Merry Merry Christmas BINGO

Get into the Christmas spirit with a Christmas-themed BINGO game.

Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting-tingling too... Christmas carols playing in the background, Merry Merry Christmas Bingo cards and small prizes on the table, maybe a cup of hot chocolate with a peppermint stick... I can't wait. 

Merry Merry Christmas Bingo includes everything you need to play bingo - bingo cards, calling cards and markers. It celebrates Christmas with festive images and also includes a quick, fun fact for each. 

The bingo cards measure 8.5" x 11" and are a 5 x 5 grid with a free spot in the middle. The cards are closer to paper weight than card stock, but you could laminate them if you want. Note that there are only 6 bingo cards in this game. JINGO is a similar type of bingo game but from a different company and they have 30 cards to a box. I don't have the JINGO Christmas game, but I have blogged about other JINGO bingo games if you would like to check them out and see what they are about. You can check them out by clicking here.

The calling cards each have one image on the front and a quick fun fact about that image on the back. These cards measure 2.25" x 3.5" . Here are some examples:

• Holly - Holly is an evergreen shrub with shiny leaves and red berries. It keeps its red berries throughout the winter. Throughout the ages, from Europe to America, holly has become a part of many Christmas decorations.
• Gingerbread House - A gingerbread house is created with gingerbread, candies, icing and all sorts of edible sweets. For many families it is a Christmas tradition to make a gingerbread house.
• Caroling - Caroling is a way of giving to your neighbors and friends during Christmas. A group will gather and go from door to door singing Christmas carols. Some of the favorite Christmas carols are: Silent Night, We Three Kings of Orient Are, Away in a Monger and Hark the Herald Angels Sing.

The game does include small red squares for tokens. You could use all kinds of small items you may have around the house for markers like dried beans, pennies, Christmas candy kisses or Christmas M&Ms. I like to practice in-hand manipulation skills with bingo markers so I usually go for something more three dimensional. Use regular bingo chips if you have them from another game.

The calling cards and tokens are in large perforated sheets and will have to separated before play.  

Object:
Be the first to cover 5 in a row diagonally, vertically or horizontally. Or cover another pattern decided on before the game starts, such as the border or making a single letter of the alphabet.

Set up:
Give each player a card and a handful of markers. Choose one person to be the caller. Mix the clue calling cards and give them to the caller. The caller can play along with a bingo card or not.

Play:
The caller picks a card off the deck and announces it to the group. While the players search for the picture, the caller can read the fact on the back. If a player finds an image, they cover it with a marker. If a player cannot find an image, they wait for the next image. Not all items will be found on each card.

If you would like to see a list of other Christmas games I have blogged about, click here.

Try this:

• Hold several tokens in the hand, bringing them to the fingertips one at a time to cover the squares.
• 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 they are 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. Then try a bingo in any direction.
• Place the calling card next to the player's bingo card if they need to see it for comparison. 
• Use other things that you have a lot of for markers like paper clips, dried beans, pennies, or small candies. Ask the players to hold a small stack of the pieces in-hand as they play, pushing them off and to the fingertips, one at a time, to place.
• 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 in the palm. How many can you hold without dropping any? 
• 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.
• Work on visual discrimination, visual closure, spatial relations, figure ground, visual scanning, manual dexterity, in-hand manipulation, fine motor control, socialization skills, executive functioning skills, process skills, play and leisure exploration and participation
• Display a black and white image with the BINGO pattern for each game so the players can remember the pattern they are looking for (see below).

In the box: 6 Bingo cards, 42 calling cards, markers

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