Animal charades: 200+ animals to act out, from easy to hard

Animals are the perfect charades category because the whole body gets involved. You can crawl, hop, flap, slither and stomp, and the youngest players do not need to read, spell or know any pop culture. A three-year-old acting out an elephant with an arm for a trunk is usually the highlight of the evening. The same category also scales up: try acting out an axolotl or a narwhal and you will see adults struggle.

How to play animal charades

1. 01Pick a level.Use the easy list with preschoolers, mix levels for family games.
2. 02One player acts, everyone else guesses.With little kids, play without teams: whoever guesses gets to act next.
3. 03Decide on sounds.For ages 3-6, allow animal sounds. For older kids and adults, silent only, which is much harder.
4. 0460 seconds per turn,or no timer at all with toddlers.
5. 05Celebrate creativity.Give a bonus cheer for the funniest performance, not just the fastest guess.

Easy animal charades for little kids

Farm animals, pets and the big zoo favorites. Every one of these has an obvious move or sound.

Medium animals (ages 7-10)

These need a signature detail: the flamingo’s one-legged stance, the sloth’s slow motion, the peacock’s tail.

Hard animal charades for older kids and adults

The animals everyone has heard of but nobody knows how to act. Silent rules make these properly difficult.

Animal actions and scenes

Instead of just the animal, act out what it is doing. Great for mixed-age groups because the youngest can guess the animal and the older ones the full scene.

How to act out an animal (tips for the actor)

Most animals can be cracked in three steps: show the body, show the movement, show the habit. Start with the body part that makes the animal unique, then move the way it moves, then do the thing it is famous for. Here is what that looks like in practice:

• Use your arms as the signature part. An arm swinging from your nose is a trunk, two fingers on your head are bunny ears, hands on your head with spread fingers are antlers.
• Change your height. Crouch low for a mouse or a crab, stretch up on tiptoes for a giraffe. Height alone narrows it down fast.
• Show the speed. A sloth in slow motion, a hummingbird with frantic tiny arm flaps. The tempo is often the whole clue.
• Add the habitat. Swim strokes say "ocean", scratching at bark says "forest". Guessers jump to the right group, then to the animal.
• Act the food. A monkey peeling a banana, a panda chewing bamboo, a koala hugging a branch. When in doubt, eat something.
• Use the sound only if allowed. If sounds are banned, mouth nothing either. A silent roar with a big open mouth still reads as a lion.

For guessers, the best strategy is to shout categories first ("bird!", "sea animal!") so the actor can nod and narrow things down. It turns a guessing frenzy into a quick conversation without words.

Mythical and prehistoric animals

Variations that keep animal charades fresh

• Baby animals. Act out a puppy, kitten, chick or duckling. Small, clumsy and very funny.
• Animal mash-up. Draw two animals and act them as one: a flying pig, an elephant-penguin. The team must guess both.
• Habitat round. The team guesses the animal, then shouts where it lives: farm, ocean, jungle, desert or Arctic.
• Speed zoo. Ten animals, two minutes, the whole family acts at once and one person guesses. That is reverse charades with a zoo theme.
• Feelings zoo. Act an animal with an emotion: a nervous mouse, a proud peacock, a grumpy bear. Borrow feelings from our emotion charades list.

Where animal charades works best

• Preschool and kindergarten. It gets kids moving, practices vocabulary and needs no materials.
• Kids’ birthday parties. Between cake and presents, a zoo round keeps a room of six-year-olds busy for 15 minutes.
• Road trips. Switch to describing: "I live in the desert and store water." Works sitting down.
• Family gatherings. Grandparents and toddlers on equal footing. More ideas in charades for kids.
• Wedding kids’ tables. A quiet zoo round while the adults dance.

Animal charades in the Guessy app

The free Animals topic in the Guessy app has 185 animals, from cat and dog to capybara and dodo, dealt in random order with a timer. Kids who can read hold the phone to their forehead while the family acts; tilt down for correct, up to pass. No app handy? Set the free charades generator to Animals and draw words in the browser. Browse all charades categories for what else is in the app.

Guessy KidsGuessy Kids is made for children who cannot read yet: picture cards instead of words, so the youngest can play animal charades on their own.guessykids.comarrow_outward

Frequently asked questions