Collection of gesture game ideas and prompts
A classic, crowd-pleasing recreation that both kids and adults can’t help but get hooked on: the gesture game.
In this article, we’ll introduce a variety of gesture-game prompts, organized by category.
It’s packed with everything from easy prompts to tricky ones that make you think, “Huh? How am I supposed to act that out?”
It’s your time to shine!
Even if the message doesn’t get across in the end, putting in the effort to think and move is the key to making it fun!
Don’t be shy—move as much as you can and try whatever comes to mind.
For harder prompts, try offering hints or using other creative tweaks.
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Occupations (1–10)
hairdresser
After SMAP’s Takuya Kimura appeared in “Beautiful Life,” the number of people who wanted to become hairstylists suddenly surged! Many of you probably admired the cool, handsome guys who cut hair or the stylish, wonderful women at the salon, right? The gesture for “hairstylist” is simple! Make scissors with one hand by forming a V shape, and with the other hand, imagine holding hair using your index and middle fingers.
Then just open and close the “scissors” hand like snip-snip, and you’ll be a hairstylist in no time! The person guessing will surely get it right immediately!
Vehicles and Buildings (1–10)
Tokyo Skytree
The SkyTree gesture seems pretty challenging, since there are countless tower-shaped buildings around the world.
That said, because it’s the tallest tower in Japan, it would be great to use a gesture that emphasizes its height! Keep patiently expressing a tower with your whole body until the guesser gets it right (haha)!
car
Car gestures could be confused with similar vehicles, and it’s also hard to depict things like spinning tires, so I think the difficulty level is high.
On the other hand, rather than becoming the car itself, it might yield a higher accuracy rate to portray actions like getting in and out or driving.
Please keep expressing a car in various ways until the correct answer is produced.
escalator
Isn’t it difficult to depict an escalator itself? It might be easier for people to understand if you show someone riding an escalator.
There was a pantomime bit before that expressed the difference between an escalator and stairs—recalling that and using similar gestures could work well.
It would be great if you can capture the gradual upward movement convincingly.
Pyramid
It seems pretty challenging to express a pyramid with gestures.
So instead, it might be easier to depict something like the Sphinx next to it.
However, you may need to be careful not to accidentally lead people to answers like “guard dog and house.” It might also be a good idea to strike poses like the figures painted in wall murals.
ambulance
It’s an emergency vehicle that quickly transports critically ill or injured people to the hospital—an essential vehicle that helps save lives.
Its standout features are the sense of speed as it races between the scene and the hospital, and the blaring siren.
It’s a good idea to clearly express that rushing speed with your body movements while the siren is sounding, and to add motions showing aid to a patient to distinguish it from a fire engine or police car.
Conveying its large size, which accommodates medical equipment, will also make it easier to understand.
Shinkansen
The Shinkansen, which connects regions across Japan, is an indispensable means of transportation when traveling long distances for trips or work.
Make sure to convey clearly that it’s a vehicle, while also letting people sense that it’s specifically the Shinkansen.
When expressing it with gestures, focusing on its speed and distinctive shape will make it easier to understand.
It’s also important to show that it’s a railway: we recommend gestures that express the presence of tracks and the action of running along them.