TV talking
A hilarious family game where you mute the TV and create your own dialogue for the characters. It’s imaginative, delightfully challenging, and turns ordinary screen time into an active, creative experience.
I help parents turn chaos into connection and laughter through play.
Instead of passively watching TV, flip the script - literally. In this playful activity, you mute the volume and the family becomes the voice actors.
Each person picks a character and makes up their lines, sound effects, or even theme songs as the show plays.
This kind of play encourages imagination, storytelling skills, and plenty of laughter. Best of all, it requires listening, observing, and truly working together. It’s a great way to connect as a family and shift screen time into something interactive and silly. Plus, there’s no prep needed - you just grab the remote and start improvising.
Materials
Prep
Step 1:
Pick a TV show, cartoon, or movie scene to play on mute - make sure to turn OFF subtitles so you can’t see what they’re really saying!
(Tip: old family sitcoms work great for this, especially if you have not seen them and therefore don’t have preconceived notions of the characters and plot!)
Step 2:
Gather the family so everyone can see the screen.
Play
Step 1:
Mute the volume and assign characters to each player (or take turns). This can be as simple as “I’ll be the girl in the purple shirt! Mom, you’re the grandma! Dad, you be the little boy!”
Step 2:
As the scene plays, improvise lines, voices, and sound effects. Do your best to observe the actors’ movements and facial expressions and try to match the words.
Step 3:
Swap roles or restart the scene to make it funnier each time.
Step 4:
Keep going until it naturally wraps up!
Tips:
- If the characters aren’t actively talking you can say their “inner thoughts” out loud! Or, as my family liked to play, we would just automatically make them “growl!”
- This game is another deceptively challenging one and can take a lot of practice before children feel comfortable joining in. It requires quick-thinking and feeling vulnerable enough to throw out a silly idea in a fast-paced setting. It can be helpful to model playing with a partner first, or even taking it slow and “talking” for characters in a picture book to warm up to the idea.
Extend
Funny Accents: Try out silly character voices or accents.
Nature Narrator: For a slower-paced version of the game, try a kid-friendly nature documentary and take turns being the dramatic narrator and making the animal sounds (or saying the animals “inner thoughts” out loud!)
Flip the ages: Make the adults talk for the kids and the kids talk for the adults!
Meet the playmaker
I help parents turn chaos into connection and laughter through play.