Child's Play

Two players watch video clips of children trying to describe a word and then the players have to guess what it is for points.

Round 1
In the first round, a word was given to the viewers at home, and a video clip of a child defining that word was played. Any words that were too incriminating or the answer itself were censored.

Once the clip ended, the contestant had a chance to guess the word; a correct response earned one point. If he/she was incorrect, his/her opponent viewed a clip of another child defining the same word. If the opponent was wrong, control passed back to the first contestant, who saw one final clip (usually of a younger child, and the answer usually not that hard to guess by this point). If he/she was still wrong, Cullen announced the correct answer and no points were awarded.

The first round continued, with the players alternating control on words (originally the winner of the previous word played first on each new word), until the first commercial break.

Fast Play - Round 2
The second round was known as the "Fast Play" round. Both contestants were given the opportunity to guess what word the child was defining by hitting a buzzer to interrupt the video clip and guess the word. If the contestant was correct, he/she received two points; if incorrect, the rest of the clip was played and the opponent was given a chance to guess. When the school bell rang, the game was over. If there was a tie at the end of the game, a tie-breaking word would be played. If a contestant buzzed in with the right word, he/she won the game; if he/she buzzed in and gave a wrong answer, his/her opponent won.

Format 1
The contestant must guess six words correctly. Each word had three written definitions by three different children ("Child A," "Child B," and "Child C"). The contestant must choose one of the three children, and after seeing the definition, supply a guess or chose another child. If, after seeing all three definitions, the contestant cannot identify the word, he/she must say "pass" to move on to another word.

Each correct guess was worth $100, while getting six before time expired won $5,000.

Format 2
The second bonus game format was instituted in spring of 1983. Five children who regularly appeared in the film clips were brought into the studio, and the contestant had to describe seven words to the children within the time limit. The contestant won $100 for each word that a child guessed correctly and the children won the same amount collectively. Getting all seven words won $5,000 and the children won $1,000 collectively. As in the previous bonus round format, the contestant can pass a word and come back to it if time permits; however, if the contestant gave an illegal clue (such as giving away the word), he/she lost the chance at the $5,000.

Champions returned until they were defeated, had been on the show for 5 days, or exceeded the CBS winnings limit (at the time) of $25,000.

Music
Score Productions

Inventor
Mark Goodson & Bill Todman

Spin-Offs
Dame la Pista - A short-lived Spanish language version aired in 2008.