Charades hand signals

By Charades Game Ideas. Sources: Wikipedia, "Charades", section Common signals (read 14 November 2026); Cub Scouts Bear adventure resource "How to Play Charades" on scouting.org (read 14 November 2026).

Why signals matter

Acting a whole phrase at once is hard. Signals let the actor break it into pieces: how many words, which word you are on, how many syllables, and whether a word sounds like something easier to show. Agree on them before the first turn so nobody is confused.

Words and syllables

Meaning	Signal
Number of words	Hold up that many fingers at the start of the turn.
Which word you are acting	Hold up fingers again: 1 finger for the first word, 2 for the second.
Number of syllables	Lay that many fingers on the inside of the opposite elbow or forearm.
Which syllable	Lay fingers on the arm again for the first, second or third syllable.
A short word, like "a", "of" or "the"	Hold thumb and finger close together without touching.
Sounds like	Cup a hand behind your ear, or tug your earlobe.
Shorter or longer word	Move your hands closer together for shorter, or stretch them apart for longer.
Plural	Link your little fingers together.
Correct	Touch your nose and point at the person who guessed.
Close, keep going	Wave the guesser on with a "come on" gesture.

Kinds of title

Kind	Signal
Book	Hold your hands side by side, palms up, and pretend to read.
Film	Crank an old movie camera by the side of your head.
Song	Throw one arm up, hold the other palm up near your mouth and pretend to sing.
TV show	Draw a rectangle in the air with both pointer fingers.
Play or musical	Take a bow.

Do the slips here need signals?

Most slips in the hat are single things or short scenes you can act whole. The Hard phrases category, with idioms like "Spill the beans", is where the word and syllable signals earn their keep.