Christmas Bingo Cards for Class Parties and Christmas Eve

The word list

Families keep very different traditions, so cut anything that does not fit your home. Add your own: a special dish, a family carol, the name of the dog who always unwraps the first gift.

How to play Christmas bingo

December is full of waiting. Children wait for the last day of school, for relatives to arrive and for the morning itself, and bingo is a good way to turn that waiting into something shared. It also fits in the gaps of a busy party, when the cookies are still in the oven and the tree is only half decorated.

1. Hand each player a card, along with a handful of markers. Peppermints in wrappers, jingle bells, red and green buttons and mini marshmallows all work, and so do plain crayons.
2. Call items from the list in random order. A bowl of folded slips, one for each square, makes it feel like a drawing.
3. Players cover a matching square each time, and may only cover one item per call.
4. The first player with a row, column or diagonal calls "Merry Christmas!" and holds up the card.
5. Check the covered squares against the calls. A winner picks a candy cane or a small gift from the prize basket, and then everyone clears the cards for the next round.

A game for twenty children can run about ten minutes per round, so most parties fit three or four rounds between the snack and the gift exchange.

Variations for different gatherings

Church and community events

Mix in squares about the story of the season, like the nativity scene, an angel and a midnight service. Use a quiet reader as the caller and keep the tone gentle. Adults and children can pair up on a single card.

Classroom parties

Students can write the squares themselves. Assign each child one item to draw, then assemble the drawings into a picture card for younger classmates. The teacher reads the words and children match the pictures.

Office and family swaps

Swap the list for squares that only your group would recognize: the uncle who falls asleep after dinner, the song everyone requests, the dish that never gets eaten. Cover them as they happen during the party, with no caller at all.

Christmas Eve at home

Give each child a card at dinner and let them mark off squares as they spot them over the evening, from a car with a tree on the roof to the first glimpse of snow. Children get quiet and watchful, which can help with the sleepless excitement.

Tips from the party table

Keep rounds short. The mood in December is fizzy, and children lose patience quickly if each game drags past a quarter hour. A 4x4 card finishes sooner than a 5x5, and a 3x3 card suits toddlers.

Think through the prizes ahead. Small, inexpensive items such as stickers, pencils and wrapped chocolates fit in a stocking, and nothing needs to cost much. To keep it fair, give a prize for each round and let every child win once before anyone wins twice.

Because many households celebrate differently, check the guest list. If a few families do not keep Christmas, offer a winter-themed card with snowflakes and cocoa instead. The Winter bingo page uses squares that suit everyone.

Play music in the background, but turn it down during the calls. A quiet instrumental carol keeps the room cheerful without drowning out the caller.

Printing the cards

Cardstock gives the best feel for a game that will be handled with sticky fingers. Print two cards per page for a roomy square, or four per page if you are printing for a large class and want to save paper.

Red and green paper is festive but dark, so prefer a pale cream, a light green or plain white and switch on ink saver. If you plan to reuse the set next year, laminate the cards and use dry-erase markers or small counters.

Print the caller sheet on the same day. It lists the squares in a random order, so you can read down it rather than draw slips, and it keeps a record of what has already been called if someone claims a win.