Animal Charades
Pets, wild beasts and sea creatures to act out — the charades theme that works at any age
Animal charades is where almost everyone starts, and for good reason: an animal is a shape and a movement, so a four-year-old can act one out and a table of adults can still argue about whether that was a llama or an alpaca. No general knowledge required, no film anyone missed.
Below are six word packs sorted from easy to genuinely hard, mime challenges that get the whole room laughing, and a random prompt generator you can pass around on one phone. Everything is free and nothing needs printing.
Want charades ideas beyond animals? Browse all our charades ideas
Random animal mime
Tap the button, act out whatever appears, and let the other team guess. No preparation, no writing anything down.
A cat knocking something off a table on purpose
Animal charades word packs
Read a pack out loud and let each player pick, or write the words on slips and drop them in a hat. The packs run roughly from easiest to hardest, so you can match them to who is playing.
Pets and easy starters
Dog, cat, rabbit, hamster, goldfish, parrot, guinea pig, tortoise, puppy, kitten
Farm animals
Cow, horse, pig, sheep, goat, chicken, duck, donkey, rooster, sheepdog
Wild animals
Lion, elephant, giraffe, monkey, bear, wolf, kangaroo, sloth, hedgehog, rhinoceros, zebra, gorilla
Sea creatures
Shark, dolphin, octopus, crab, jellyfish, whale, seahorse, starfish, turtle, lobster
Birds
Owl, penguin, eagle, flamingo, peacock, woodpecker, swan, pigeon, ostrich, hummingbird
Bugs and the tricky ones
Bee, spider, butterfly, ant, snail, grasshopper, mosquito, caterpillar, beetle, worm, dragonfly, moth
Funny animal mime challenges
Harder than a plain animal name, and much funnier to watch. Give the actor 60 seconds and no sounds at all.
- Be a cat that has decided the box is better than the bed
- Mime an elephant using a phone
- Act out a penguin that is late for something
- Be a snail overtaking another snail
- Mime a dog pretending it did not eat the thing
- Act out a flamingo standing on one leg and losing balance
- Be an octopus trying to shake hands with everyone
- Mime a bear waking up far too early
Animal jokes to break the ice
Read one out between rounds. They are deliberately terrible.
- What do you call a bear with no teeth? A gummy bear.
- Why do fish live in salt water? Because pepper makes them sneeze.
- What do you call a sleeping bull? A bulldozer.
- Why did the chicken join a band? It had the drumsticks.
- What is a cat's favourite part of charades? Watching everyone else do the work.
- Why are elephants bad at charades? They can never keep anything under wraps.
How to play animal charades
Ordinary charades with an animal word list. Four players is enough, and it is the easiest theme to run with very young children.
- 1
Split into two teams
Mix ages across the teams. One player acts while their own team guesses; the other team keeps time and tries not to shout the answer.
- 2
Pick a word from a pack
Use the packs above, the random prompt generator, or slips in a hat. Start with the pets pack for young children and work up to bugs for a hard round.
- 3
Act it out in 60 seconds
No speaking and, in the strict version, no animal noises either. One point per animal guessed; most points after an agreed number of rounds wins.
Animal charades FAQ
What is animal charades?
It is charades where every word is an animal — pets, farm animals, wild animals, sea creatures, birds or bugs. The rules do not change, but the theme makes it the most accessible version for young children and large mixed groups.
What are the best animals for charades?
Ones with a distinctive movement or silhouette: elephant, penguin, snake, monkey, crab, kangaroo. Animals that mostly stand still — a goldfish, a slug — are far harder than they look, which makes them good for an advanced round.
Can you make animal noises in animal charades?
That is the one house rule worth agreeing before you start. The strict version is silent, which is much harder and much funnier. With children under six, allowing noises keeps everyone in the game.
What age is animal charades good for?
From about three or four with the pets and farm packs — a child who cannot read yet can still act out a dog once someone whispers it to them. The bugs and sea packs keep it interesting for adults.
How many words do we need?
About 5 to 10 per player. The six packs on this page hold over sixty animals between them, which covers a long session, and the generator will produce more.
Can we play without printing anything?
Yes. Use the random prompt generator above on one phone and pass it around, or read a word pack aloud. Nothing needs printing, writing or cutting up.
Ready to play?
Grab your group, pick a word pack and start acting. The rules take a minute to read and the game runs on one phone.
See how to play
