Remember the 1970s Bingo (Free Large Print Cards)

The word list

The seventies list leans on homes, music and cars, because those are the memories people bring up first: the avocado kitchen, the eight-track in the car, the gas lines of the oil crisis. Swap in the names of local dance clubs or the family station wagon.

How to play seventies bingo in a group

The seventies are the newest of the three decade games and suit younger residents, day programs, and reunions where the guests are in their sixties and seventies. The cards here use the classic 5 by 5 grid with a free square in the middle, printed one per page.

1. Give everyone a card and a dauber, and mark the free square together as a warm-up.
2. Call a square from the caller sheet, repeat it, and ask a quick question: "Did anyone have a waterbed? How did you get it up the stairs?"
3. Let the answers run for a minute, then say the square once more before the next call.
4. Twenty or so calls usually brings the first line. Check it against the caller sheet.
5. For the last round, play blackout or four corners so the game feels different, and give the best prize to that winner.

Variations residents enjoy

Music bingo

Play the first few bars of a seventies song before each call. Guests who can name the song get to call the next square themselves.

Kitchen round

Call only the home and food squares, such as the fondue party, the gelatin mold and the avocado green stove, and ask each table to describe their own seventies kitchen.

Family visit version

When grandchildren visit, give them a card too. The grandparents explain each square to the children, which turns the game into a shared story rather than a quiz.

Three decades

Mix the 1950s and 1960s lists into this one and ask the room to shout the decade before marking the square.

Keeping it respectful and easy

Some squares, like gas lines, bring back a hard year as well as a funny story. Let residents decide how much to say and never press. Drop any square that would not land well with your group before you print.

Read every call twice and point to the word on the caller sheet or TV screen. The online bingo caller in Projector mode shows each square in large type and marks it on a board, which helps residents who did not hear the call.

The Alzheimer's Association suggests sticking with activities a person has always enjoyed and adjusting them to current abilities. For residents who loved bingo, that means smaller grids and a helper at the table, not a different game. The bingo for seniors guide goes into pace, prizes and memory care.

Have a prize for every line, not only the first. A cup of ice cream, a bar of soap, or a small plant keeps the room cheerful without spending much.

Large print settings

Large print is switched on, so every card fills a page with heavy black lines and the biggest text that fits. The 5 by 5 grid still gives smaller squares than the 4 by 4 used on the fifties and sixties pages, so if several of your residents have low vision, open Options, choose 4 x 4, and the words grow.

Use white or cream paper and plain black ink. Leave Ink saver off, because it lightens the lines, and avoid gray paper altogether. Cardstock survives daubers and a whole afternoon of handling.