Kids' Birthday Bingo Cards

A game for the twenty minutes after the pizza

Children's parties have a predictable shape: arrivals and chaos, a game, food, a lull, cake, presents, and parents at the door. Bingo belongs in the lull. Everybody is already sitting down, the floor is covered in crumbs so nothing can get worse, and the game runs for exactly as long as you want it to. Unlike musical chairs it has no losers until the very end, and unlike freeze dance it doesn't depend on an adult stopping the music fairly.

The words are the party itself: balloon, cake, piñata, goody bag, bubbles, face paint. Children recognise most of them from the room they are sitting in, which helps early readers, and the few phrases ("make a wish", "hip hip hooray") are things they will hear shouted within the hour.

Running it with young children

Use the 4 x 4 cards as prefilled. Print at 2 per page so the squares are big enough for a small hand and a fat marker. Hand out one card and one marker (a crayon, a dot sticker sheet, or a small pile of cereal) per child, and explain the rule in one sentence: "When I say a word that's on your card, cover it, and when you've covered a whole row, shout bingo."

Call slowly, holding up a picture for each word, and repeat it. Expect to help: walk round after each call for the first few rounds. With a list of 40, a line falls after nine to fifteen calls. When a child shouts, check their card, cheer, and start again straight away on the same cards for the next pattern. Three rounds and everyone is ready for cake.

Patterns for a 4 x 4 card

• Any line: a row, a column or either diagonal. Four marks.
• Four corners: good for round two because it looks different and takes about as long.
• The frame: all twelve outer squares, for a longer round with older children.
• Full card: all sixteen, which with 40 words takes most of the list; play it last and let several children finish before you stop.

Prizes

The usual party-bag fillers work as prizes: a bouncy ball, a sheet of stickers, a small tub of bubbles, a glow stick, a temporary tattoo. Keep a bowl of them and let each winner pick. For the last round, make it "everyone who gets a full card wins", so the game ends with a crowd of winners rather than one. The birthday child can be the official checker, which keeps them involved without making them win.

Printing

• 2 per page for big squares, on white paper so crayons show. Card stock survives juice.
• Put the birthday child's name and age in the title ("Leo is 6!") and a simple header such as "PLAY" (four letters for a 4 x 4 card).
• Print the caller sheet and, if you are calling with pictures, number your picture cards to match it so you can keep them in order.
• Print a few spare cards; one always gets a drink on it before the game starts.

The 40 squares in this list

Cards are 4 x 4. Edit the list, add your own squares or change the card size above; the cards update as you type.

• Balloon
• Cake
• Candle
• Present
• Party hat
• Pizza
• Piñata
• Goody bag
• Juice box
• Bubbles
• Ice cream
• Streamers
• Party horn
• Birthday card
• Bow
• Cupcake
• Lollipop
• Clown
• Magician
• Bounce house
• Water balloon
• Sticker
• Crayons
• Pin the tail
• Treasure hunt
• Face paint
• Whistle
• Confetti
• Sprinkles
• Frosting
• Popcorn
• Fruit punch
• Musical chairs
• Make a wish
• Best friend
• Birthday banner
• Birthday song
• Big smile
• Hip hip hooray
• Freeze dance