Description
It’s time for “Do Tell:” A classic game of charades. Gather the family and write down the names of your favorite characters/celebrities. Place the names into a bowl and put on a show. This is a guessing game, so make sure your acting skills are top-notch! Action.
We’ll have fun for: 20-30 minutes
Suitable for kids aging: 5-12
What items would you need:
Sticky notes
Sharpie
List of characters
An empty bowl
Bring the family to set the scene :
On the sticky notes, we will write the names of characters we love, which are familiar to us all; (Famous singers/ sports icons/ family members/ celebrities/ Disney characters/ animals).
Five and more characters would be enough but feel free to add more notes for extended play time or to promote open ended creative thoughts. We will place the notes in a bowl from which we’ll then place in the center of the playing area.
LET’S PLAY!
This is a guessing game. Each member of the family will select a note from the bowl and then will start accepting up to 23 questions from the family, that will try to guess which character was selected.
The answers for these questions can only be yes/no.
The family members who aren’t “the character” will have one opportunity, in each round, to either guess or ask a question.
Only if the answer to the question is "yes", then the player who asked is getting a Bonus Chance - and can immediately try and guess. A total of 23 questions can be asked regarding each character.
Questions examples: Is it a man or a woman? Is she a cartoon character? Is she a singer? Does he have a unique hairstyle? Etc.
The game continues as long as we have more unopened notes in the bowl.
You can lead for variations:
Competition version:
We’ll collect points and winner will be the one who’ll reach 4 points -
One point for each player who guessed a character right.
One point for a player which managed to keep their character un-guessed.
Put on a show:
Each character will add an imitation of the character using body movement, face expression or favorite line. If the character wasn’t guessed until now, the family will have another shot while the player acts. Capture on video to create fun memories
Bring your deeper lessons : While the main goals of this activity are fun, spending quality time with the family, and healthy competitiveness. This game can also help explain to children, that adults are not always aware of what children think. That is why the adults are asking kids about their experiences and feelings. Children’s participation in conversations as such will help them reveal their inner world. This game can help access secrets and private experiences. It can also help to discuss - ‘Good secrets’ that are related to good memories and experiences and provoke positive emotions, or 'Bad secrets', ones that are not linked to good memories and provoke negative feelings.It’s good to explain to the kids,
that It’s always good to share even if negative memories of thoughts and feelings. Sometimes it is easier to share with using games, for example the guessing game.
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Start a family conversation:
1. Were you surprised I did not know and that it took me a while to find out? Sometimes, it is so, the adults do not know about all the thoughts and feelings.
2. Was the experience positive and fun for you? Which part of the game did you like?
3. Were you happy to guess it right? were you happy that your sister/brother/parent guessed it?
4. It was fun to try and guess which character, even though it was challenging. Do you think making it easy and just looking at the notes would make the game more or less fun?
5. Do you like challenges, that you need to overcome something in order to achieve something?