Overview:
A fast-moving team game combining “Taboo!” “Charades” and “One Word.”
Logistics:
Ideal for ages 12-22.
Best played with 4-10 students per team.
Equipment needed: Small pieces of paper enough for two pieces per person, pens or pencils for everyone, a container (box or tub) inwhich the the papers will be placed, a one-minute timer or stopwatch.
Time: 5 to 20 minutes.
How to Play:
In preparation for the game, divide the group into teams of 4 to 6 students (same number of students on each team) and give every student two small pieces of paper. Give all the students 2 minutes to think of something different to write down on each small piece of the two pieces of paper. It can be a word, phrase or activity. The students fold each paper in half and put them into a container (one for each team). Have each team choose a representative to go first and everyone on that team follows their representative until everyone has had an opportunity to stand up in front of the team.
The game is played in three rounds with each person on each team going each round in the same order for all three rounds. Each round lasts one minute (60 seconds).
The first round is like “Taboo!” The person going first reaches into the container and draws out one piece of paper. The person up front cannot say the following taboo words:
• Any part of the word or phrase on the piece of paper
• Rhymes with…
• Goes…meow, meow (etc.)
• It begins with…
No gestures are allowed in the first round. The round ends either when everyone has gone from each team or all the pieces of paper have been used. The team gets 1,000 points for every correct answer. Whoever is up front has to do whatever is on the piece of paper, even if he or she does not know what it is. A person can pass or skip a piece of paper, but the team will not get any points. Once everyone has gone on a team or one minute has passed, the papers are returned to the box or container. The game immediately goes to the second round.
The second round is “Charades.” This time around, each player going in the same order as the first round again reaches into the container and pulls out a piece of paper and must act out to the best of their ability whatever is written on the piece of paper. The students will know what is written on the pieces of paper from the first round, so it should go faster than the first round, but not always. When all students on the team have had a turn, the pieces of paper are put back in the container, and the team immediately goes to the third round.
The third round is “One Word.” In this round, each student going in the same order as the previous two round draws a piece of paper out of the container and can use only one word to describe what is on the piece of paper. As in the first round, the presenter cannot use any part of or entire word that is written on the piece of paper. At the end of the third round, the team with the most points wins.
Variation of the game: Have one student stay up front for the entire round. That one student goes through all the pieces of paper in the container with their teammates guessing. Change the student who is up front only when changing rounds.
