How baby shower bingo saved my life 
… I’ve had the fortune/misfortune to host 11 different baby showers in the past three years thanks to co-workers, friends, and family members getting pregnant (when you’re at the age, everyone is doing it). One thing I’ve learned is that games are absolutely essential to keeping the party moving forward and making sure everyone is having a good time. I know of almost no other time when people will be coming together for such an intimate party, yet having so many people possibly not knowing each other. My last baby shower I held had mother-in-laws trying to talk with 18-year-old office friends of the mommy-to-be, talking with cousins from across the state. It was awkward. That is, until…
Until I got the games out, everyone was just standing around making really bad small talk. But then I opened up a few bottles of wine (none for the mommy-to-be) and started a game of Baby Shower Bingo. Everyone knows how to play so we went straight into the game. And after the ladies saw that they could win some nice prizes (top prize was a $30 gift certificate to Victoria’s Secret, but we had lots of $5 gcs to Starbucks).
The wine helped a lot too, and a few of the ladies started getting pretty animated and at one point, someone fell out of her chair trying to be the first person to yell BABY SHOWER BINGO! We all had a great laugh.
I’ve found the best way to do baby shower bingo is to just buy the pre-made cards online. There are lots of places to get free ones, but they looked terrible when I downloaded them, and I just didn’t have time to make my own for the last party. I’d made my own in the past, but after just buying some, it was so easy that I’ll never go back.
I hope this helps a few of you out there, games are the key and can be lots of fun with the help of a little wine and some fun prizes.
By: Marisa Meidle
Most people are familiar with the game of bingo. Even those people who have never played bingo, probably do know how the game is played. However, just in case you are one of those rare few who don’t know how to play, he are instructions:
1. One person acts as the bingo caller (and referee), the others act as players.
2. Each of the players is given a bingo card containing a grid of squares (normally 5 by 5, but other sizes may be used), with each square containing a different number.
3. The bingo caller calls out the numbers in a random order, and players mark off the squares containing that number from their cards.
4. The player’s objective is to get a row, column or diagonal of squares marked off (or in some variants, other shapes or all the items on the card). When a player achieves this he shouts “Bingo!”, and the first who shouts this is the winner.
There are of course many variants of the game, and it is these variants that are bringing bingo to the attention of a much wider audience. Some examples of these include:
- Baby Shower Bingo – Played as a baby shower game, using bingo cards printed with items related to babies.
- Wedding Shower Bingo – Played at wedding and bridal showers, this time using bingo cards with items related weddings.
- Holiday Bingo – Bingo played on special occasions such as Christmas, New Year, Valentine’s Day, July 4th, Halloween or Thanksgiving – however themed for the day by using bingo cards containing items relating to the particular holiday.
- Educational Bingo – Bingo is also as increasingly popular activity with teachers and educators. Educational variants of bingo are commonly played in schools, colleges, Sunday schools, and in ESL classes. Once again specially printed bingo cards are used, be it with words student must learn to read, math problems, names of countries or cities, chemical elements, or anything else.
The common thread running through all these different variants of bingo, is that non-standard bingo cards are used. In some cases, it may be possible to order preprinted cards from a specialist publisher, although this can get expensive fast! In other cases, preprinted cards may simply not be available. As a result, usually the best option is for the game organizer to prepare the bingo cards – fortunately with the help of a computer and suitable bingo card maker software, this can be a quick and easy job.
By: Sunil Tanna
Most people have played bingo at some point in their lives, but even those of us who have never played the game, generally do know how to play the game.
Traditionally bingo is played using cards containing a grid of squares (usually but not always a grid of 5 X 5 squares), with each square containing a different number. Each player is given one of these bingo cards, and the objective of the game is to mark off a row, column or diagonal of squares (in some versions, the objective is to obtain multiple lines, another square, or even get all squares marked off). Squares on the cards are marked off by the players when the bingo caller (who also acts as referee) calls out the corresponding number.
Bingo has undergone something of a renaissance in popularity in the last few years. While the traditional game remains popular, new variants of bingo are reaching new audiences. In each case, these variants of the game are played using bingo cards containing custom items related to a particular topic, rather than the standard numbered bingo cards.
Some examples include:
- Holiday bingo, using bingo cards with words and phrases themed around a particular holiday be it New Year, Valentine’s Day, July 4th, Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas.
- Wedding and baby shower bingo is a popular activity on these social events. Bingo cards containing items related to brides, weddings, or babies, are used as applicable.
- Educational bingo is getting more and more popular with teachers. Versions of the game can be produced for almost any type of class including English (including K12 and ESL), math, science, history, geography or even religious studies. Game play may also be varied by the teacher, so for example in math bingo, cards containing math problems may be used and students must write in the answers to these problems rather than simply tick off the squares.
In order to play any of these variants of the game, you will of course need bingo cards printed with the appropriate themed items. These are not always easy to obtain for every possible topic, and even when available can be expensive. Therefore the best option for most people is to simply print them using a computer and appropriate bingo card generator software.
By: Sunil Tanna
