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Friday, September 23, 2011

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!

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38 comments:

  1. CarronSeptember 23, 2011 at 9:15 AM

    Just printed these out! Thnks so much :) I'm a new follower via Pinterest! I blog at www.carronhefner.blogpsot.com

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  2. AnonymousSeptember 23, 2011 at 10:56 AM

    This looks like a lot of fun! Thanks for linking to Read.Explore.Learn.

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  3. Esther AsburySeptember 23, 2011 at 3:39 PM

    Oh what a fun idea!! AND the fun thing about homeschooling is that even though we've moved on from the study of the states - we can still implement this "just for extra fun!"
    Isn't it great to watch your child enjoying learning?!

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  4. Brimful CuriositiesSeptember 24, 2011 at 5:16 AM

    I'm pinning this one for a rainy day. Perfect activity to help with state names and recognition. Found you via Read.Explore.Learn.

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  5. UnknownSeptember 24, 2011 at 8:43 AM

    I will definitely be printing these out! Thanks so much for sharing!

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  6. Annie MoffattSeptember 28, 2011 at 10:50 AM

    I LOVE this! Thank you so much for sharing;)

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  7. Games For My WebsiteOctober 2, 2011 at 11:50 PM

    very creative! I also love inventing games to make my kid love learning... I am also trying to be creative to make her lessons fun, exciting and not that stressful for her young mind. Thanks for the idea, now I have a new idea on how to make her learn how to read number words. Thanks!

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  8. Natalie PlanetSmartyOctober 8, 2011 at 8:58 PM

    This is awesome. My daughter learned her states mostly from Stack the States iPod game. Best $2 I spent in a while. She actually is better in recognizing the States than me.

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  9. Lisa @ Our Country RoadOctober 11, 2011 at 11:06 AM

    You are so great at these printables!!! Thank you for sharing another awesome activity!

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  10. Tammy kOctober 12, 2011 at 10:53 AM

    thank you fro taking the time to share these... wonderful!

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  11. Ms. M.October 15, 2011 at 7:49 PM

    Fantastic! I love this and will definitely be printing off these for some small groups in my 2/3 class- I'll need to try to make a number of different looking cards too for a class set! Your activities are great! Thanks for your brilliance!

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  12. Deceptively EducationalOctober 16, 2011 at 11:20 AM

    CM, how many cards would you need? The next few weeks are pretty busy, but if you can wait 3-4 weeks, I might be able to crank out more unique cards so you'd have enough for your whole class. E-mail me (address on the ABOUT page).

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  13. PhyllisNovember 4, 2011 at 8:32 AM

    Another great states game! Thanks for sharing.

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  14. UnknownNovember 4, 2011 at 4:26 PM

    Very cool! I downloaded the cards to play later. My younger two will love this! (Me too! LOL) Thanks for sharing! Hoppin' over from the History and Geography meme at All Things Beautiful! (Glad I did!)

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  15. Jessica @Mother of ActionNovember 10, 2011 at 1:17 PM

    FANTASTIC!! I shared your link on my FB page!! Thank you!

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  16. KatieDecember 1, 2011 at 1:46 PM

    I have decised to just "pin" your whole blog, you have SO many amazing and free things here!

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  17. UnknownFebruary 1, 2012 at 8:09 PM

    What great freebies you have here! Thanks so much. I've pinned quite a few things tonight.

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  18. AmberMay 12, 2012 at 11:39 AM

    Hi, I want to thank you for this -- very nice! And also I want to let you know that I sent some of these games abroad in packages for a cultural exchange. You can read more about it on my blog if you want to. Thought you might be interested to know that your freebie is a world traveler. :)

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  19. AmberMay 12, 2012 at 11:41 AM

    Oops, here's the link to the post where I tell about the cultural exchange:

    http://mommyearth.blogspot.com/2012/05/our-cultural-exchange-packages-have.html

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  20. UnknownJuly 5, 2012 at 6:38 AM

    I love to read and appreciate your work.
    bingo online

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  21. TammyJanuary 21, 2013 at 10:22 PM

    I love love love your site! You are so creative and have helped me make it fun for my kids as I would have never thought of most of these ideas. You are an amazing mom and THANK YOU so much for sharing all your ideas. I am ever so thankful and I know my kids will be also. I am sharing your link with a bunch of my friends. Tammy

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    Replies
    1. Deceptively EducationalJanuary 21, 2013 at 10:24 PM

      Ah, Tammy, thanks for the compliments! I'm SO glad you've found some useful activities here and that your kids find them fun! Stay tuned for more great deceptively educational ideas throughout 2013!

      Delete
  22. DanaFebruary 16, 2013 at 5:34 PM

    Thank you so much!!! I just found your blog and have already printed off 3 activities! Thanks for making them so easy to download and print. I just bought a wooden 50 states puzzle and this will go perfect with it!

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  23. DanaFebruary 16, 2013 at 6:24 PM

    Just wanted to add I took your tip for the presidential stick timelines and used packing tape to laminate the call cards and the bingo cards themselves! I am going to find a manila envelope and use the 'United States Bingo' that printed off with the call cards to label the envelope! Thanks again we love the game!

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  24. CaseyFebruary 22, 2013 at 7:21 AM

    Thank you so much. This will go perfectly with what we'll be studying this next year!
    Casey

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  25. Melinda ElamFebruary 26, 2013 at 11:51 AM

    Thank you for this resource! I am using it at a church homeschool group.

    What a blessing!

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  26. JessicaMarch 27, 2013 at 11:22 PM

    You are amazing! I tutor at our local elementary school and love every one of your activities. Thank you so much for sharing. I always direct people to your blog.

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  27. ElizabethAugust 14, 2013 at 9:21 PM

    I just printed this out tonight to use in the next few weeks as we start up our state studies. But the kids saw me laminating them, and they INSISTED on playing it tonight! So even though it's past bedtime, I'm letting them play. After all, learning can take place at any time! Thanks for the great resource! Even the 3 year old is playing and yelling out the names of the states! It's a blast!

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  28. BekahDecember 5, 2013 at 8:20 PM

    I love that your calls New Hampshire, New Hamster. My son does that too. And he calls Delaware, Doverware lol

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  29. jeannine: waddlee-ah-chaaFebruary 3, 2014 at 4:05 PM

    Thanks for another game that fits in perfect with our big Geography for Kids study. I will be sharing this game with my blog readers!

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  30. MichelleApril 30, 2014 at 7:39 AM

    Such an awesome fun way to teach U.S. geography! Thank you so much for sharing!

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  31. AnonymousMay 29, 2014 at 5:31 PM

    My son loves geography, and this is such a perfect game! Thanks for sharing :)

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  32. Melissa N.July 22, 2014 at 6:01 AM

    thank you so much., we are starting to learn a state a week and this will be a fun activity to end each week

    Melissa @ the joys of home educating

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  33. WendyAugust 19, 2014 at 2:01 PM

    These are great! Thanks so much!!

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  34. AnonymousOctober 22, 2014 at 8:50 AM

    This is terrific; thank you very much.

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  35. Aslynn RainwaterAugust 31, 2017 at 12:35 AM

    Is there an updated version if this? Nothing happens when I click the links :(

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    Replies
    1. Deceptively EducationalNovember 14, 2017 at 7:53 PM

      My email address is on the about page. Feel free to email me if Google Docs doesn't pop up when you click the links.

      Delete