Kids Charades, Easy

35 words to act out

Easy kids charades is built from nouns a young child can picture instantly and act out without any strategy at all. Teddy bear, balloon, rainbow, snowman, birthday cake, fire truck, rocket ship and dinosaur are the sort of clues that get guessed while the actor is still getting into position, which is exactly what you want at a party full of five-year-olds. Costume characters carry the back half of the list, clown, wizard, pirate, princess, superhero, fairy and ghost, and those turn into whole performances with no prompting. Nothing here needs reading skill beyond the word itself, so an adult can whisper the clue and the round still works.

1. Teddy bear
2. Ice cream cone
3. Balloon
4. Birthday cake
5. Rainbow
6. Sun
7. Moon
8. Star
9. Snowman
10. Butterfly
11. Flower
12. Tree

13. Car
14. Train
15. Airplane
16. Boat
17. Rocket ship
18. Robot
19. Dinosaur
20. Fire truck
21. Bicycle
22. Kite
23. Umbrella
24. Bouncy ball
25. Drum
26. Guitar
27. Clown
28. Wizard
29. Pirate
30. Princess
31. Superhero
32. Fairy
33. Ghost
34. Pumpkin
35. Storybook

House rules that keep young players in the game

Charades rules are written for adults, and a few of them make young children miserable. Loosen them. Let under-sevens make sounds if they need to, allow a single spoken hint after thirty seconds, and drop the timer entirely for the youngest players so nobody is rushed off the rug in tears. Have an adult whisper the clue rather than handing over a card, which removes reading ability from the equation completely. Play in teams so no child ever stands alone in front of the room, and give a point for every correct guess rather than tracking wins, since the scoreboard is not the fun part. Finally, keep rounds short. Six or seven clues per team is plenty before attention drifts.

Charades tips & FAQ

How many kids charades words are on this easy list, and can I print them?

Thirty-five simple objects and characters chosen so a young child can act them without help. The list is plain text on the page, so an adult can read the clues aloud in a whisper and no child needs to be able to read a card.

What makes these kids clues "easy" rather than another tier?

These are concrete objects and dress-up characters a young child can picture instantly and act without any strategy. Most get guessed while the actor is still getting into position, which is exactly right for a party of five-year-olds.

How do we run a round of kids charades?

For young children, drop the timer and play in teams so nobody stands alone in front of the room. An adult whispers the clue to the actor, which removes reading from the equation entirely, and everyone scores a point for each correct guess rather than tracking a winner. Six or seven clues per team is plenty before attention drifts. On the easy tier, let the youngest players make sounds if they need to. The rule that matters is that everyone gets a turn, not that the miming is pure.

More charades word lists

Keep the party going

Family-Friendly Never Have I Ever

All-ages prompts you can read out with grandparents and eight-year-olds in the same room.

Would You Rather for Kids

Silly, classroom-safe dilemmas that work from roughly age six up.

Never Have I Ever for Teens

School-safe prompts about homework dodges, group chats and snack smuggling.

Want the background rather than another list? Read the charades rules and word-list guide (official gestures, timing, team setup and house rules worth stealing) and the party games night checklist (a running order that keeps a whole evening from stalling).

All tools: Never Have I Ever · D&D Name Generator · Would You Rather · Team Name Generator · Rapper Name Generator