Thanksgiving Bingo Game for Preschoolers

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This lovely Thanksgiving Bingo Game will give your kids hours of entertainment for sure and will help them develop skills without them even noticing. The best part… it is completely free for you to use.

This Thanksgiving bingo printable includes two different versions, one version for younger learners and another one for more advanced learners. The simpler version includes 6 cards with 9 pictures each. The advanced version also includes 6 cards but with 25 pictures each. I also included 24 picture cards to be used to show the children which pictures they could mark on their bingo cards.

Thanksgiving-Bingo-Cards-simpler-version

Thanksgiving Bingo Cards - advance version — Thanksgiving Bingo Cards – advanced version

Benefits of Bingo Games for Preschoolers

This Thanksgiving Bingo is not just a fun game but an educational one as well, since it will help your preschoolers develop skills such as:

One-to-one correspondence, decision-making, problem-solving, and memory (as they have to match the pictures with the ones on their cards).
Concentration (as they focus their attention to carefully mark their cards with the correct pictures being called out).
Language development (as they learn the names of objects in the pictures, and interact with their friends and teacher).
Hand-eye coordination (as they observe the card being called out, find it on their card, and mark it).
Socialization, interaction, sportsmanship, patience, and perseverance (as they interact with their friends and learn to respect, take turns, share, cooperate, and communicate with others).

You can use this game as a large group activity, but you can also set up small group stations where the children can rotate through, to take advantage of different activities for a complete learning environment. Some other activities you can use are:

If your preschoolers have been exposed to other bingo games, they are probably going to be able to work independently. However, new students or children who are not familiar with these types of games will need your guidance.

How to Prepare the Thanksgiving Bingo Game

The process is extremely easy. And you don’t need a lot of materials, just these:

Thanksgiving Bingo cards (you can find this at the bottom of this post.)
Printer.
White cardstock.
Laminator machine.
Laminator pouches.
Scissors.
Bingo chips, mini erasers, buttons, pom-poms, and any other manipulative small enough to fit in the bingo card’s squares).

The only thing you need to do is print the bingo cards on white cardstock. Then cut out the cards and tiles, 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. When Thanksgiving month is over, just put them in a Ziploc bag and store them for next year, for a new world of fun.

How to Play the Thanksgiving Bingo Game

To start, each child chooses a bingo card. The teacher or one student (if they are playing as a small group activity) should place the picture cards in an envelope, basket bag, or any 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 manipulative on top of it, to mark it.

The first child that fills up an entire row (which could be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal), and yells “Bingo!!!”, wins. If the child is distracted and doesn’t shout Bingo! before another one does, loses. To extend the game you can have the winner be the first to fill out their whole card.

I like that this game not only could be played in the classroom or at home, but also could be played by preschoolers, but also by older children such as kindergarteners and elementary children as well. Why not? Is such a matter of having fun.

Extension Activities for the Thanksgiving Bingo Game

The individual cards are so cute and pretty that you can use them for many other learning activities as well, taking advantage of the variety in the pictures. Some of the uses and activities that you can use these cards for are:

Phonological and Phonemic Awareness: take one of the cards and name the picture emphasizing the beginning sound, clapping the syllables, finding rhyming words, spelling, using the word in a phrase, etc.

Letter Recognition: take one of the cards and name the picture saying the name of the letter the word starts with, for example: “This is a turkey. Turkey starts with the letter “Tt”.

Language Development: select one of the cards during circle time and invite your preschoolers to create a story using the picture, while you take dictation to make a class book.

Artwork: invite each preschooler to select a card and use it as an inspiration to draw or paint a picture.

Playing “The Missing Card” Game: this game is better as a small group activity. Take 3 to 5 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. Then ask your preschoolers to open their eyes and tell you which card is missing.

Don’t Forget Your Story Time

It is great to have different educational and fun activities to do with your preschoolers, but for me one of the most important ones you have to have every day, twice a day at least with story time.

I cannot stretch enough how big is the importance of reading to young children. This activity will help them:

Develop early literacy skills and learn letter sounds, words, and language.
Stimulate their brain, imagination, and curiosity.
Develop their ability to focus, concentrate, and communicate ideas.
Know about their world.
Develop their social skills.

If you don’t have books related to the theme or don’t have enough, below are some suggestions of books you can use during Thanksgiving month. You can find them at your local library and used bookstores, but if you want to expand your collection, just click on the titles and my affiliate links will take you directly to Amazon, where you can purchase them.

The Story of the Pilgrims by Katharine Ross. This exciting book retells the story about the pilgrims’ voyage across the Atlantic to the first Thanksgiving feast, using colorful and beautiful illustrations, that will delight your young historians for sure.

Thanksgiving Is for Giving Thanks! By Sutherland. This book used simple text and colorful illustrations to introduce preschoolers to the joy of celebrating Thanksgiving with family and friends and to be thankful for everything and every day.

Little Critter: Just a Special Thanksgiving by Mercer Mayer. Little Critter, a lovely character, brings to life the Thanksgiving celebration with his family, as they give thanks during this holiday.

Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson. This book offers beautiful illustrations and playful text to tell the story of a Bear who has come up with a big dinner to celebrate family and friendship.

The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing. This fun book tells the story of families getting together to prepare and enjoy a feast during Thanksgiving.

Thanks for Thanksgiving by Julie Markes. This book uses simple text and striking illustrations to remind kids and adults alike about the little details that make each day enjoyable, and a warm and genuine way to share the true Thanksgiving spirit.

Pin It For Later

If you are in a rush and don’t have time to read the post and download the printable but want to save it for later, pin this to your Literacy, Fall, or Thanksgiving board on Pinterest.