etc.).
Social language – charades is a great opportunity to learn how body language and facial expression impact the message that is being sent. It’s also great for turn-taking!
Articulation – try to think of names that contain your child’s target speech sounds. Charade guessing is a great way to target generalization of speech sounds in a fun setting!
Literacy – work on sounding out unfamiliar words while playing the game. For children who have a difficult time with decoding unfamiliar words, maybe review all of the name slips prior to starting the game.