Free Printable New Year’s Charades Game

Add some extra fun to your New Year’s Eve celebrations with New Year’s Charades. There’s no denying that party games make everything more fun and this is such a simple party game that you can play with guests of all ages or with your family!

Best of all, I’ve got a free printable New Year’s charades game for you to print at home! If you’re looking for a unique way to ring in the New Year with friends and family, this New Year’s party game is perfect and will get you all laughing, for sure! And of course, a little friendly competition.

How to Play New Year’s Charades

Charades is a classic party game that can be easily adapted to a New Year’s theme by using words related to New Year’s Eve celebrations, traditions and activities.

There are a few different ways to play with these New Year’s Charades cards, to make it extra fun! Below I will share a few variations for you so you can change it up and keep it interesting.

Ideally, you use a timer to play. Although not essential, it does keep things fair and keep the game moving. If you don’t have a timer or similar, you can use the timer on your phone too.

1. Basic Charades Rules

Playing the classic version of charades is simple! Here’s how to do it:

1. Gather Your Supplies: All you need is a set of New Year’s-themed charades words and a timer. You can use my free printable word list to make it easier!
2. Divide Into Teams: Split your guests into two teams. You can have as many players as you want on each team.
3. Act It Out: One player from the first team picks a word or phrase from the list and acts it out without speaking while their team guesses what it is. Set a timer for 1 minute for each turn.
4. Keep Score: If the team guesses correctly, they earn a point. If they don’t, the other team gets a chance to steal the point by guessing.
5. Switch Turns: After each round, switch teams until everyone has had a chance to act.
6. Declare a Winner: The team with the most points at the end of the game wins, either when you reach a set number of points (i.e. first team to 10 points) or when you decide to finish playing.

2. Fast Charades

This version works similarly to regular New Year’s party charades, except this time you have rounds for a set amount of time, such as 2 minutes. During this time, teams must try and guess as many New Year’s Eve charades words as they can before the timer ends. Then switch to the other team to do the same.

Typically each round has a different person acting out the words so it rotates per round rather than per word.

This can be a much quicker, fast-paced way to play and it’s a great New Year’s Eve party game for teens and adults for when you aren’t playing with small children who need a slower pace.

3. New Year’s Pictionary Charades (Draw It)

For a twist on the traditional game, you can also play New Year’s Eve Pictionary using the same word list. This version does require a little extra prep since you will need paper and pencils to play.

A pair of large sketch pads or scrapbooks work great! Alternatively, use a large dry-erase board and some dry-erase markers or a chalkboard and chalk instead.

List Of Common Charades Cues

If you’ve played charades before, you might already know a few of these charades actions that help your team guess a bit easier during your New Year’s Eve party game night. Start your actions with these cues to help speed up the process, especially if you’re playing rapid charades!

• Number of words: Hold up the corresponding number of fingers.
• Song: Pretend to sing (without making a sound).
• Movie: Mimic cranking a film camera.
• TV show: Use your fingers to draw a square (a TV shape).
• Book: Open and close imaginary book covers.
• Play: Pull an imaginary curtain open.
• Sounds like: Tug on your ear then mimic the action of a word that rhymes.
• Quote or phrase: Make air quotes.
• Person: Point to yourself.
• Object: Hold out your hand as if presenting an object.

If you’re looking for more Charades themes to try, grab my free printable Halloween Charades cards, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Charades cards.

New Year’s Charades Word List

To get you started, here’s a list of New Year’s themed words and phrases that are perfect for charades:

• Countdown
• Champagne
• Fireworks
• New Year’s resolution
• Party hat
• Ball drop
• Confetti
• Midnight toast
• New Year’s Eve party
• Auld Lang Syne
• Disco ball
• Glitter
• Times Square
• Celebration
• Countdown clock
• Sparkler
• Party popper
• Dance floor
• Fresh start
• Birthday cake
• Costume party
• Balloons
• Pinata
• Limbo
• Conga line
• Toasting with drinks
• Dance battle
• Photo booth
• Music playlist
• Party games
• Invitation
• Kissing at midnight
• Masquerade ball
• BBQ

New Year’s charades are a fantastic way to add a little extra fun to your celebrations and it’s just as fun to play on a quiet New Year’s Eve at home with the family! When it comes to group party games, you can’t go past charades for simple and entertaining fun.