A variety of themes can be incorporated into a bingo game.
The traditional game of bingo involves placing markers on a card filled with numbers that are randomly called out, the winner of the game being the first person to mark off a vertical, horizontal or diagonal game. This game is simple to play and by modifying the bingo card with different theme ideas, the game can be used as a teaching tool or as a game for a themed-party.
Holiday-Themed Bingo
Create holiday-themed bingo cards to use as entertainment at a holiday party. Either draw your own cards or purchase pre-made cards from a party supply store. For Halloween, cover each of the spots on the board with a Halloween-themed image, such as a ghost, a witch, a pumpkin and a spider. A Thanksgiving-themed bingo card can be filled with images of American Indians, Pilgrims, turkeys, corn and leaves. For Christmas, the game board can be filled with pictures of Christmas trees, stockings, elves, Santa, reindeer or gifts.
Seasonal
If you're an educator or a parent who is teaching about the different seasons, consider using a game of bingo to teach about the symbols associated with each theme. Again, you can draw your own bingo cards on card stock, print them out or purchase pre-made cards from a party supply store. For a winter-themed game, fill the spaces with images of snowflakes, icicles, snowballs, scarves and hats. A spring bingo game may include images of flowers, raindrops, birds and bunnies. For the summer, perhaps you may incorporate pictures of the beach, seashells, beach balls and sand pails. Lastly, for a fall-themed bingo game, fill the spaces with pictures of different colored leaves, scarecrows, pumpkins and apples.
Mathematical Theme
Use bingo to reinforce different mathematical concepts. Game boards filled with numbers can be used to reinforce number recognition, one-to-one correspondence and basic mathematical functions, such as addition and subtraction. For number recognition and one-to-one correspondence, call out the name of a number or a picture that illustrates an amount of dots shown, and if players have the number that corresponds to the number or illustration shown, they cover it with a marker. Other math-related topics, such as fractions or shapes, may also be printed on the spaces of bingo cards.
Letter-Themed
Bingo can also be used to teach letter identification and letter-sound recognition. Cover the spaces of bingo cards with letters and distribute them to players. Call out different letters and players cover the letters you have said. Alternatively, you can state a letter sound or a word and players cover the letter that makes the sound that was stated.
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