How to Play the Broken Telephone Game (+ the Best Phrases)

You probably played a version of the “broken telephone game” as a child, either at a party, in a classroom, or at home.

This classic game is often called ‘pass the message,’ ‘whisper,’ or just ‘telephone.’ In some countries, it is called “whisper down the lane,” “from ear to ear,” “secret message,” or “gossip.”

The broken telephone game is wonderful for engaging your preschoolers and learning while playing.

How Do You Play Broken Telephone?

The telephone game rules are simple:

1. Gather 3 or more players.
2. The person starting the game thinks of a word or phrase and whispers it into the next player’s ear only once, with no repeats allowed.
3. That listener tries to correctly repeat that same word or phrase into the next player’s ear. The last person in the line or at the end of the circle repeats the phrase or word aloud.
4. Allow a moment for giggles if the message is “broken” or changed. The player who started announces the correct word or phrase.
5. Players take turns thinking of the next phrase or word to pass through a whisper.

What Does the Game Telephone Teach Us?

Older kids learn about the pitfalls of listening to and believing gossip. After several people have told a tale, the story often twists and evolves. This can be an important tool to use for building social skills and even in counselling.

Although some older preschoolers may begin to grasp the concept of gossip, this circle game offers several educational benefits for kids, including the following:

1. Sounds Through Alliteration

Encourage children to practise target sounds and develop their auditory perception through alliteration. For example, ask them to repeat, “Little Larry likes to lick lollipops.”

This offers them practice with the sound of the target letter “L.” They hear how the letter sounds and notice what happens if someone misunderstands.

2. Rhyming

Rhyming is an important pre-reading skill. When kids hear and repeat phrases such as, “Auntie Jewel swam in the pool,” they hear how “Jewel” and “pool” sound alike.

As a follow-up activity, talk about other words that sound the same: “school,” “cruel/crewel,” and “tool.”

Children are learning patterns they can then translate into print when they begin to read, such as knowing that “cool,” “fool,” “pool” and “tool” all sound and look alike.

3. Listening and Attention Span

For preschoolers, developing a longer attention span is important.

This fun game encourages good listening, as they need to hear and pass on the correct words. If they’re not attentive, they might struggle to repeat the phrase to the next player.

4. Patience and Taking Turns

Part of the socialization process is learning to take turns and wait for others. This game helps youngsters practise these skills.

5. Memory

Working memory is an important cognitive skill that you can practise through this game. Children listen carefully and keep the words in mind long enough to repeat them.

6. Vocabulary

When talking with kids, we often use the same sorts of words from one situation to the next.

With the game of Telephone, parents and teachers can deliberately introduce new words in sentences where the context helps to explain what the words mean.

Discussing what these new words mean after the game will help broaden vocabulary.

7. Drawing and “Writing” Stories

Later, when children search for an idea for a dictated story with a picture, they can think about topics brought up in the telephone game. They can expand on the ideas and put those into a more tangible form on paper.

8. Categorization

Category formation is an important cognitive skill.

The game may be played with the adult choosing the words each time, to fit into a certain category, such as farm animals. In the end, ask your children what the words all have in common.

Here is a list of categories to give you some ideas.

9. Cooperation

When you present this game to children, stress that the goal is for the message to remain “unbroken” and make it all the way to the end in its original form. Build upon the idea of this being a team effort to see if they can do it.

Each preschooler then feels a certain responsibility to do their best for the good of the group.

10. Having Fun

If the message is “broken,” urge the players to smile, laugh and try to listen more carefully next time. Above all else, have fun and enjoy the experience.

What is a Good Telephone Game Phrase?

Depending on your children’s age and understanding, choose from the following types of telephone game phrases for kids:

• A single word for the youngest.
• Alliteration or using a target letter sound at the beginning of single words or those in phrases.
• Use of target sounds at the end or in the middle of words.
• Tongue twisters that mix sounds, such as “s” and “sh” (“Sally sells seashells…”).
• Use of players’ names; kids love to hear their own names used in games.
• A real event that actually happened involving the players.
• Fun words that kids love to hear and say: “bonkers,” “clodhopper,” and “pizzazz,” for example.
• Themed words, such as colours, animal names, nature words, etc.
• Increased complexity and less familiarity with phrases for older preschoolers.
• Introduction of more unusual nouns, verbs, and adjectives to help increase vocabulary.

Broken Telephone Phrases

Start the game with short or long phrases. Then hear the broken telephone sentences revealed at the end of the line or circle. Or be pleasantly surprised by phrases that make it to the end intact.

Here are some good broken telephone sentences to get you started:

• The shark tank holds a guppy.
• I wish I had a pet alligator.
• White roses have green, thorny stems.
• Ten tiny toads ate five flying flies.
• A bunch of yellow bananas ripened on the table.
• Twelve tall people pulled turnips from the garden.

Here is a list of 100 Telephone game phrases.

The possibilities are endless. Model the kinds of telephone game sentences you know are likely to work with your children.

When it’s their turn to choose words and sentences, they can follow your lead—or they might totally amaze you!