United States BINGO Game

Just last week my son said to me, �Mom, I know all the news.� Before I could ask him what he was talking about, he rattled off, �New Hamster, New York, New Jersey, and New Mexico.� These kind of unsolicited comments make me smile. Why? 1) Because of his mispronunciation of New Hampshire. 2) Because he�s obviously interested in (and learning about) the states of our great country.

It�s been awhile since we pulled out our Scrambled States Memory Game and although I love it, I wanted to do something new with the states shapes I�d made. Since my son loves playing any BINGO game that I throw at him, I thought it was time to make a version with the states.

Before we got to playing, though, we read Loreen Leedy�s book, Celebrate the 50 States! I was lucky to snag this book at a yard sale and consider it one of the gems of our home library.

I let my son pick his BINGO card and cover the FREE space in the center. Then, one by one I selected a state from a pile of cut-up call cards. I called out the states, he searched his card, and, if he found it, covered it with a coin. Like typical BINGO games, when he had five in a row (across, down, or diagonal), he called out "BINGO!" rather excitedly. FUN! 

Until my son learns the states better, I�ll show him the call cards so he can see the color and shape of the state. Using coins as BINGO markers worked perfectly. Download a set of six game cards here and a PDF of all 50 states to cut up as call cards here. Enjoy!

Update: Want more than six game cards? Click here for my teacher's edition!