How To Make Bingo Game Cards
The most important part of a Bingo game is the Bingo card. In desperate times, the markers and calling cards can be substituted.
Bingo is possibly one of the oldest, worldwide games of chance. The game was adapted by Edwin S. Lowe in 1929 and brought to America.
In the game of Bingo, a caller randomly calls letter-number combinations and the player must then find the correlating combination on their Bingo card and mark it. This is continued until a winning pattern is formed and the winner yells "Bingo!"
Whether you like to play games with your family and friends, or you are into arts and crafts, you may enjoy making Bingo cards of your own. They are easy to make and you can personalize them to fit any theme. The cards can be made by hand or with a Bingo Card creator.
On a regular Bingo card, there is a 5x5 grid with various numbers filled in, and a "free space" in the center of the grid. This 'free space' is considered to be marked. The letters B-I-N-G-O are at the top of the columns. On typical Bingo cards, the numbers range from one to seventy-five. On your personal Bingo cards, you can put anything from words to math equations, from formulas to pictures. You can also increase or decrease the size of the grid as preferred.
How To: Card Creator
The quickest, easiest way to make Bingo cards is by using a Bingo Card Creator. This will give you tips on words or topics and will enable you to create a variety of cards at the same time. There is a very useful website where you can make bingo cards about practically everything you can think of. It offers many topics that you can choose from and narrow down your word choice by subject. For example, you want Bingo cards for a special holiday (yes, they have those too!). You can narrow your search by choosing a "Fathers' Day" theme. The website will then offer you the chance to choose words and phrases that you want on the cards. You can also choose how many cards you want.
When you are through, you can print your cards and have your own unique Bingo game.
How To: By Hand
If you chose not to use the website to make your cards, you can always go at it the old-fashioned way- by hand. You can start by printing blank bingo cards from your computer, or by drawing the grid on cardstock, plain paper, or construction paper.
Materials
- Card stock / Construction Paper / Plain Paper
- Ruler
- Pens, pencil, markers
- Paint (optional)
- Scissors
Instructions
- Cut your paper in rectangles of 11 inches wide and 13 inches long.
- Add your border and decorations. Make sure the decorations you are adding are not too bright or they will distract from the actual game.
- Draw your grid. The grid is made up of six rows and five columns. Make a half-inch border all around the card then divide the remaining space into 2 inch squares.
- In the squares in the first row, write the letters B-I-N-G-O.
- Add your numbers or words to the card. Be sure you have enough words/numbers to fill the grid and make every card different. The minimum for a regular 5 x 5 grid is 25 words/numbers if you choose to put the free space in the center tile.
- You can use a sticker or paint to mark your free space.
- You can make the cards vary by changing the order of the words and letters on the grid.
Now that you know how to make your own Bingo cards, the gaming possibilities are endless. Bingo can be played by anyone and is an acceptable pastime for any group. Teachers can use Bingo to make learning fun; religious groups can use it to teach their beliefs in a non-confrontational way. It can be used to build language skills and vocabulary.
There are so many fun things to do with bingo. Go ahead, make your cards its Bingo time!
