Archive for February, 2010

Coolest Christmas Bingo Party Games

February 27th, 2010
posted by admin 2:25 pm



Bingo is one of the most beloved party games of all time, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t improve on tradition. Check out these Christmas Bingo party games and you just might find a new favorite way to play!

Basic Christmas Bingo Games

If you’re familiar with the basic Bingo board, it’s quite simple. The letters B-I-N-G-O are spelled out across the top of a grid with a column of five squares under each of the five letters in Bingo. The 25 resulting squares are then filled with numbers, with a certain range of numbers appearing in each column. (The B column will have numbers 1-15; I will have 16-30, and so on). The center of the 5×5 grid is often used as a “free” space.

Using this basic format, you can easily adapt it for Christmas Bingo party games:

* Instead of “BINGO” use another five letter word that is associated with Christmas. Look for words that have five unique letters to avoid confusion. “ANGEL” or “FLAKE” will work; “SANTA” will not.

* Replace numbers with Christmas themed spaces. Even young children can get in on the fun when you use pictures, so search online for free clipart images that you can print to build your Bingo cards. Older guests can play with a selection of Christmas words, and this time anything goes — from “Advent” to “Yuletide” and everything in between!

* When you make your own board, you can use the same pictures in different columns, but you should make sure that each board is unique. To accomplish this, each board should be missing something that the others have. For example, not every board will have a picture of a bell, but the one that is missing the bell may have a candy cane that one of the others may not have.

* Use Christmas candy for game pieces. Chocolates wrapped in metallic foil in bright colors of red, gold, silver, and gold are delicious options – you’ll know it’s time to quit playing when your guests have nibbled their way out of game pieces!

Unique Christmas Bingo Party Play for Families

When you’re setting up Christmas Bingo party games for a family celebration, bring back special memories even as you create new ones with this unique and heartwarming idea!

First, look through the old family albums and find several great pictures. You’ve got 24 or 25 squares to fill (depending on whether you use the center square as a free space or not) so try to find at least 10 different pictures. The variety will keep the game from ending too quickly without making it drag on endlessly without a winner.

When you make your selections, choose photos from several different generations or from Christmas of years past if you can. Seeing grandma as a girl or their own first Christmas is sure to bring giggles of delight from family members as they try to recognize the younger versions of otherwise familiar faces!

Once you’ve chosen pictures, scan them into your computer. Resize them to thumbnail size (or so they’ll fit into the squares of your Bingo board) and print off enough to fill each of your game cards. You’ll need one additional set for the caller of the game.

Randomly fill the squares of your Bingo cards, making sure that the same picture doesn’t appear twice in one vertical column. Glue the pictures down and allow them to dry.

Meanwhile, prepare the extra set for the game caller. If you need to, label each photo so they’ll be accurately called. You can write the name and date of each photo or, alternatively, the name and age of the person as pictured. For an easier version of the game, use recent pictures and call the game using direct descriptions such as “Emily in a green shirt” or “Mom with short hair.”

To play, put each of the labeled game pieces in a bowl or bag for drawing, then place the letters B-I-N-G-O (or whichever word you replace it with) in a second spot. The caller should draw a card from each pile, call the piece (“Amy as a newborn, G”) and then return the pieces to their respective piles. Per the rules of the game, only that picture in the specific column is marked.

For any Bingo game, determine the winning formation prior to beginning play. The basic five-in-a-row line will always be popular, but you can get creative by plotting a triangular Christmas tree shape, the square outline of a gift, or the starburst of a snowflake for a seasonal touch that guests will love.

One thing is for sure: whichever variation you choose, these Christmas Bingo party games are sure to spice up your holiday event!By: Qing Gu

About the Author:
Get a free guide for more creative Christmas party games, bingo party games and tips of how to plan an unique Christmas party, go to Coolest Christmas party ideas.



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Bingo Managers – Listening to Your Players Too Much May Spell Disaster For Your Bingo

February 22nd, 2010
posted by admin 12:04 pm



In today’s competitive bingo environment, it is more important than ever for your bingo to open to changing up some of your current games or bringing in new games. If your bingo faces intense competition from other bingos, you may need the ability to quickly modify your game or you could be left behind.

One thing that frequently prevents bingo chairs from making needed adjustments, or embracing new products is the fear of their players. I often hear from bingo managers who want to modify their program, but decide against it after putting their ideas to a vote from their players. Some managers eve think it’s best to let their players decide what changes, if any, should be made.

Unfortunately, bingo players are human just like everyone. If you let them, they’ll often vote for, or against, changes based upon what’s best for them, and not what’s best for your bingo.

Asking your players how to run your game is kind of like a shop owner asking his customers what prices he should charge. If Wal-Mart asked its shoppers what they should be charged for products, they’d probably have a lot of happy customers. But, they’d probably also end up out of business.

Of course, I’m not saying you should never listen to your players, but do so with a grain of salt. Obviously, you should always address complaints and try to carry the latest in bingo supplies, but don’t let customer “suggestions” take over your bingo. Frequently, your most vocal players simply don’t speak for the all of your players. And, the majority should be what you’re most concerned with.

Trust me, your bingo players will let you know how much they like your bingo through their attendance and spending. Those two things, above everything else, should be your biggest concerns when deciding what is right for your bingo.By: Rob Robinson

About the Author:
For more information on playing bingo, bingo supplies, ordering bingo paper and selections of bingo game sets please visit Bingo Supplies

“Bingo Bob” has been in the charity bingo distribution business for over 20 years, is the owner of the website WholesaleBingoSupplies.com, and blogs about the bingo industry on the Bingo Supplies Blog. This article my be freely distributed as long as it remains unchanged.



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Bingo for Teachers of Foreign Languages

February 19th, 2010
posted by admin 6:31 pm



If you teach a foreign language class, whether it be French, German, Spanish, even English as a Second/Foreign Language (ESL or TEFL), or for that matter any language at all, you’ve almost certainly observed that students learn best and fastest when they actively participate in the class, especially if such participation includes the opportunity to converse in the language. Activities which encourage such participation are therefore very popular with language teachers – including, of course, educational games.

One game that you may not have considered is bingo. Many people tend to think of it as a game played in bingo halls or church basements, as well as online, often by older people, mainly as a social activity, but also for the opportunity to win relatively modest prizes. However, bingo is a very simple game that can easily be adapted to a wide variety of different situations, is quickly learned by students, and is ideal for use in education.

To play in the classroom each student is given a bingo card, and the teacher acts as the caller. However there are differences from the normal game – the main one being that usually special cards containing words (including the possibility of foreign vocabulary) are used. The teacher also has the option of changing the game play process, for example to encourage class discussion between calling each item.

Here are a few ideas for variations of the game suitable for use in a language class:

1. If teaching a language that uses a different alphabet (such as Greek, Russian, Arabic or Hebrew), you could prepare bingo cards with letters of that language’s alphabet. Play a quick game at the start of every lesson, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly students will learn to instantly recognize any character.

2. You could use cards with words in the foreign language (for example French), but make the calls in English. Conversely, you could use cards containing English words, and make the calls in the foreign language.

3. Language classes are of course mainly about learning the language, but if students are learning French or German, you probably also want to teach them at least a little bit about the people, geography and culture of France or Germany. Fortunately there’s no reason why you couldn’t, for example, play using cards containing the names of cities, foods, historical figures from the country, etc.

4. Even bingo cards containing numbers can be used. If you want your students to learn to recognize numbers in the language, call out the numbers in that language.

To summarize, there are a wide variety of ways that the game can be used to help with language teaching – and no doubt you can probably think of some more ideas too! One thing that you are probably wondering about though is where to get special bingo cards containing foreign characters or vocabulary? Well, the answer is simple… the simplest and cheapest thing to do is for you to print them from your computer. Free ready-to-use bingo printables can be downloaded from the Internet, or easy-to-use software for printing bingo cards (as many as you want, containing any items that you want) is available at a surprisingly affordable price.By: Sunil Tanna

About the Author:
By S. Tanna. For free bingo card printables, please go to http://www.bingocardscreator.com/

To create your own custom bingo cards, please go to http://www.bingocardprinter.com/



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How To Hold A Successful Basket Bingo Fundraiser

February 11th, 2010
posted by admin 6:33 am



Bingo fundraising events have been around for decades. That’s because people love to play bingo and charities can earn several thousand dollars in just one evening of bingo. Many nonprofit organizations, clubs and schools have annual basket bingo events. There are some organizations whose basket bingo fundraisers have become so popular and lucrative that they hold basket bingos two and three times a year.

While your organization can earn as much as $5,000 for an evening of basket bingo, it does take quite a lot work and preparation behind the scenes to put on one of these fundraisers.

So what is a basket bingo fundraiser?

Basket Bingo is like regular bingo except that the prizes are all baskets. Most often the baskets are Longaberger baskets. The baskets are filled with products such as Longaberger accessories, gift certificates, candles, scrapbooking supplies, beauty products, gourmet foods, etc. Each filled basket can be worth several hundred dollars. This is a big draw for your fundraiser.

The typical basket bingo fundraiser lasts from three to four hours. Holding them on a Saturday afternoon or evening are good times.

The elements of a typical Basket Bingo Fundraiser are:

Admission Tickets

Admission tickets are usually sold for $20.00 at the door or $18.00 in advance. For this price each participant receives a book of Bingo sheets good for 20 games of Bingo. You an sell extra game books for $5.00 each. Some people will buy extra sheets to increase the odds of winning in each bingo game. You can also have a couple of special bingo games that people pay extra for. You should aim to sell between 100 and 200 admission tickets. If you sell 125 tickets for $20.00 a piece that will bring in $2,500. By holding raffles and selling food during the event you can bring in more money for your organization.

Raffle Prizes

In addition to prizes for each bingo game, you can also hold a raffle of a special prize. You can presell the raffle tickets and sell more during the event for an amount such as $1.00 or $5.00 per ticket. To maximize your earnings you should advertise the prize and presell tickets. Do not require that the winner be present during the drawing. The raffle prize doesn’t have to be a basket but should be a nice prize with a high dollar value. Longaberger wrought iron tables and accessories are good for raffle prizes.

Raffles for monetary prizes. 50/50 raffles are also a good way to raise more money during a basket bingo fundraiser. With a 50/50 raffle, tickets are usually sold for $1.00. At the end of the raffle one ticket is drawn and the winner receives fifty percent of the total amount raised by the sale of the tickets. The other fifty percent of the pot is kept by your organization.

Door Prizes

You can also have door prizes that you hold drawings for during the event. Give everyone who purchases a ticket to the event one raffle ticket for each prize. The door prizes are usually small items.

Food and Refreshments

Snack Bars and Concessions. Since the event will last for three to four hours you should have refreshments available for purchase. At some basket bingo events a buffet luncheon is served that attendees pay extra for. You can raise more money by having food donated. You may want to provide one free drink to everyone who purchased a ticket. Bake sales are also good earners during bingo fundraisers.

Professional Bingo Caller and Bingo supplies

A professional bingo caller is recommended because it takes a person with experience and bingo equipment to run a night of bingo. You will also need a master of ceremonies to be in charge of making announcements and keeping the activities moving.

The Prize Baskets

You will need to have a unique gift basket as a prize for each game of bingo. Longaberger baskets are good to use because they are collectible. There are a lot Longaberger basket collectors who might not otherwise be bingo players but will come to your event for a chance at winning a basket. Many Longaberger baskets are also created with a purpose so filling them with items based on a theme is easy. In order to make money on your fundraiser the baskets and prizes should be donated. YOu can contact a local Longaberger sales representative who can sell you the baskets and give you advice on how to fill them. Raising the money to buy the baskets, or getting them donated, and filling them will take time and money. If your organization is a school you can assign each class a basket theme and ask the families of the students to send in items to fill the baskets.

Realistically it will take a couple of months of work in order to hold a basket bingo fundraiser. You first need to decide if you will be able to assemble of team of volunteers willing and able to do it. After you have assembled your team then you have to get the word out that you need donations of baskets, money, and prizes. You also need to select the venue and date for the fundraiser. Then you will be well on your way to a successful basket bingo fundraiser.By: Amy Passmore

About the Author:
Article by Amy Passmore of DIYFundraising.com.

Are in charge of your organization’s next fundraiser? Are you looking for ideas on how to raise money for your school, charity or nonprofit organization?

Visit http://www.diyfundraising.com for more great tips and resources from an experienced fundraiser.



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