This twist on traditional bingo develops observational and critical thinking skills for kids. Get outdoors and play Thing Go Bingo! Kids will be challenged to develop a list of things they see move by them while outdoors, then turn it into a fun bingo game!
Preparation
Print the Thing Go Bingo board pdf download, you will need one per child. Discuss with kids the things they see go by when they are outside. You are trying to think of things that move, not stationary things like grass, or flowers. Start brainstorming a list with the children you will need at least 24 items to fill the board. It is a good idea to use a whiteboard or chart paper so children can see the list as you create it. The more items you can think of the better. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Cars
- Birds
- Plane
- Squirrel
- Ant
- Stroller
- Red Truck
- Police Car
- Dog
- Motorcycle
- Person jogging
- Leaf blowing by
After you have a decent list of things that may go by, give each child a bingo board and have them fill in the squares. Remind kids to mix up where they put each word, so that everyone has a different card.
Once children fill in all the squares on their bingo board, give each person a clipboard, (Check out this deal for bulk clipboards on Amazon) have them put their paper in the clip, grab a pencil per child and head outside.
How to Play Thing Go Bingo
- Take children outside and have them sit together so they can all hear each other. When the game starts have children yell out items they see going by. As the items go by children need to mark the items on their sheet. It is a good idea for you to write down the items as kids yell them out, this makes checking for bingos easier.
- It is important that kids are vocal when they see items on the list, this keeps the game honest and fair.
- Once the first person has bingo, stop the game and check the items. If the child has bingo give them a small prize (These simple prizes have been a hit at my program), then continue the game until you have a few people who won.
- If time allows play again give children a different writing utensils or ask them to mark each item with a star to differentiate each the second round from the first.
