Resources > Action Ideas for Charades - The Big List of 120 Ideas (2021)

Action Ideas for Charades - The Big List of 120 Ideas (2021)

By Ciarán.

If you’re looking to play a fun game that the whole family can enjoy, then charades is for you! However, the hard and less enjoyable part of the game is trying to come up with new ideas to act out.

But there’s no need to worry - because we’ve got you covered!

Below we have a long list of action ideas you can use in charades, just choose your favourites and enjoy the game! Although if you would rather a more fun and quick way to find ideas, you could use our free Charades Ideas Generator for more help.

Image courtesy of YouTube

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Performing different action ideas in charades is a great way to give people of all ages a similar chance at guessing correctly. Especially with kids, acting out ideas under this category can get them more involved in the game! The main reason for this is because there’s not as much need to act out each word separately. For example, with the action of brushing your teeth you can simply act out brushing your teeth, rather than acting out brushing, your and teeth individually. If you would like more ideas for kids, you can check out our article on Charades Ideas for Kids of All Ages or you can check out our Kids Charades Ideas Generator.

While this can be a great category to help get children more involved, it can also be made much more difficult. By choosing less common actions, or by simply making things more specific, your game of charades can become a lot more challenging for those guessing (and performing)! If you would like more difficult ideas, you can read our Easy and Hard Charades Ideas article for more help.

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How to Signal You’re Acting Out an Action in Charades

Before you get into your performance, you need to signal what you are going to be acting out. In order to signal an action, all you need to do is point two fingers down and wiggle them while moving your hand left or right. That may sound more complicated than it is, but basically, what you’re attempting to do is show that your hand is walking, and your two fingers are legs. If you would like to see a full list on how to signal categories in charades, you can check out our article on How to Play Charades.

Another tip I would advise for action charades, is to perform the entire concept, and signal that that’s what you are going to do. To signal this, all you have to do is sweep your hands in a big circle.

Our list of charades action ideas below are split up into 6 different headings of Everyday actions, Sports, Hobbies, Music, Chores, and Jobs.

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Everyday action ideas

One of the best ways to give everyone the same chance to guess, is to act out an everyday action. This works especially well when playing with younger children, as these are actions they will be used to performing or witnessing in daily life. See our list of action charades ideas below!

  • Brushing your teeth
  • Eating
  • Drinking
  • Watching TV
  • Playing video games
  • Showering
  • Driving
  • Sleeping
  • Yawning
  • Having a bath
  • Waking up
  • Washing your hands
  • Stretching
  • Putting on makeup
  • Getting dressed
  • Talking on the phone
  • Thinking
  • Dreaming
  • Writing
  • Reading

Sports ideas

Sports ideas can be made very easy or very difficult to perform and guess in charades. There are the common sports games that everybody knows and are simple to act out, and then there’s the lesser known games that can create a real challenge for all players! Check out our list for a great game of charades.

Note: The below has some sports titles and not actual actions. For example, first on the list is the sport tennis and not the action of playing tennis. The reason we haven’t included the word playing is simply to cut down on repetition. For your performance, it’s best to include playing in the action.

  • Tennis
  • Soccer
  • American football
  • Croquet
  • Basketball
  • Lacrosse
  • Ice hockey
  • Tobogganing
  • Cycling
  • Snowboarding
  • Acrobatics
  • Squash
  • Volleyball
  • Sailing
  • Formula 1
  • Rugby
  • Table tennis
  • Cricket
  • Diving
  • Kite surfing

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Hobby ideas

With this category, don’t be afraid to think of some of your own hobbies that you love! If you’re trying to create more of a challenge for everyone, maybe you have some hobbies that aren’t very well known to other people. This is the perfect time to introduce people to something they mightn’t know about! Have a look at our list below for some help.

  • Knitting
  • Hiking
  • Going to the cinema
  • Rock climbing
  • Going to the gym
  • Dancing
  • Scrapbooking
  • Playing chess
  • Sewing
  • Playing monopoly
  • Origami
  • Stamp collecting
  • Photography
  • Doing an escape room
  • Doing a jigsaw
  • Painting
  • Bowling
  • Drawing
  • Reiki
  • Juggling

Music ideas

If you’re in any way musical, this is a great time to tap into that side of yourself! If not, then don’t worry - we’ve got you covered with this list of musical action ideas. If you would rather have a list of song ideas, why not read our article on Song Charades Ideas for a lot more music-related things to act out.

Note: Similar to the sports list, we have not included the word playing in some of the ideas below, but it’s best to add them to your performance.

  • Singing
  • Trombone
  • Violining
  • Harp
  • Guitaring
  • Saxophone
  • Drumming
  • Piano
  • Tin whistle
  • Trumpetting
  • Xylophone
  • Bagpipes
  • Harmonica
  • Recording music
  • Accordion
  • Cello
  • Writing music
  • Triangle
  • Shaking maracas
  • Cowbell

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Chore ideas

You might not enjoy doing all of these in real life, but when just playing charades, they’re bearable… just about. Have a look at our list of chore action ideas below, and bring some of your own ideas to the table too if you like!

  • Gardening
  • Vacuuming
  • Taking out the trash
  • Pulling weeds
  • Cleaning
  • Cutting the grass
  • Doing laundry
  • Emptying the dishwasher
  • Sweeping
  • Setting the table
  • Washing dishes
  • Making the bed
  • Walking the dog
  • Feeding the cat
  • Washing the car
  • Dusting
  • Folding clothes
  • Cooking
  • Watering plants
  • Washing windows

Job ideas

This is a great way to show everyone what you do at work, or showcase your plans for the future. It’s also a great way to test out a job and see if you like it… kind of. Check out our list of job and career ideas for a fun game of charades.

  • Farming
  • Firefighting
  • Coding
  • Working in a warehouse
  • Piloting
  • Carpenting
  • Forklift driving
  • Selling
  • Lawyering
  • Teaching
  • Truck driving
  • Engineering
  • Groundskeeping
  • Housekeeping
  • Electritioning
  • Plumbing
  • Bartending
  • Managing
  • Waitering
  • Marketing

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Want More Ideas?

If you want even more ideas to work with you could use our free Charades Ideas Generator for extra help. With our generator, you can simply select whatever charades categories you like and get searching! If you would like more lists like this one, we have a bunch more articles you can read on our Resources page. We hope you have the best game of charades!