Peanuts Christmas BINGO

Peanuts Christmas Bingo - Spread holiday cheer with Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang.

If you've read much of my blog, by now you know I'm a Peanuts and Charlie Brown fan. So I was excited to find this Peanuts Christmas BINGO game at Oriental Trading, an online craft store. All the familiar characters are here: Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, and Woodstock. 

The bingo cards have a 5 x 5 grid with a free spot in the middle and measure 6 3/4" X 8 1/2". The pictures on the cards are icons of Christmas including candy canes, stockings, Christmas trees and gifts. There are 33 cards in the box.

The bingo cards have repeated pictures, but with different colors. Note in the image below there are 2 Woodstock's (bird) on the card. One with a green hat and one with a red. On the call out cards pictured below you will see three Woodstock cards, each with a different colored background and matching hat. Therefore you will need to call Woodstock with a green hat, or Lucy with a red hat, or a blue Christmas tree, etc. The call out cards are on perforated cards and will need to be separated before playing.

Also included are 594 markers, equaling 18 markers per person if all 33 cards are used. These markers are made of card stock and come on perforated sheets also, so you will have to separate them before play. If you need more markers you could use something else such as Christmas M&Ms, pennies or dried beans.The markers have a gift printed on one side and are white on the back. Using the markers with the gift side up makes for a really busy background. If I feel that will interfere with the game, I ask the player to turn the markers over and use the white side up so a bingo is easier to spot.

Adding small prizes for winners is always a treat.

Check out other Christmas games I have blogged about on my Christmas Edition post. 

Object:
Be the first to get 5 in a row in any direction: horizontal, vertical or diagonal. Or use another pattern, such as fill in the border or make a letter T (see suggestion below).

Set up:
Give each person playing a BINGO card and several markers. Choose a person to be the caller. Mix the calling cards face-down and place them near the caller.

Play:
The caller will turn over one card and call and show it. All players will put a marker on that square if they have it on their card. The caller repeats this until someone matches the winning pattern on his card and yells BINGO. Check the player's card for accuracy and reward the prize if there is one. Play again.


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 player knows and can recognize the colors red, green and blue before starting the game. 
• Make sure the players all know the Charlie Brown character names before starting the game. If they don't, post pictures with the names somewhere where everyone can see them before starting. Or flip each card after calling so that everyone can see it.
• 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.
• Display a black and white card with the BINGO pattern for each game highlighted in yellow so the players can remember the pattern they are looking for. 
• Use other things that you have a lot of for markers like paper clips, dried beans, pennies, or small candies. You may have kids eliminate themselves from playing early on if they can't resist eating the candy.
• Ask player's to hold several marker pieces in their dominant hand as they play. Ask them to bring the pieces to the fingertips, one at a time, and place on the card as they play.
• Use letters as your patterns. You can play for O (border), X, N, L, P, C, E, F, G, H, I, S, T, U, Y and Z.
• 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?
• Work on visual discrimination, figure ground, visual closure, eye-hand coordination, spatial relations, fine motor, in-hand manipulation, manual dexterity, executive functioning skills, socialization skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
• Display a black and white card with the BINGO pattern for each game. You can just make them with a black marker on white paper or draw them on the board.

In the box: 33 BINGO cards, 36 call out cards, 594 markers

If you are interested in purchasing this or just want more information, go to Oriental Trading