Materials list:

Help your child find these materials or a close substitute: 

• Paper for making the cards (print out our Blank Card Template, or use index cards or paper)
• Scissors
• Writing or drawing utensil (pencil, pen, marker, etc)

Activity Steps:

Use these to keep your innovator on track as they play: 

1. 1. Cut out the cards from the first 2 pages of the Blank Card Template or cut 2 sheets of paper into eighths.
   2. Be visionary and come up with 8 funny and unique characters to write or draw on 8 cards.
   3. Be visionary and come up with 8 locations to write or draw on the other 8 cards.
   4. Draw a character or location symbol on the back of each card, so you can tell the card types apart even when facing down.
   5. Shuffle the 2 decks and place them face down.
   6. Set a timer for 1 minute, then draw 1 card from each deck and act out the resulting situation!
   7. If the audience guesses correctly before 1 minute is up, draw another pair. See how many you can get them to guess in 1 minute!

Guiding Questions:

If your child is stuck, try asking these questions to help them keep on innovating: 

• How can you be sure your ideas are unique and funny? Try coming up with more than 8 ideas to start, and then narrow it down to the 8 absolute funniest/best ideas?
• For characters. Think about favorite books or movies. Who could you ask for brainstorming help? Where could you look for ideas?
• For locations. Think about one of the characters you already wrote down. Where would it be funny to imagine them being? Chances are, that location would be funny for lots of characters too!

More Ideas:

Every project presents opportunities to add your own twists or extensions. Here are some ideas to get you started: 

• Play this game with remote friends or family over a video chat. For the ultimate fun, have each household come up with their own cards so everyone can take turns acting out situations!
• Step it Up! Play in rounds. After the first “regular” charades round, reshuffle the cards and start over again — only this time, you can only make sounds. In the third round, you can only pantomime!
• Step it Up! Add in the action and object cards (included in the Blank Card Template) to create more complex situations to act out.
• Innovate On! Create additional character or location cards so it is harder to guess each time. Or, add different types of cards like “styles” (opera style, slo-mo style, etc.), time periods, accents, and more!

Wrap Up Questions:

Lock in the learning by asking your child these questions about their activity and how they practiced the featured Innovator’s Mindset element: 

• Which card ideas are you the most proud of/excited about, and why? How did you come up with these visionary ideas?
• While you were playing, was there any combination that was hard for the audience to get? What new and visionary idea did you try to help the audience break through?

Great learning can come from sharing successes and failures—to solidify your own experience as an innovator and to inspire others.

SHARE WITH galileo

Take a video of a hilarious situation being acted out and share it with the Camp Galileo Anywhere Facebook Community.

Share with family and friends

Your innovation doesn’t stop with you. Inspire someone else by sharing your active challenge—maybe they’ll try it themselves or maybe your experience will give them a new idea.

• Who: someone in your house, a family member, a friend
• How: in person, on the phone, online
• When: anytime, starting now!