Classroom Charades: ESL and Vocabulary Games for Teachers
Classroom charades is a simple vocabulary game: one student acts out a word silently at the front while their team guesses it in English. It works for ESL classes, primary pupils and secondary review lessons because it ties new words to movement. Start with everyday actions, school items and emotions, keep turns to about a minute, and let the guessing team practise saying the full word or phrase.
Why teachers use charades in the classroom
Charades turns vocabulary practice into something students actually want to do. In a typical lesson it helps with:
- Memory: acting a word, or watching it acted, connects it to a physical action.
- Speaking: guessers have to produce the word out loud, not just recognise it.
- Listening: the actor listens to every guess and reacts with nods or “nearly” gestures.
- Confidence: acting is a low-pressure way for quieter students to take part.
- Review: it is a fast way to recycle words from last week’s unit.
How to run classroom charades step by step
- Prepare cards with words from your unit, or use a ready-made list like the ones below.
- Split the class into two or three teams. Mixed-ability teams work best.
- Teach the key signals: fingers for number of words, a tug of the ear for “sounds like”, and a nod or point to say “yes, that one”.
- Call one actor up and show them a card privately.
- Start the timer: about 60 seconds for beginners, 90 seconds for longer phrases.
- Accept only full, correct English answers. If a student says “brush teeth”, prompt for “brushing your teeth”.
- Rotate quickly so as many students act as possible, then tally points on the board.
For bigger classes, run two games at once in different corners of the room with a student scorekeeper in each.
Everyday action words for ESL beginners
These come from the Daily Life deck and are perfect for present continuous practice (“He is brushing his teeth!”).
| Easy | Medium | Hard |
|---|---|---|
| Brushing your teeth | Ironing a shirt | Parallel parking |
| Yawning | Packing a lunch | Changing a lightbulb |
| Making toast | Watering the plants | Waiting on hold |
| Taking a shower | Answering the door | Removing a splinter |
| Washing your hands | Doing homework | Reheating leftovers |
| Making the bed | Peeling a banana | Clipping your nails |
Tip for teachers: write the “-ing” form on the card so students use it when they guess.
School words students know
The School Days deck is full of words like these, things students live with every day, which makes guessing quick and fun:
- Easy: backpack, blackboard, pencil case, homework, playground, lunchbox, calculator, raising your hand.
- Medium: fire drill, field trip, show and tell, science fair, pop quiz, substitute teacher, passing notes.
- Hard: spelling bee, group presentation, multiple choice test, forgetting your locker combination.
Some school words differ across English-speaking countries: the deck has both “Parents’ Evening” (UK) and “Parent Teacher Meeting” (US). It is a nice chance to teach both versions to international students.
Emotions vocabulary for all ages
Acting feelings is great for younger pupils working on social and emotional learning and for older ESL students expanding their adjectives. Use the Emotions deck, one of the free decks:
| Level | Words |
|---|---|
| Beginner | happy, angry, tired, shy, worried, confused, proud |
| Intermediate | jealous, grateful, nostalgic, overwhelmed, optimistic |
| Advanced | ambivalent, contemplative, mortified, resentful |
For advanced classes, ask the guessing team to put the word into a sentence after they guess it: “She felt mortified when she tripped on stage.”
Animal words for younger learners
Animals are a classic starting point for young children and absolute beginners. Easy picks include dog, cat, rabbit, elephant, frog, monkey and penguin. Older students can try kangaroo, octopus or sloth. See our full list of animal charades for acting tips.
How do you keep the whole class involved?
The biggest risk with classroom charades is that a few confident students do all the acting and guessing. These variations spread the turns around:
- Silent sentences: the actor acts a whole sentence, such as “The dog is eating my homework”, word by word.
- Board race: instead of shouting, teams race to write the correct word on the board, which also practises spelling.
- Pairs charades: every student works with a partner at their desk using a word list, so everyone acts at once.
- Unit review: use only this week’s vocabulary as a quick end-of-lesson check.
- Reverse round: the whole team acts while one student guesses, which gets everyone moving.
- Guess and use: a correct guess only scores if the student also uses the word in a sentence.
A few management tips make the noise productive rather than chaotic:
- Agree a quiet signal before you begin, like a raised hand, so you can stop the noise quickly.
- Keep the scoring light; points are for fun, not for grades.
- Give struggling actors a “help” option: one teammate can join them on stage.
- End while energy is still high, so students ask to play again.
