A great game for students to practice at home in between classes. Each participant picks one Charade to be acted out in class the next week.

 

Level of Difficulty:   Intermediate and up

Items Needed: The game cues (print them out from the last page); a writing board (optional – to write the category, blank spaces for the number of words, and the correct words as they are figured out by the class-this is very helpful)

How to Play:   Charades is a game of pantomimes; your dog will "act out" a word or phrase while the class tries to guess what that phrase is.  You may use lures and use hand signals to help your dog act out the Charades. You may only speak to praise your dog for doing correct behaviors by either using a clicker or using praise words such as “yes” or “good”. You may use treats for lures and rewards.

Gestures: To act out a phrase, start by telling the class what category the phrase is in, and how many words are in the phrase. From then on, you will have your dog act out the words one at a time (although not necessarily in the order that they appear in the phrase). In some cases, however, it may make more sense to try to act out the "entire concept" of the phrase at once. You may verbally tell the class the category and the numbers of words before having your dog act out the clues.

Here are some items that the human partner can do to help the class  figure out the Charade. You may want to print a copy of the next page for each person in the class.

 

 

Rules: Your dog will "act out” a phrase while the class tries to guess what that phrase is. You may lure your dog and use hand signals to get your dog into position. You may praise your dog for doing correct behaviors by using a clicker or praise words such as “yes” or “good”. You may use treats for lures and rewards. You may assist your dog in acting out words or phrases, but you may not act them out yourself. For example, if you are acting out the word “Dance”, you may hold your dog’s paws while you waltz or dance together. If you have the word “over” you may put your arm or leg on the floor and have your dog walk “over” it.

Be creative and most of all - HAVE FUN!!!

Gestures: To act out a phrase, start by telling the class out loud what category the phrase is in and how many words are in the phrase. From then on you will have your dog act out the words one at a time (although not necessarily in the order that they appear in the phrase). In some cases however, it may make more sense to try to act out the "entire concept" of the phrase at once. You may speak out loud to tell the class the category and the numbers of words before having your dog act out the Charades without using any verbal clues.

 

Common Charade Gestures:

• Which word you're working on: Hold up the number of fingers again.
• Number of syllables in the word: Lay the number of fingers on your arm.
• Which syllable you're working on: Lay the number of fingers on your arm again.
• Length of word:  Make a "little" or "big" sign as if you were measuring a fish.
• "The entire concept” sweep your arms through the air.
• "On the nose" (i.e., someone has made a correct guess): point at your nose with one hand, while pointing at the person with your other hand.
• "Sounds like" Cup one hand behind an ear.
• "Longer version of "  Pretend to stretch a piece of elastic.
• "Shorter version of”  Do a "karate chop" with your hand
• "Plural"  link your little fingers.
• "Past tense"  wave your hand over your shoulder toward your back.
• A letter of the alphabet  move your hand in a chopping motion toward your arm (near the top of your forearm if the letter is near the beginning of the alphabet, and near the bottom of your arm if the letter is near the end of the alphabet).