“How many days ’til Christmas?” Have you heard this question lately? The next time you get worn out from being a human Christmas countdown clock, say this: How about a game of Christmas Bingo? With all the downtime over the holidays, it’s nice to have an option to throw into the mix that’s not screen-related or labor-intensive on Mom’s part. Christmas Bingo is also great for getting siblings to play something together.
Ready to play? Print out one Christmas Bingo card per person (we have six different ones). Print the bingo pictures and cut them into squares. You’ll put those in a bowl, and the caller (the one who pulls the squares out of the bowl) will pull them out individually to play the game. The caller can also play. If you want to use the cards more than once, grab something for the players to use to mark the squares instead of crossing through them with a pen or marker: dried beans, pieces of Christmas candy, or blank scraps of paper.
If you want to make Christmas Bingo even more enticing, have little prizes for the winner: a Hershey’s Kiss, “pick the Christmas movie” privileges, tickle mom for 10 seconds, a cup of hot chocolate, or a Christmas cookie. Want more fun Christmas activities? Here’s a Christmas Scavenger Hunt, Christmas This or That Questions, and the Story of Christmas in a printable version.
Here are some different versions to help you put the J-I-N-G-L-E in B-I-N-G-O.
Snow Out Christmas Bingo:
This version is called “blackout” in regular bingo. To win, players have to cover every spot on their card instead of just a row. (Use white paper to mark the spots and create a visual snow out.) You can use multiple cards to make this version last even longer.
Single Player Christmas Bingo:
In this version, the single player competes against the clock to see how quickly he can get bingo. The player pulls out the squares one at a time. When bingo is achieved, the player notes the time. In subsequent games, he can try to beat that time.
How Low Can You Go-Ho-Ho-Ho:
Another version of single-player Christmas Bingo is having the player see how many papers he or she has to pull from the bowl. The goal is to get bingo in as few pulls as possible.
What’s another version you like to play?
