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

Flip Out

Flip Out - A switching, swapping and swiping card game.

Flip Out is a game of colorful patterns and sets. Colorful, two-sided cards, that you cannot see, allow your opponents to steal your cards, just as you're getting your set(s) together. A bummer for you, but you will also be busy doing the same to them.

There are ninety cards in the game and there are five different patterns total (blue, green, purple, orange, yellow). Some cards have the same design on both sides, but most cards have different designs on each side. They are sturdy, laminated cards that should hold up a long time. They measure 2 3/16" x 3 7/16".

The trays pieces are blue and hard plastic. Two trays will snap together to make one complete, longer tray that measures about 13".

Object:

Collect sets of 4, 5, or 6 adjacent cards of the same color.

Set up:

Each player will take 2 card holders and snap them together to make one longer holder. Shuffle the cards and set them in the middle of the players. Each player takes six cards and stands them in their holder (see image above). Teammates will see the backs of your cards, but only you should see the fronts (side of card facing you).

Play:

Players take turns. On each turn you will take any two of these actions:

• Flip - You can flip a card around in any holder (yours or an opponent's)  so that the back (outside) become the front (Inside). This is the only way to see the backs of your cards.
• Switch - You can switch the position of two cards in your or any other player's holder.
• Swap 1 - You can swap any one of your cards with another player's. To swap, take (or request by number) any one card from another player's holder and replace it with one from yours. Don't flip the cards! You give and get the colors you see.
• Swap 2 - You can swap two adjacent, same-color cards from your holder with two adjacent, same-color cards in another player's. As with swapping 1 card, don't flip the cards - what you see is what you get.
• Score - Collect a set from your holder. If you have 4, 5 , or 6 adjacent some-color cards in your holder, remove and show everyone your set, then put them in a scoring pile in front of you. Immediately draw enough new cards to refill your holder to 6.
• Swipe - Collect a set from an opponent's holder. If you see 4, 5 , or 6 adjacent same-color cards on the back of another player's cards, you can take their set! However, you must give them one card (for scoring purposes). Place cards in your scoring piles: they get 1 and you get the rest. The player whose set you stole immediately draws back up to 6.

The game ends as soon as any player cannot draw enough cards to fill their holder back up to 6. At this point, anyone with a set of 4, 5, or 6 facing them in their own holder can collect it. All players count their scoring piles and whoever has the most cards wins.

Try this:

• Skip the game, sort the cards into piles by pattern/color. Hold a stack in the non-dominant hand and push the top card off, one at a time, with the thumb.
• Skip the game. Set up a tray (two halves) and start of sequence of two, such as yellow green. Ask the individual to finish the sequence to fill the tray.
• Work on visual discrimination, visual closure, manual dexterity, executive functioning skills, planning, process skills, socialization skills, play and leisure exploration and participation

In the box: 90 double-sided cards, 5 cards holders (10 halves)

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