Let’s Play Bingo!

What You Need

Here's What To Do

More Ideas To Try

Glossary

 

What You Need

• Art supplies to make a Bingo Board (paper, markers, pens) or blank Bingo Board
• Items to mark off spaces on Bingo Board like beans, tokens, chips, markers, or pens

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Here's What To Do

1. Ask the family and friends who are going to play if any of them have ever played Bingo before. Have those who are familiar with the game help you explain the rules.
2. Pass out blank Bingo cards or create your own using paper and general art supplies.
3. The children and adults who will be playing should brainstorm a list of words associated with an activity you will be doing together or a place you might be visiting.  See the example list about a trip to the library.
4. Using the list of brainstormed words, family and friends should each make a Bingo board.  You can label the Bingo card with words, pictures that are drawn, or images cut out of magazines or catalogs. Remind the players that they cannot use the same word or picture twice on their cards. They should not put anything in the center square - this is the free space.
5. Take the Bingo board with you as you go to the activity.
6. When you find an item on your Bingo board, mark it off using tokens, beans or chips, or if you are on the go, mark off the square with a pen or marker.
7. The first person to get Bingo is the winner!
8. Continue to play until someone says, "Bingo!"
9. When you finish one game, have players switch cards with others and play again.

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More Ideas To Try

• Read more about Bingo Instructions.
• Play Bingo with math facts.  The board can contain equations (4+3) and the caller says the answer (7).  Or the board can have numbers and the caller names an equation.
• Play with words! The Bingo board can have rhyming words, synonyms, or antonyms.
• If your family speaks more than one language, make a bilingual Bingo board.
• If you are planning a trip, your words can be states and capitols or countries and capitols.

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Glossary

Rhyme

Identical or very similar sounds in words (for example, cat and hat or book and look).

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