Emotion Charades Tournament Game

Index cards for writing emotions and scenarios

Pencils or markers

A timer or phone stopwatch

A whiteboard or paper to keep score

Brainstorm 20-30 emotion and scenario cards as a group. Include nuanced emotions: embarrassed, disappointed, overwhelmed, proud, jealous, grateful, conflicted, nervous, nostalgic.

Add 10 scenario cards: 'Your best friend moved away,' 'You won a contest unexpectedly,' 'Someone took credit for your work.'

Shuffle all cards together. Divide into two teams.

Player one draws a card and acts it out silently — facial expressions, body language, and gestures only.

The team has 60 seconds to guess. Close synonyms count.

Correct guess = 1 point. Sharing a personal time you felt that emotion = bonus point.

Alternate teams. After everyone acts, start round two.

Round two: actors can only use facial expressions — no hands or body movement.

Bonus round: two players act out a scenario together with different emotions. The guessing team must name both.

Group discussion: which emotions were hardest to act? To guess? Why?

Writing cards together is half the learning. Brainstorming emotions like 'conflicted' or 'nostalgic' expands vocabulary before the game starts. Don't skip this with pre-made cards.

The bonus point for sharing personal experiences normalizes talking about feelings in a low-pressure context. Model this by sharing your own examples first.

Pair younger players (8-9) with older teammates for acting rounds. The older child can coach on facial expressions.

The face-only round teaches a powerful lesson: most emotional communication happens through facial expressions, not grand gestures.

Keep scenario cards for future sessions and add new ones each time. The deck grows with the group's sophistication.