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How happy are we all that schools, camps, activities, vacations, etc. are finally starting to happen in person again?!?! While we can’t wait until things are back to “normal,” we know that a lot of kids are still doing activities and school work over Zoom. And we don’t think virtual hangouts, games, activities or projects are going to disappear anytime soon. So keeping that in mind, we’ve rounded up the best games kids can play on Zoom.

Keep reading to find a plethora of entertaining, creative and interactive games kids can play on Zoom that will keep them engaged, happy and having fun! We split the list into 2 categories: Live Action Games and Video Games. While our Live Action Game section boasts 20 unique and creative games for kids to play on Zoom, don’t discount the Video Game section! There may only be 3 listed in this category, but the actual options for each game are pretty endless. Each of the 3 games listed has mulitple pre-made game options, and some even allow you to create your own totally unique game yourself!

Live Action Games

Charades

This is a classic game that lends itself easily to be played on Zoom. The premise of the game is that players act out a word, phrase, title, etc. without uttering a word or sound. In-person charades are often played in teams. For Zoom charades, you can play with teams, but you may also just want to all play together. For each players turn, they act out the word/phrase within a time limit. You will probably want to assign someone keep track of time, or set a timer for 2-3 minutes.

You can have everyone make a list of things to be acted out before you start the game, or let them choose when it’s their turn. You can also let a different player select what someone will act out (this does mean that player can’t guess). It’s also fun to incorporate a theme (like Disney, the Outdoors, food, etc.). With kids, usually movies, tv shows, children’s books and simple actions are great ways to get started.

Lip Sync Battle

Everyone picks a favorite song and gets a turn giving their best non-vocal performance while the music plays in the background. Kids can get super into this one, with costumes, back up singers, and having more than one turn. If some participants (or parents) are too shy to actually “perform,” they can be the audience and vote for their favorite performance at the end.

Guess What I’m Drawing

This is kind of like pictionary, but the Zoom version! Players can use a small whiteboard to draw on, or they can share their screen and draw with their mouse. Using your mouse usually makes this game a lot more entertaining and fun since it’s much harder to control a mouse!

Trivia

Get your trivia books ready! Or just look up some cool (and funny) trivia questions online and bring them to the game! Take turns asking your questions, or have a new quiz master for each round you play! You can keep track of points if you want, or just play to learn something new!

Would you Rather

Take turns asking each other creative “Would you Rather” questions where you compare two options. For example, “Would you rather be able turn invisible or be able to fly?” You can also get pretty silly with the questions, like, “Would you rather be an armadillo who works at an amusement park or a a champion chess player who can only say the word apple?”

Dr. Doctor

In this game, one person is selected to be the “doctor” in each round. The doctor mutes their call and the rest of the group decides what their collective problem is. For example, your group could decide that no one is allowed say a word that starts with the letter “S.” Then the doctor rejoins the group and tries to diagnose the problem as fast as possible. If you’re playing with younger kids, you may want them to actually choose something easier to diagnose, like having a cold or always coughing after they say a sentence.

Ballpark

For this game, you’ll need to choose a host beforehand, or have each child take turns being the host. The host finds one or more fun facts where the answer is a number (How many stomachs does a cow have?). Then everyone sends in their best guess. The answer that is the closest (or correct) without going over wins a point.

MadLibs

Who doesn’t love this game? To play this on Zoom, you can choose one host for all the rounds or rotate a new host for each round. For each round, the host asks the other players for a list of words to substitute them for blanks in a story. Once they have all the words, they read the “new” story. It gets funny pretty fast! You can make up your own stories and take out words. or you can look online for ones you can download and use.

Outlaw

In this game, one person is chosen to mute their call while everyone else decides what word is “outlawed” (no one can say that word-it works better to choose a more common word). Then the person has to ask yes or no questions until they can figure out what the word is!

Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger hunts are always a good time! Make your list of items that everyone has to gather from around their house. You can add extra fun by making some of the items vague, like “something that could be a hat, but isn’t” and get the kids’creative juices flowing! Be sure everyone has access to the list (screenshare or put it in the comments), set a timer and you’re off! Once time is up, everyone takes a turn showing what they’ve found. You can give points for each item found, who finished first, and creativity!

Name that Tune

Any music fans in the house? Here’s the game for you! Everyone picks some of their favorites and takes turning playing them for each other. Whoever guesses first wins a point! You can even set up certain genres, time periods, tv shows or movies to choose from!

Bingo

You can use a website to print off traditional bingo cards and choose someone to be the caller. You can also use the website My Free Bingo Cards to play a traditional game with a virtual caller and virtual cards. You might even want to try making your own custom Bingo games about movie, family stories, people, etc. to have some personalized fun!

Cook off

Have everyone make a different dish over video (you might need adult supervision depending on the children’s age). You can make different challenges for the group or for each individual. For instance, everyone dish has to include chocolate chips or garlic powder, or that everyone has to use a cheese grater in their recipe. Be sure to set a time limit!

Shopping Contest

For this game, everyone gets the same amount of imaginary money. Then set a timer and have people try to find the silliest, best bargain, most obscure, or best fashion item that fits in the budget. You can play more than one round and have a different theme (and budget) for each one!

Lego Challenge

Everyone will need to have actula Legos at home for this game. Pick a theme (Star Wars, Food, Animals, Nature, etc.) for everyone to work with and then set a time limit. Once time’s up, everyone can show off their creations and you can take a vote for the winner!

Dance Party

Have everyone choose songs for the ultimate Party Playlist! Once everyone is there, make sure your cameras are turned on and then turn up the jams! Dance like nobody’s looking (they’ll probably be too busy watching themselves to notice anyone else’s moves). Don’t forget you’ll need some water handy after working up a dancing sweat!

Costume Contest

This one requires some prep work beforehand. You can choose a theme for your costume contest, or just have everyone wear their favorite one. Theme ideas include: nature, famous people, costumes made with clothes you already have, literary characters, costumes made from tinfoil, etc. Give everyone a chance to show off their costume and take a vote on everyone’s favorite.

Read My Lips

Each person takes a turn saying a different word or phrase while their voice is muted. Everyone else tries to guess what they said. This one can get pretty silly, pretty quick!

21 Questions

Bringing back the classics! 21 Questions is an old school game, but is still fun in 2021! Someone in the group thinks of something specific. Then the rest of the groups asks yes or no questions to try and figure out what the person is thinking of. You can’t ask more than 21 questions (hence the name, 21 Questions)!

Board Games

For this option, just one person will need to have the actual board game. Everyone else comes with dice and a good attitue! There player with the board will be in charge of moving all the pieces after each player rolls their own dice.

Video Games

Jackbox

Jackbox is a super fun way to play games with everyone all together on Zoom. Want to have some robot rap battles? Play a monster dating game? Bid on fake art? Those are just some of the fun game options you’ll have with Jackbox.

In order to use Jackbox, one person will have to purchase a party pack. Each party pack has 5-6 different game options included. The player who has Jackbox, sets up the game and gives the code to the other players. Players will need their Zoom screen as well as a phone or other tablet to play. All the players see the same screen on Zoom, but use their phone or tablet to answer questions and interact with the game.

Games have family friendly filters and/or profanity filters you can customize depending on the age of participants.

Kahoot!

You may have hear of Kahoot! already from your kids. It’s often used by teachers in schools. However, you can also use it to play fun trivia and opinion poll games with friends. This one will also take some prep work for the person who is hosting the game. Kahoot! has premade templates and questions you can use, or you can make it all from scratch. Players will need another device (phone or tablet) to answer the questions displayed on the main Zoom screen.

Use Your Words

Use Your Words has 4 different mini-games you can play. Each round, players get a different kind of fill in the blank prompt, and then either writes their own answers or uses one of the “house answers” provided. For Use Your Words, you will also be using your phone or tablet as your controller to answer the questions.

There is a “Family Mode” option you’ll definitely want to make sure is on in order to filter out adult content.

Conclusion

While we’re defnitely excited to be back in person with our students here at Coder Kids, we’ve also realized that online classes, camps, hangouts and meetings aren’t going anywhere. That’s why we decided to write this article. We want to provide parents, teachers and anyone else with a great resouece of games kids (or adults) can play on Zoom. Having fun Zoom options can really break up the school day, keep kids entertained and help sustain relationships when we still can’t be together in person. We hope our list of 23 Games Kids Can Play on Zoom is a useful tool for you now and in the future months to come.

What do you think of this list? Did we miss any or your favorites? Let us know how it goes if you try any of these options! Happy Zooming!

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