St. Patrick’s Day Bingo for Preschoolers
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If you have been in education for a while, you know by now that young children learn with repetition and in different ways. While this is true, we also know that if you don’t switch things around occasionally, they get bored quickly (and so do we!).
That is why I like bringing new materials into the classroom every chance. Most of the time, just introducing a new type of manipulative or theme is enough to engage those students who are starting to lose interest in what you have to teach.
Now, our secret is that we are teaching the same thing but in a different way. They don’t know, and that’s fantastic, but it will help you keep your preschoolers engaged and keep the learning process on the right track.
St. Patrick’s Day Bingo Game
One of the games that I like to bring to the classroom every so often is bingo. What you can accomplish with this simple game is incredible. Bingo games can be very versatile. Depending on the content, they can review letters, sounds, numbers, etc., or focus on a theme like this. One thing is certain: no matter what type you use, any bingo game will keep your children entertained and focused so they can yell BINGO!! to win.
As I have said before, I love to create my printables using different themes and occasions, and St. Patrick’s Day is no different.
This bingo printable includes two versions with six pages each, one for younger learners and another for more advanced learners. The simpler version contains six cards with nine pictures each. The advanced version also consists of six cards but with 24 pictures each. I also included 54 picture cards to show the children which pictures they could mark on their bingo cards. This choice comes with one card per 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper, allowing your young learners to visualize the pictures quickly.
Since I know we teachers are always on a budget, the bingo cards come in a 5 x 7 size (two cards in one 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper), I also wanted to give you that choice. This one also includes the simpler and the advanced versions but in three pages each, and of course, the 54 picture cards.
You can use this game as a large group activity and with my other St. Patrick’s Day activities, found at the end of the post. All of them offer free printables that you can use to create different stations that the children can rotate through.
If your preschoolers have been exposed to other bingo games, they can work independently. However, new students or children unfamiliar with these types of games will need your guidance.
For that reason, I created two different sets. You will decide which kiddos to group according to their level. It is crucial to remember that you want them to feel successful, not frustrated. Otherwise, that experience will result in a negative one, and you won’t be able to accomplish what you are trying to.
Benefits of this St. Patrick’s Day Bingo
Like any other bingo game, St. Patrick’s Day Bingo is not just fun but educational. Some of the most important benefits are:
- Concentration skills and memory skills development – because they need to focus to get it right.
- One-to-one correspondence and creating sets skills – when they have to match the picture you are showing them with a similar picture on their bingo cards.
- Sensory development – they use some of their senses when they hear and see the card you are showing and touch, feel, and manipulate objects.
- Eye and hand coordination – place the bingo chip in the appropriate square when they see the picture.
- Social skills – when they take turns and communicate with other players.
- Fine motor skills development – when they move their hands and fingers while playing the game.
- Visual discrimination – when they look at the pictures and can match them with the one on their cards.
Materials Needed
You don’t need a lot of materials, just these:
- Free St. Patrick’s Day Bingo cards (found at the bottom of this post.)
- White cardstock paper
- Bingo chips (these could be Shamrock mini erasers, buttons, green, orange, and yellow pom-poms, and anything other material small enough to fit in the bingo cards’ squares).
- Laminator machine and laminator pouches, or
- Dry-erase sleeves
How to Prepare the Bingo
The process is extremely easy. You only need to print the Bingo Cards on white cardstock, cut them out, and laminate them. I strongly suggest you do that to protect the cards from wear and tear and have them available for your students to play over and over again.
If you want to save on lamination costs, you can place the cards inside a dry-erase pocket, but you will probably want to laminate the individual cards regardless. Store them in a Ziploc bag for next year when St. Patrick’s Day month is over.
Playing the Game
To start, each child chooses a bingo card. The picture cards should be placed in an envelope, basket, or other container where the cards are not visible. Then, the teacher or child takes a random card out and shows it to the children, and whoever has that picture on his/her bingo card should place a chip on top of it.
The child that fills up an entire row (horizontal, vertical, or diagonal) and yells Bingo!!! wins. If the child is distracted and doesn’t shout Bingo! before another one does, he/she loses. The winner can be the first to complete the entire card to extend the game.
This game is great for strengthening the children’s concentration, memory, one-to-one correspondence, and set creation. It will also keep them busy for a long time while they learn without even realizing it.
I like that this game could be played in the classroom or at home by preschoolers, older children, kindergarteners, and elementary school children. Why not? It is such a matter of having fun.
Extension Activities
The individual cards are so cute and pretty that you can use them for many other learning activities, taking advantage of the variety in the pictures. Some of the uses and activities that you can use these cards for are:
Phonological Awareness
Take one of the cards and name the picture emphasizing the beginning sound, for example: “This is a horseshow. I hear /h/ /h/ /h/ at the beginning of the horseshow.
Letter Recognition
Take one of the cards and name the picture, saying the name of the letter that the picture starts with, for example: “This is a pot. Pot starts with the letter “Pp.”
Language Development
Select one of the cards during circle time and invite your preschoolers to talk about the picture in the card. Take dictation of their comments, showing them the correct way to write, and that written words have meaning. Later on, you can use this dictation to review what they said.
Literacy
You can use the large or small group activity period to present one of the cards to your preschoolers and invite them to create a story using its picture while you take dictation to make a class book. Once the story is finished, type the individual paragraphs and paste them on white paper cut out like a tall hot, a rainbow, a piece of gold, a pot, or any other St. Patrick shape.
Invite the students who didn’t participate in the story to become illustrators. Once all the pages are done, cut out the same shape on construction paper to make a cover. Type the title and the names of the authors and illustrators. Laminate all the pages and hold them together with a spiral or staples.
Don’t forget to make copies of the book to send home to all the preschoolers.
Artwork
Place green, yellow, and orange tempera paint and crayons in the art center, and invite each preschooler to select a card and use it as an inspiration to draw or paint a picture.
You can also provide green, yellow, and orange tissue paper and a cutout shamrock. Let the students rip pieces of the different tissue papers and glue them to the shamrock to make a collage.
“The Missing Card” Game
This game is better as a small group activity. Take three to five cards and place them on a table. Ask your preschoolers to name the pictures on each card, then have your children close their eyes while you remove one card. Ask your preschoolers to open their eyes and tell you which card is missing.
Then check out my other St. Patrick’s Day activities at the bottom of this post to get those free printables as well. You can expand your St. Patrick’s Day activities collection and help your preschoolers have fun while learning.
Music and Movement
It is an excellent opportunity to introduce a little bit of the Irish culture, and what better way than to use music, a universal language that we all love.
According to Wikipedia, “Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a folk music genre that developed in Ireland. In A History of Irish Music (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there were at least ten instruments in general use”.
Wikipedia also defines the Irish traditional dance as “Irish stepdance, ” a performance dance style with its roots in traditional Irish dance. It generally features a stiff upper body and fast and precise foot movements. It can be performed solo or in groups.
Since I wanted to offer some examples of Irish music, I researched the “handy dandy” YouTube channel and came across this Irish traditional music. I will invite you to play with your children during Music and Movement to take advantage of this opportunity and don’t forget to talk to them a little bit about Irish culture as well.
Keeping your preschoolers engaged and motivated while learning can be difficult. If you don’t change the routine periodically but stick to the same lessons repeatedly, you won’t be able to spruce your children’s interest and keep them engaged. Since children love playing games, you can use this free bingo to do just that.
Pin It for Later
If you don’t have time to download your bingo right away, you can pin it to your St. Patrick’s Day, Math, or any other Pinterest board to have it available when you need it.
Remember to grab your FREE St. Patrick’s Day Bingo printable! Just click on the bottom below to download the simpler and the advanced versions in the one-sheet cards in one file.
To get the FREE St. Patrick’s Day Bingo printable, which also offers simpler and advanced versions and comes with two cards on one sheet of paper, click on the bottom below.
I hope you find these activities and printables helpful, have a successful month of learning and entertainment in your preschool classroom, and that your St. Patrick’s Day month is full of rainbows and luck (and, of course, a little gold never hurt!)
Be happy, safe, and creative. I wish you well.
Love,
P.S. If you would like to see an article about how to make something specific, please let me know, and I will try my best to write it for you. My goal is to help you in any way I can.
