Christmas Bingo

Christmas Bingo - Practice several hand and visual perceptual skills.

Bingo is a great family game because many ages can play together and have fun. You can find/buy bingo games with all kinds of themes. It's always fun for me to have holiday and seasonal games to pull out during special times of the year. Christmas Bingo is one of those games.

The bingo cards are made of card stock and measure approximately 5" X 5 1/4". There are 16 pictures in all, including carolers, 3 wise men, candle, gingerbread man, Santa, snowman, candy canes, fireplace, stocking, reindeer, gifts, and Christmas tree. More than just a matching game, players must be able to recognize five in a row, embedded horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, to win a game. There are also many other patterns that you could use to win bingo including covering four corners, letters such as H and T, and completing the border (see a list of letters under Try this below). A great game to work on visual perceptual skills. 

This game includes a card stock spinner and the arrow moves very freely. In traditional Bingo games, each number is only called once per game. Because the pictures are called from a spinner, the same picture may be called more than once. To compensate for this, plus the fact that there are only 16 pictures but there are 25 spaces, the cards have duplicates of some of the pictures. Therefore, when a picture is called more than once, if you have a duplicate you will get to cover it again. It's a fun game to pull out at Christmas time and play with the kids.

The plastic Bingo chips are red and green and are smaller than your typical bingo chips, but are just the right size for the cards. Serve a simple Christmas snack and wrap a few inexpensive gifts (Dollar store?) and make a fun evening of it.

Check out a list of other Christmas games I have blogged about here.

Try this:

• Practice recognizing a winning pattern before playing. Cover a pattern with markers on a card so the individual can see what it will look like. Then set up several cards with multiple markers and a win embedded on each one and ask the player to find it. Work until he is proficient at spotting the winning pattern.
• If the player has trouble seeing a bingo, check the card with them, using your finger in the air to draw a line in the direction you want them to check for each column or row.
• Watch for only one BINGO direction at a time until they are used to watching for it (horizontal, diagonal, vertical). Then watch for two directions, then for three. Finally go to a bingo in any direction.
• Make sure the players all know the different image names before starting the game, since there aren't calling cards with pictures to show and the spinner images would be too small to see from a distance.
• Stop occasionally and check the player's card. Ask them to point out places where they only need one more to win a bingo. Or point out possible bingos and ask how many more will be needed to win or which squares will need markers to win in that direction etc.
• Play for only one direction for beginners. Make a black and white copy of a Bingo card and then fill in the circles with a yellow or other colored highlighter to show what the individual will be looking for. For example, state that only a bingo that goes across will win. Then fill in the 5 circles on one horizontal line and leave it in sight as an example of what you want.
• Pick up two or three bingo chips and hold them in the hand, moving them to the fingertips and placing one at a time as a picture is called.
• Take turns being the spinner for a whole game. Practice holding the card in one hand and spinning with the other. Practice flicking the finger.
• Scan across the card, left to right as in reading, after each item is called to make sure all pictures are seen.
• Make a copy of the card and use a highlighter to mark the spaces if the individual is not able to separate the individual items from the background or cannot look in an organized manner. Use a piece of white paper and cover all but one horizontal line. Look at and mark one line at a time. Then uncover two lines and so on as the person gets better at it.
• Play alphabet Bingo. Many letters can be found such as C, E, F, G, L, N, O, Z, H, T, I etc. 
• Visualize the letter you are going for as a bingo and do not mark pictures that aren't part of the letter.
• Pick the pieces off the card after each game, squirreling them into the palm. How many can you hold without dropping any?
• Use other things for Bingo chips, like Skittles or holiday M&M's. It can be its own reward after a game, and everyone wins (if everyone started with clean hands LOL).
• Work on spatial relations, visual discrimination, figure ground, visual closure, eye-hand coordination, visual scanning, manual dexterity, finger isolation, fine motor precision, in-hand manipulation, coordinated use of both hands, process skills, executive functioning skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: 10 cards, spinner, Bingo chips
Ages 6+, 2-10 players

 If you are interested in purchasing this item or just want more information, click on the image below.