One of the attractions of bingo is that while being a lot of fun, it is also incredibly easy to learn how to play. If you get a bingo card and show it to somebody, you can explain how to play the game in just a few minutes.
In the traditional game of bingo, each player is given a bingo card containing an array of squares arranged in a 5 by 5 grid. Each square on the card contains a different number, and players mark off squares from the cards as numbers are called out by the bingo caller. While this basic game can be a lot of fun, more and more people are today turning to variants of the game. Using a computer and bingo card maker software, it’s very easy to print custom bingo cards with squares containing words, phrases, or even math problems, instead of numbers.
With so many people getting together, holidays are in fact a perfect opportunity to play bingo. Obviously if playing on (or in the run-up) to one of these holidays, it’s more fun to play using bingo cards themed around the holiday. Whether it be Christmas, Easter, St. Valentine’s Day, New Year, July 4th, Halloween, or any other holiday, you can play bingo – in each case picking words or phrases for the cards that relate to the particular holiday in question.
Many teachers are also turning to bingo as a classroom activity. The game is well suited to use in schools, since it can be adapted in a wide variety of different ways, game play mechanics can be varied, and of course cards on literally any theme or subject can be prepared. Younger students can benefit from bingo by practising reading the items on the cards, in math lessons, students can be required to write in answers to problems rather than simply mark off squares, and in language lessons students can be required to recognize items written in one language when bingo calls are made in another.
By: Sunil Tanna
If you ask around, I’m sure that you will find that most people have played bingo at some point in their lives. You’ll probably encounter a few folks who say that have never played the game, but the chances are that majority of them will in fact know how the game is played.
The classical game of bingo is played used bingo cards containing numbers (the numbers are normally placed in small squares, and these squares arranged in a five by five grid). Each player’s objective is to be the first to cross off a line of five items diagonally, horizontally or vertically on their card, but the numbers can only be crossed off when called out by the bingo caller. While the classical game remains popular with many people, themed versions of the game (using custom bingo cards) have also come into vogue in recent years. In themed versions of the game, instead of numbers, words or phrases are printed of the cards.
Perhaps the most popular themed versions of bingo are those relating to holidays, to be used on those occasions. For example a bingo card containing words like “Nativity” or “Sleigh” might be used at Christmas, and one containing words such as “Heart” or “Romance” on Valentine’s Day.
Another situation in which bingo is popular is in education. The game is well suited to English, foreign languages, history, geography, science and math lessons. Once again appropriately themed bingo cards should be used – in this case prepared in advance by the teacher. Teachers can also vary game play, for example, by in a French lesson by calling out words in French, and requiring students to find the corresponding English item printed on their bingo card (or vice-versa), or in a math lesson printing the bingo cards with math problems, and requiring students to write in the answers rather than simply cross off squares.
By: Sunil Tanna
