What? Not Another Picture Bingo Game!

Abstract

Yes, it's another picture bingo game! However, in this version of picture bingo, an attempt has been made to simplify the preparation and duplication 'of the game. In addition, there is an increase in the complexity of linguistic items practised throughout the game as compared to other types of bingo games. The picture bingo described here is suitable for beginner level ESL learners of any age. Children, adolescents and adults generally enjoy participating in this type of activity. First, the preparation of the master bingo card will be described and then the game rules will be explained. The first step is to prepare the master bingo card. Ifyou are not afraid of doing a bit of drawing, just put your fingers to work and draw your own master bingo card. Remember that it is not necessary to produce a masterpiece. On the other hand, if you are as insecure about your drawing talents as I am, at this point you will need a sheet of paper, a pencil, an adhesive and a series of thematically organized pictures. Only small pictures are suitable for the preparation of the master bingo card. Two good sources for such pictures are The Basic Vocabulary Builder and The Practical Vocabulary Builder, both published by The National Textbook Company in the form of reproducible stencil books. Ifthese books are not available, small yet clear illustrations can be found in catalogues, flyers, the yellow pages of the telephone directory and in inexpensive picture dictionaries produced for children. Using whatever is available, assemble as many thematically related pictures as will fit on an average sized sheet of paper. Then, distribute them evenly, paste them down and number each illustration clearly (see the sample master bingo cards in the appendix). The next step involves drawing a series of game grids below your randomly sequenced illustrations. Game grids can take a variety offorms as long as sufficient space for writing a series of numbers is provided (see the sample game grids in the appendix). The next task is to prepare 3 lists of statements of increasing difficulty for use during the game. The following lists accompany the "Leisure Time Activities" master bingo card: