| Most people know how to play the game of bingo, | | | | "Advent" or "Santa Claus" in a Christmas game, or |
| after all it's a game that many of us either played as | | | | "Revolution" or "George Washington" in an |
| kids or learned to enjoy in later life. The idea of the | | | | Independence Day game. |
| game is quite simple: every player is given a bingo card | | | | - Bingo games with words and phrases are popular in |
| (sometimes known as a "bingo board" or "bingo | | | | K-12, English as Second Language (ESL) and foreign |
| sheet"), each of the squares contains an item | | | | language teaching. They're a fun way for students to |
| (traditionally a number), and players tick off squares | | | | practice word recognition, reading and spelling. |
| when the corresponding items are called out by the | | | | - Bingo cards can also be printed with math problems. |
| bingo caller. The objective of the game is to be the | | | | They're good way to practice multiplication tables |
| first player to get a continuous line of items diagonally, | | | | ("times tables") as well as arithmetic. Students are |
| vertically or horizontally across the card, and then claim | | | | required to write in the correct answers to problems |
| the win by calling out "Bingo!". | | | | as they are called out, rather than simply ticking items |
| As already mentioned, in traditional versions of bingo, | | | | off their cards. |
| the items in the squares of the bingo card are | | | | In order to play most of these variants of the game, |
| numbers. Today however many variations of the | | | | you will of course need bingo cards containing items |
| standard game have also become popular, and in | | | | relating to your chosen theme. Obtaining preprinted |
| these variants, words, phrases, dates, times or even | | | | cards can be difficult - even if you can find |
| math problems can be used for hte items on the | | | | somewhere to buy them, they can be expensive and |
| cards. | | | | may not contain the exact items that you want. |
| - Holiday versions of bingo are increasingly popular. | | | | Preparing bingo cards by hand is possible, but very |
| Bingo is a great activity for family and community | | | | time consuming! The best answer is to get your |
| events since people of all ages can play together. In | | | | computer to do the work - with the right bingo card |
| holiday variants of the game, words or phrases relating | | | | maker software you can print custom bingo cards |
| to the particular holiday are used, so words like | | | | with consummate ease. |